MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The Sooners had a chance to beat topranked Baylor in the end Monday night but a 3-pointer didn't fall
With 12 seconds left in Oklahoma's game against No. 1-ranked Baylor, the Sooners had a chance to tie the game or steal the lead.
Senior Kristian Doolittle stole the ball and dribbled it up the court before passing to freshman De'Vion Harmon. At the same time, redshirt junior Austin Reaves ran down the sideline, calling for the ball. Harmon passed the ball to Reaves, who took a 3-point shot from the corner. The ball bounced off the rim and into the hands of a Baylor player.
The So one rs were down by two points at that point and lost the game 61-57.
Reaves has struggled from behind the 3-point line lately, and he was 2- for -11 from 3- point range Monday night.
“I can' t say we had anything drawn up,” OU coach Lon Kruger said of the play. “It's a steal and it's a break. We'll take that of course any time we can get that with the game on the line.
“I thought the guys defensively on that last possession did a good job to come up with the loose ball. That was the starting point.”
Sooners fall short in rebounding battle
The Sooners also lost there bound battle to Baylor, 46-36.
“( We) couldn't keep them off the boards ,” Kruger said. “That was probably our biggest concern going in … They're terrific on going to the offensive boards, and those guards are terrific.”
Rebounding was a focus for the Bears heading into the game, forward Freddie Gillespie said. Baylor struggled on the glass against Oklahoma State on Saturday, only picking up 30 rebounds.
“At Oklahoma State, we kind of got our butts handed to us on the offensive glass and defensive glass ,” Gillespie said. “So Coach (Scott) Drew made it a point to say go out there and if anything win the boards tonight.”
Against the Sooners, the Bears got off to a strong start rebounding. Baylor led in rebounds 25-14 at halftime.
But OU crashed the boards better in the second half, outrebounding Baylor 22-21.
Gillespie had a gamehigh 15 rebounds.
Baylor still finished with 10 more rebounds than OU, a statistic that hurt the Sooners in the nail bit er against the top-ranked team in the country.
Oklahoma did have two players rebound in double digits — Brady Manek had 10 rebounds and Kristian Doolittle recorded 11.
Sooners' scoring trio struggles
Before OU' s game against Baylor, the Sooners were t he only team in the Big 12 with three players averaging more than 15 points per game.
Doolittle, Brady Manek and Reaves have been one of the top scoring trios in the country, but against Baylor, Manek was the only one to score in double digits.
Manek had 21 points in the Sooners' loss. Reaves and Doolittle tallied eight points each, shooting a combined 7-of-31 from the field.
All three remained in the top 10 in the Big 12 in average points per game.
Doolittle ranks No. 4, Manek is No .5 and Re ave sis at No .10 in average points per game.