The Oklahoma Sooners continued their winning ways to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive with a 72-67 win over the No. 3 team in the country, the Baylor Bears. The Sooners move on to face the winner of the Texas Tech vs. Iowa State quarterfinal game.
Led by Jacob Groves’ 15 points and nine rebounds, Oklahoma was able to overcome a turnover-filled first half that led to a six-point halftime deficit.
After Oklahoma tied the game at 35 with just over 17 minutes to play, the two teams went back and forth for the next five minutes of game action. Jalen Hill’s bucket put the Sooners ahead 48-46 and they never looked back. Though they had to keep battling, OU held the lead for the final 11:51 of the game to move on to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament.
Oklahoma was fantastic shooting the ball in the win, shooting 51% from the field and 52.4% from three-point range. Despite 16 turnovers on the game, Oklahoma held the Bears to 13.6% from three, which was the difference in the game.
Including Jacob Groves’ 15, the Sooners had five players in double-figures and had a narrow edge on the boards. Umoja Gibson had 14 points, including a three-point play on a drive to the bucket that put Oklahoma up six points with 49 seconds to play.
Marvin Johnson had 12 points off the bench and Jordan Goldwire and Jalen Hill chipped in 10 apiece for the Sooners who were a bubble team heading into the Big 12 tournament.
The win over the defending national champion is a huge feather in the cap of the Sooners, who will look to keep their winning streak alive on Friday night in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
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