Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

No. 1 Oklahoma bounces back with impressive, blowout win at No. 13 Baylor

Jordan Woodard, Al Freeman

Oklahoma guard Jordan Woodard (10) scores over Baylor guard Al Freeman (25) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016, in Waco, Texas. (AP Photo/Rod Aydelotte)

AP

Baylor’s reign atop the Big 12 standings was certainly short-lived as No. 1 Oklahoma went into Waco on Saturday and completely eviscerated the Bears, winning 82-72 in what was arguably the most impressive offensive performance you’ll see from any team in college basketball this season.

The Sooners hit 16 of their first 24 threes. They shot 62.0 percent from the floor on the night. They assisted on 29 of their 31 field goals, including their first 24 buckets of the game. Every starter finished with at least three assists, led by the nine that were handed out by Isaiah Cousins. And perhaps most impressive is that they scored 1.205 points-per-possession despite grabbing just a single offensive rebound and going scoreless over the final 5:35, a span that included eight Sooner possessions. When Oklahoma scored their final point of the game, they were averaging 1.367 PPP.

It was total dominance, and it was also a bit of a statement win for the Sooners.

Oklahoma entered Saturday having lost a heart-breaker on Monday night at Iowa State, their second loss of the season and the second time that they’ve fallen on the road in league play. Saying that there were people questioning how good they are isn’t quite accurate, but there was some doubt whether or not this truly was the No. 1 team in the country and a team that would be capable of snapping Kansas’ run atop the Big 12.

No one will be asking those questions anymore.

In fact, I think it’s fair to say that the Sooners are in a great spot. They’re currently sitting at 5-2 in the Big 12, tied for first with the Bears as well as West Virginia and Kansas, assuming those two can take care of business against Texas Tech and Texas, respectively. But the difference for the Sooners is that they’ve already played Kansas, Iowa State and Baylor on the road in addition to landing wins over West Virginia and Iowa State at home.

In other words, no team in the conference has as favorable of a schedule down the stretch as the Sooners, and it’s not a stretch to say that their home game against Kansas on Feb. 13th could end up being the game that determines whether or not the Jayhawks will win their 12th straight regular season title.

As far as Baylor is concerned, they’re now 14-4 on the season with four losses to teams currently in the RPI top ten. Three of those losses came on the road to teams that are in or around the current top 25 and the fourth was, obviously, to Oklahoma. They also own a win at Iowa State. They’ll be fine.