WACO, Texas — A month ago Trae Young was getting heavy hype as the player of the year, but now it looks like his Sooners are going to need a make a big run in the Big 12 Tournament in order to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Terry Maston scored 23 points and Baylor beat cold-shooting Oklahoma 87-64 on Tuesday night. Young scored 18 to lead Oklahoma (17-12, 7-10 Big 12), but that was a far cry from the 44 he dropped on the Bears in their first meeting. Young, the national leader in scoring and assists, had five assists and eight turnovers.
The Sooners were doubled up in the paint 52-26 and were only 12 of 21 from the free throw line, continuing their late-season slide. The Sooners have dropped seven of their last eight and will likely need to win their final regular season game and a game or two at the Big 12 Championships to find a way into the NCAA Tournament.
As for Baylor, Maston made his first career start on senior night, his 102nd game played for the Bears, and made the most of it with a 10-for-14 shooting night despite being saddled with three fouls in the first half. Baylor shot 51 percent as a team and controlled the boards, 44-29.
Jo Lual-Acuil had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bears (18-12, 8-9 Big 12), who also received 16 points from Manu Lecomte.
Oklahoma made both of its shots from the floor in the opening minute to break out to a 5-0 lead but missed its next 15 and 19 of its next 20. The Sooners were 5 for 25 in the first half and finished shooting 38 percent for the game.
Baylor took advantage with a 22-2 run that took it from trailing 10-9 to leading 31-12 despite four of its players picking up two fouls apiece in the game’s first eight minutes.
— with AP