The No. 13 Baylor Bears stayed hot in conference play with a takedown of Kansas State on Wednesday to prolong their win streak to five games. Extending that to six games, however, means the Bears will have to topple the visiting No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners, who are coming off a bitter loss to No. 19 Iowa State on Monday.
Read on for more about this game. You can also check out our preview of Providence vs. Villanova.
Betting on the Oklahoma Sooners (15-2, 5-2 Big 12)
[sc:NCAAB240banner ]Well, that was fast. Just when the Sooners were feeling like kings after being knighted No. 1 in the AP Poll, Oklahoma suffered an 82-77 ambush loss to Iowa State in Ames.
While Buddy Hield was in his usual elite form, scoring 27 points with seven threes, other Sooners expected to produce went cold from the field. Jordan Woodard, second on the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game, had a salty offensive night, as he went 2-for-8 from the floor and finished with just five points. Ryan Spangler, meanwhile, had a disappearing act by producing a measly two points on 1-for-7 shooting after averaging 11.4 points in the previous four contests.
With only Isaiah Cousins (26 points) and backup forward Dante Buford (14 points) lending significant scoring support to Hield, the Sooners were held under their season average of 85.7 points per game, good for sixth in the nation.
All the Sooners gunners will have to find their touches later tonight, as relying too much on Hield will likely not work against the Baylor’s defense that seems to be capable of limiting Hield’s production. The Bears are allowing just 66.3 points per game.
Oklahoma’s outside shooting will be key in breaking Baylor’s zone defense. The Sooners, who got 15 of their 17 threes in the Iowa State from Hield, Cousins, and Buford, are fifth in Division I ball with 10.8 three-pointers per game.
Oklahoma is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games against Baylor.
You just don’t go to Waco and expect a win over Baylor. The Bears have been undefeated this season at Ferrell Center, where they are 12-0 SU dating back to November. Baylor, however, will face its toughest challenge yet at home later tonight with the Sooners coming to town.
Baylor is one of the highest scoring teams in the nation with 80.8 points per game. The Bears’ crisp ball movement has been key to their success on offense, as they are averaging 21.0 assists per game, most in the nation. In their 79-72 win over Kansas State on Wednesday, the Bears had 20 assists and made 49.1 percent of their shots to defeat the Wildcats in double overtime.
In order to slow down Oklahoma’s offense, the Bears will likely extend their zone defense a bit to cover the Sooners’ deadly shooters. They can’t simply gamble on defense against these Sooners, who will make their opponents pay for not respecting their outside sniping.
With Big 12 rebounding leader Rico Gathers patrolling the paint, Oklahoma may not have as much success clearing the glass. Gathers averages a double-double of 10.8 points and 12.9 rebounds per game for the Bears who are hauling down 40.1 RPG. Conversely, the Sooners are posting 42.9 RPG, eighth in the nation.
Taurean Prince, who scored 19 points and grabbed 13 boards against Kansas State, leads the team in points with 14.8 per game.
