Baylor avoids letdown, earns top 25 win over Oklahoma State
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WACO, Texas — The No. 3 — but soon to be No. 2 — Baylor men’s basketball team (20-1,12-1) drubbed No. 17 Oklahoma State (17-7, 10-7) in the Ferrell Center 81-70.
The regular season Big 12 champions proved that Tuesday’s win in Morgantown was no fluke. People, myself included, still had the audacity to question how Baylor would compete riding the high of the league title, and this team left no doubt.
This, a game against the probable No. 1 draft pick, was domination, obliteration, humiliation and degradation. The Bears looked like the best team in the country against the best young player in the country. In other news, my Apple Watch broke at the game. For some reason, it was stuck on the same damn time.
Starting with the first half, both teams went tit for tat for the opening seven minutes. That’s when Baylor hit the red button of sheer destruction and turned a one-point deficit at 15-14 to a double-digit lead at 29-19 on a 15-4 run.
Do you want to know why Baylor went on a 15-4 run? Well, let me tell you. One of the features of that fancy, little red button is a clock. And while that clock is not broken, it only has one time — Matthew Mayer time. Upon entering, Mayer quickly amassed nine points, three boards and a charge.
Baylor would end the half just as hot offensively to procure a 42-31 lead at the break. After the opening 20, Baylor was 5-14 from deep compared to OSU’s 2-7, held a 22-14 advantage on the glass and had 11-4 points off turnovers lead. And the aforementioned Mayer led both teams in points and rebounds with 11 and five respectively.
The second half was fairly even keel. Cade Cunningham came alive for the Cowboys, but eight dominant players beat one dominant player every day of the week and twice on Thursdays. While Oklahoma State would pull things to 69-65, the aura of a Baylor win hung over the Ferrell Center for the full 40.
Trading blows, Butler’s team-leading 12 second-half points and 22 total hoisted Baylor to a 81-70 victory. The Bears finished the game 9-22 from behind the arc, led the rebounding bout 32-25, forced Cunningham to five turnovers and won the fast break points battle 11-2.
Isn’t it great to see the Big 12 champions play on their home floor like the Big 12 champions and topple the top NBA draft prospect? That question is rhetorical.