The Baylor Bears and the Oklahoma Sooners will go at it again for the second time this season. The Bears came away with a victory in the initial matchup, but have looked shaky of late. Could the Sooners upset Baylor in Norman? Or will the Bears go 2-0 this season versus Oklahoma? Check out our preview below of this Baylor-Oklahoma Big 12 college basketball showdown.
Baylor has finally put a stop to its bleeding. After back-to-back upset losses to the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the Oklahoma State Cowboys – both in Waco – the Bears stepped out of their territory and won right away, beating the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown last Tuesday, 77-68. Baylor missed the services of leading scorer James Akinjo due to a tailbone injury, but LJ Cryer and Matthew Mayer came up big with 25 and 20 points, respectively to lead the Bears versus West Virginia. Akinjo was listed day-to-day ahead of the West Virginia game, which means he is nearing a return, and that could come this Saturday versus the Sooners. Baylor beat the Sooners at home on Jan. 4, 84-74, with Akinjo dropping 27 points and Adam Flager scoring 22. As a team, the Bears shot 56.4 percent from the floor in that win. So far this season, Balor is 16th nationally with 79.7 points per game and 17th with a 55.2 effective field goal percentage.
Baylor is 8-2 against the spread in its last 10 road games.
Oklahoma’s losing skid has hit three games after falling prey to the Kansas Jayhawks at home on Tuesday, 67-64. Nevertheless, giving the Jayhawks a run for their money says a lot about how capable the Sooners are. In the first meeting with Baylor, the Sooners shot 55.8 percent from the field but were hurt by their horrible outside shooting, as they went 5/20 from deep. They also got massively outrebounded by Baylor, 34-16. That’s an area of Oklahoma’s game that’s really been problematic for the Sooners, who are just 261st in the nation with 33.2 rebounds per game. Still, Oklahoma’s offense can sting. The Sooners are 13th nationally with a 56.2 effective field goal percentage and third with 59.6 percent shooting from behind the arc. Tanner Groves had success on offense in the first meeting with Baylor this season in which he scored 13 points with six rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes.
Oklahoma is 2-0 against the spread in its last two home games.
