Live In-Game Updates: Baylor Bears Host Oklahoma State Cowboys
Fresh off their first conference win of the season, the Baylor Bears play host to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a Big 12 showdown Saturday afternoon. Both teams are battling to get out of the bottom half of the conference standings after slow starts to the new year.
The Bears have dominated the rivalry lately, winning 12 of the last 15 games against the Pokes, but Oklahoma State came into the Ferrell Center and knocked off the Bears last year when Baylor was ranked No. 1 in the country. In the return fixture, the Bears muscled out an overtime victory in Stillwater.
Baylor is coming off their first Big 12 win of the season, a slugfest in Morgantown with 69 combined free throws, 83-78. The game was the Keyonte George show, as the freshman went off for a career-high 32 points to go along with seven rebounds. In his return to the Coliseum after playing two seasons at West Virginia, Jalen Bridges notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 36 minutes.
While the Bears have struggled on the defensive end, Oklahoma State ranks dead last in the conference at just over 68 points a game. The Cowboys are also last in the league in field goals, assists and are ninth in three-pointers made. Conversely, the Pokes lead the conference in rebounds and blocks.
OKLAHOMA STATE STARTERS
G Avery Anderson
G Bryce Thompson
G John-Michael Wright
F Kalib Boone
F Tyreek Smith
BAYLOR STARTERS
G Keyonte George
G LJ Cryer
G Adam Flagler
F Flo Thamba
F Jalen Bridges
UNDER-16: Baylor leads 13-0. Cryer opens the scoring with an elbow three and then hits another two possessions later so the Bears jump out to an 8-0 lead. Bridges hits a straightaway three to make it 13-0
UNDER-12: Baylor leads 17-9. Flagler hits a three but is responded by an Asberry three for the Cowboys to make it 16-5. After a steal at midcourt, Bridges blocks Newton's layup. Asberry blocks Bonner's three and takes it the other way for a layup to make it 17-9.
UNDER-8: Baylor leads 23-17. Cowboys score six quick points on two three-pointers, forcing Scott Drew to call a timeout with the score 17-15. Flagler responds with a three to put the lead back at five. Bridges cleans up a Cryer miss for the layup to go up six.
UNDER-4: Baylor leads 34-23. After back to back turnovers by the Bears, George and Cryer hit threes to push the lead to 15, the largest of the evening. Off an offensive rebound, Smith slams home a dunk to cut the lead to 11.
Cryer's three off an offensive rebound puts the margin at 16 with just under a minute to go. Oklahoma State doesn't score the last four minutes of the half.
HALFTIME: Baylor 39, Oklahoma State 23
SECOND HALF
UNDER-16: Baylor leads 47-27. Bears score six of the first eight points of the half, including a Cryer fadeaway jumper before he assists on a Bridges dunk on the next possession.
UNDER-12: Baylor leads 59-36. Bears extend the lead to 21 when Cryer throws a lob for a Lohner alley-oop and then George hits another three on the next possession. Ojianwuna scores four straight points, a dunk and a slick fadeaway jumper from the free throw line.
UNDER-8: Baylor leads 66-42. After a 15 minute power outage delay, the Bears get baskets from Thamba and Love, but the Cowboys get two three-pointers.
UNDER-4: Baylor leads 70-47. George finds Bridges on a beautiful feed in the paint for a layup.
FINAL SCORE: Baylor 74, Oklahoma State 58
Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.