Baylor Basketball: Bears win 23rd straight game, make history vs Sooners
Baylor Basketball 24-1 (13-0) beat the Oklahoma Sooners 16-10 (6-7 Big 12) to make Big 12 history with the longest winning streak of 23 games.
No.1 Baylor Basketball has been nothing short of dominant this season. In a Big 12 matchup on the road against the Oklahoma Sooners. The Bears were looking to do two things: avoid losing a trap game and close out the Sooners in the regular season.
In the January 20 meeting between these two teams, the Bears received solid minutes out of MaCio Teague, Davion Mitchell and Freddie Gillespie. Teague was out against West Virginia and Oklahoma with a wrist injury. In that game, the Bears won the rebounding and turnover battles 46-36 and 11-8 respectively.
In order for the Sooners to win at home, they needed to win those categories and get more scoring from their starters. Brady Manek was the lone double-figure scorer with 21 points in Waco.
The Baylor Bears are in the driver seat of their playoff hopes and slated as a No.1 seed in the South Region.
Mitchell and Kristian Doolittle knocked down threes to start the game for both teams.
It went back and forth before Baylor basketball went on a 17-2 run that spanned about seven minutes. The Oklahoma Sooners countered that with a 9-0 run thanks to Manek.
The Bears went into halftime up six, 30-24. Manek led all scorers with those nine points and Jared Butler led the Bears with eight points and three rebounds.
After baskets from Mitchell for Baylor and Alondes Williams for Oklahoma to start the second half, the Bears stayed true to what got them their big lead in the first half. They took the ball inside and scored with the exception of a three-pointer made by Butler.
After a De’Vion Harmon three-pointer for the Sooners, the Bears lead was cut to three, 39-36. On the defensive end, they caused a shot clock violation.
The Bears pushed their lead to 10 points, 50-40, thanks to Butler, Gillespie and Tristan Clark. The Sooners were in the bonus so that was going to be important if they managed to get the ball inside and draw fouls.
The Bears went on a 13-2 run.
Under five minutes to go, the Sooners were down 61-51 and the Bears were doing a great job of holding on to their lead.
Baylor basketball won this game because of stout defense and even better offense from key players. The final score was 65-54. They have won 23 games in a row, the longest winning streak in Big 12 history.
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Butler finished with 22 points, his seventh 20 point game this season. Oklahoma received solid production from Doolittle (18 points, 10 rebounds), Williams (11 points) and Manek (10 points).
The Baylor Bears play the Kansas Jayhawks in the Ferrell Center on Saturday. Oklahoma goes on the road to play Oklahoma State Saturday as well.