Baylor Wins Fourth in a Row by Fine Margin, Topping Sooners 62-60

NORMAN, Oklahoma — The Baylor Men’s Basketball team (14-5, 4-3) eked a 62-60 win in Norman against the Oklahoma Sooners (11-8, 2-5) thanks to clutch outside shooting down the stretch from Jalen Bridges and Adam Flagler.

The Bears are now on a four-game win streak heading into their Big Monday matchup with Kansas.

Flagler led the Bears with 16 points and five assists while Jalen bridges turned a two-point first-half performance into an 11-point outing with three big second-half triples. All of Bridges’ threes came with under five minutes left.

Both halves were relatively low-scoring affairs for the Bears, who have one of the most efficient offenses in the nation according to KenPom. 

After starting things off 8-2, the green and gold allowed OU to grind their way to a 28-22 lead late in the half. This came thanks to Baylor going cold including a 1-for-7 shooting stretch. 

A Flo Thamba dunk and a tough layup from Langston Love cut the deficit to four at the half, 30-26.

The second half was a similarly hard-fought contest, with the lead never getting higher than four points for either side. 

After a rough first half, Keyonte George made a pair of vital threes as the Bears turned around their dismal 1-for-8 three-point shooting from the first half with a 6-for-12 performance in the second period.

George’s buckets were just a harbinger of what Bridges and Flagler would do down the stretch, however. 

With around five minutes to go and Tanner Groves gaining a 52-50 lead for the Sooners, Bridges would knock down a corner three to retake the lead for the Bears.

Groves and Bridges would trade buckets again, with the Bears coming out with a 56-54 advantage with 3:40 to play. 

That was when the hosts made their last big push. A 4-0 mini run courtesy of defensive miscommunication and a 2-on-1 transition opportunity put Baylor in a 58-56 hole. 

Not to be deterred, Bridges hit yet another corner three with 1:25 to go before Flagler knocked down an absolute dagger from deep for a 62-58 lead with 22 seconds remaining. 

The Bears were 6-for-12 from three in the second half to go along with a 30-12 second chance points advantage over OU.

Frankly, with the Bears only shooting 36% from the field, the game was won in large part on the boards. The green and gold grabbed nine more rebounds than the Sooners, including a 17-9 advantage in offensive rebounds.

Overall, this proved to be a gritty win for Baylor as they have fought their way back above .500 from an 0-3 start to Big 12 play.

Possibly their biggest test of the year is next though, with a Kansas Jayhawks team reeling from back-to-back losses coming to Waco for a nationally televised 8 PM tipoff on ESPN on Monday.