Oklahoma added a jolt to its NCAA Tournament hopes by upsetting No. 3 Baylor in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, 72-67. Junior forward Jacob Groves led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds, while redshirt senior guard Marvin Johnson added 12 points off the bench.
Senior guard Umoja Gibson finished with 14 points and it was his driving and-one finish that put the Sooners in front 68-62 with 49 seconds remaining. Redshirt senior point guard Jordan Goldwire and junior forward Jalen Hill each scored 10 points apiece to also help pace OU.
“Really happy for the guys to stick with this and be resilient. When we lost Elijah Harkless, we found out like the day before I think it was the Iowa State game and it kind of took us by surprise. Now, we’ve regrouped. We’ve regrouped and we’ve won four in a row and we’re confident, we’re hot.
“That was a huge win for us. People kind of counted us out and we started one at a time, beating Oklahoma State, then West Virginia, then had to go to Kansas State on their senior night and now this. But it’s a testament to this group on how close they’re becoming and how resilient they’re becoming of blocking out all the outside noise and just trying to focus in on what we need to do to win games,” Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser said following the win over Baylor.
Meanwhile, No. 14 Texas Tech dominated Iowa State from start to finish in its 72-41 win over the Cyclones. Texas Tech junior guard Terrence Shannon Jr. led all scorers with 15 points. It sets up a third meeting between Oklahoma and Texas Tech. The two teams split their season series with OU winning in Norman on Feb. 9, 70-55, and Texas Tech capturing the second tilt in Lubbock on Feb. 22, 66-42.
How to watch
Date: Friday, March 11
Time: 8:30 p.m. CST
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 107.7 FM The Franchise
Stat leaders
Oklahoma:
- Umoja Gibson: 12.4 points per game, 37.4 percent 3-point field goal shooting
- Tanner Groves: 12.1 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, 38.2 percent 3-point field goal shooting
- Jordan Goldwire: 10.3 points per game, 3.5 assists per game
- Jalen Hill: 8.9 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game
Texas Tech:
- Bryson Williams: 13.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, 42.1 percent 3-point field goal shooting
- Terrence Shannon Jr.: 10.6 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game
- Davion Warren: 10.1 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game
- Kevin McCullar: 10.0 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game
- Kevin Obanor: 9.8 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game
Injury report
Oklahoma:
- Elijah Harkless: Harkless suffered a season-ending injury during the Texas game on Feb. 15.
Texas Tech:
- Ethan Duncan: Duncan’s status is listed as questionable with an undisclosed injury according to oddschecker.com.
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