Oklahoma picked up their season at the right time. The No.17 Sooners are now real threats to make a run in the Big 12 tournament and locks to head into the NCAA big dance. The team has won four-straight games before earning a first-round bye in conference play. Now, the Sooners begin the real test in the Big 12 tournament as they face the Baylor Bears on Thursday night.
The Sooners have confidence. The finished the regular season just two games back from Kansas while sitting tied in the league with 82.5 points per game. Oklahoma has not won a conference tournament since they won it three straight years from 2001 to 2003. They will be looking for the their fifth straight win as the No. 2 seed. The team comes into the tournament after crushing TCU 97-67 after Buddy Hield put up 24 points and Cameron Clark and Isaiah Cousins combined for 18 apiece.
The Sooners swept the Bears in the regular season. However, Baylor has some momentum of their own. The team has gone 8-1 over their past nine matchups including an opening round win over TCU to kickoff the conference tournament. Cory Jefferson had 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win while Royce O'Neale added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The issue for Baylor is their lack of success against ranked teams. The Bears are just 3-7 against top 25 teams and just 10-41 against the Sooners. Jefferson failed in the two games against the Big 12 rival this season. Despite averaging 13.6 points per game, he combined for just 19 points on 38.9 percent shooting against the Sooners this year. The Bears need him to step up as the team is 20-5 when he scores at least 10 points in a game.
