Postgame Takeaways: #5 Seed OSU 83 #1 Seed Baylor 74

Baylor (22-2) allows 31 points in the last 7 1/2 minutes as OSU (20-7) finishes the game on a 31-14 run to knock the Bears out of the Big12 Tournament.  

Positives

• The Bears will get more rest and practice time in Indianapolis before starting the NCAA Tournament as a likely #1 seed
• 19 offensive rebounds on 48 missed shots is solid
• The Bears started the second half on a 30-17 run with some good stretches of energy and defense
• Good to see Flo Thamba and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua knock down their free throws
• Much easier to win 6 in a row than 12 in a row.  
• 40% chance of making the Final 4 as a 1 seed.  We are healthy.  Let’s figure this out!  

Needs Work

• Bench production continues to struggle.  Flagler, Mayer and Jonathan had a few sparks but not playing at anything close to their level as a unit before the COVID pause.  
• Too much hero ball in crunch time.  Ball was sticking and bad decisions were being made.  
• Lack of urgency, grit, energy, swagger, confidence... as Jason King said in his post game article, they played hard but the JOY was missing and they looked too complacent.  Some guys were not making the extra pass to get teammates easier looks.  
• Lack of fundamentals defensively.  This team is not even close to where it was earlier in the year defensively.  Can we regain that?  Time is running out.