The No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners are now out of the running for the Big 12 regular season title, but that’s no reason for them to pump their breaks in conference play. After losing to No. 25 Texas on Saturday, the Sooners’ chances for a top seed in the National Tournament is now in question.
They can resuscitate their hopes, though, with a win over No. 19 Baylor Bears this coming Tuesday. Will Oklahoma sweep its regular season series with the Bears? Or will Baylor trip up the Sooners?
Rico Gathers is a 6-8, 275-pound giant, but even a man of his size can be slowed down by flu. Gathers hasn’t been playing up to his standards for some time now because of the said illness, but Baylor has nonetheless won three of its past four games.
When healthy, Gathers is a double-double threat, one that averages 11.6 points and 9.6 boards on the season. His ailment, however, has forced others to step up their play to cover for some of Gathers’ numbers. Among them is Johnathan Motley, who’s been a revelation for the team.
Motley teamed up with Taurean Prince to lead Baylor past TCU on Saturday, 86-71, as the two each scored 22 points. Motley is averaging 11.7 points per game this season, but has been better over the last four outings, wherein he put up 20.2 points. He’s expected to be a key cog in Tuesday’s matchup with the Sooners, against whom Motley scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in an 82-72 loss on January 23.
Although the Bears lost that game, they at least have one positive takeaway, as they thoroughly outrebounded Oklahoma, 34-19. They were particularly fierce on the offensive glass, grabbing 14 boards while limiting the Sooners to only two. The Bears had a 25-7 advantage in second-chance points in the TCU game.
Baylor has been playing well away from Waco during conference play as it has six Big 12 road wins to date.
Betting on the Oklahoma Sooners (22-6, 10-6 Big 12)
In case you haven’t noticed, Buddy Hield isn’t the only player on the Sooners’ roster. Hield was a one-man wrecking crew on Saturday, as he scored more than half of Oklahoma’s points in a 76-63 loss to Texas in Austin.
While Jordan Woodard chipped in 15 points, other consistent scorers such as Ryan Spangler and Isaiah Cousins combined for a measly 11 points.
Considering that Oklahoma’s strength is mainly its offense, the Sooners will have to coax better production from their players besides Hield to repeat over Baylor.
Spangler and Cousins should have their confidence back this Tuesday, as they’ve put up better numbers in the previous matchup with the Beats, scoring 11 and 13 points, respectively, with five total threes.
Oklahoma was plain ridiculous from beyond the arc in that game, as the Sooners went 16-for-28 from deep with Hield and Woodard accounting for nine of those.
The Sooners might just go crazy from the three-point area again versus Baylor, which just allowed the Horned Frogs to hit eight triples on Saturday.
