Oklahoma Basketball: Sooners mauled by No. 2 Baylor, 76-61

On Wednesday night, the Oklahoma Sooners were thoroughly outclassed by the No. 2 Baylor Bears (10-0, 3-0) in Waco to the tune of 76-61. With the loss, OU falls to 6-3 on the season, 2-2 in Big 12 play.

Senior shooting guard Austin Reaves led all scorers on a night when points were hard to come by for the Sooners. Following a slow start, the former Wichita State Shocker filled up the stat sheet with 19 points (6-14 FG, 2-9 from three), seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.

The first half started about as poorly as it could have for Oklahoma. Baylor took the lead early and never relinquished it the rest of the night. After falling into a 16-2 hole, the Sooners slowly chipped their way back into the contest, cutting the deficit to as little as five points before the Bears flipped a switch and began to bury their competition. Over the game’s first 20 minutes, Lon Kruger’s team was absolutely abysmal from the field, shooting just under 21 percent collectively. OU trailed, 42-25 at the break.

In the second half, the Sooners found more of a rhythm on offense while the Bears cooled down on the other end of the court. Unfortunately for Oklahoma, there just wasn’t enough firepower to truly compete with Baylor consistently throughout the evening. Scott Drew likely has his best team of his coaching tenure in Waco, and possibly the Big 12’s top squad this season.

Up next, Oklahoma wraps up its four-game gauntlet at No. 6 Kansas (9-2, 3-1) on Saturday, Jan. 9. Last season, the Sooners lost both meetings with the Jayhawks by an average of 15.5 points. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. CT on CBS.

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