No. 9 Baylor holds on to takedown Oklahoma
WACO, Texas - Johnathan Motley had 21 points with 16 rebounds and No. 9 Baylor ended a two-game slide with a 60-54 victory over Oklahoma on Tuesday night to remain in a tie for second place in the Big 12.
Baylor almost blew all of a 15-point lead in the second half, and held on even after not making a field goal in the last six minutes.
Oklahoma used a 21-8 run to get within 49-47 on Jamuni McNeace's jumper with 9:21 left. But Manu Lecomte then hit consecutive 3-pointers for the Bears, though those were more than two minutes apart and their last field goals.
The Bears (23-5, 10-5) stayed even with No. 12 West Virginia and Iowa State in the conference standings with three games left in the regular season. Baylor's Big 12 title hopes likely ended with a 67-65 home loss Saturday to No. 3 Kansas (24-3, 12-2).
Kansas, which is home Wednesday night against TCU, is one win from guaranteeing at least a share of its 13th consecutive Big 12 title.
Kameron McGusty had 13 points to lead the Sooners (9-18, 3-12), and was the only one of seven players who scored in their big run to make multiple baskets. His 3-pointer started the big spurt.
Lecomte finished with 11 points, while Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. had 11 points and nine rebounds for Baylor.
Oklahoma's only lead in the first half came when Rashard Odomes converted a three-point play for a 3-2 lead only 45 seconds into the game. Motley made a tying free throw right after that before Lual-Acuil's jumper made it 5-3.
The Sooners had scoring droughts of five and three minutes in the first half, when Lecomte, Lual-Acuil, and King McClure all had 3-pointers in an 11-0 Baylor spurt that made it 22-7.
BIG PICTURE
Oklahoma: Lon Kruger will have to wait until another game for a chance to get his 600th career victory. After an NCAA Final Four appearance last season, these young Sooners, with 11 underclassmen and less than two weeks after losing senior Jordan Woodard to a torn ACL, still have some work to do to avoid the team's first last-place finish in the Big 12.
Baylor: The Bears again made things much harder on themselves than necessary, though they did hold on to win this time. After taking a 41-26 lead early in the second half following a 3 by Motley, the Bears couldn't build on that momentum and were in a struggle for much of the second half. Baylor was outscored 8-0 in the last 3 1/2 minutes of their home loss to Kansas on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Oklahoma: Home against Kansas State, the alma mater of Kruger, a two-time Big Eight Player of the Year for the Wildcats in 1973 and 1974.
Baylor: At Iowa State on Saturday. The Bears beat Iowa State 65-63 in their first Big 12 home game Jan. 4.