Sue Ogrocki | Associated Press
By Cody Soto
Sports Writer
No. 22 Baylor men’s basketball couldn’t overcome a four point deficit at halftime to drop a 73-63 decision to No. 18 Oklahoma Saturday afternoon in Norman, Okla.
The Big 12 conference opener was filled with 11 turnovers for Baylor, and the Bears shot 37.3 percent from the field. Redshirt freshman forward Johnathan Motley scored 24 points for the Bears and had an efficient 9-for-12 shooting percentage in the loss.
Junior forward Taurean Prince came in off the bench to score 17 points and was 50 percent on the court. Junior forward Rico Gathers had 12 rebounds but was only 2-for-6 as the Bears dropped their second game of the season.
TaShawn Thomas and Buddy Hield led the Sooners with 24 and 20 points respectively. Isaiah Cousins also had 19 points for the Sooners.
Both teams were neck and neck in the opening 20 minutes, and Baylor lead 8-6 early in the half. Motley fired away to score the first six points for the Bears. Several three pointers on both sides swayed the lead back and forth between the two Top 25 teams, but Oklahoma took the 37-33 lead heading into halftime.
Things got away from Baylor in the second half. After only trailing by four, the Sooners used their defense to force Baylor into an uncomfortable offense. The Bears had trouble having the ball fall during the second half, and Motley got into foul trouble as he picked up his fourth with time left on the clock.
The Bears were looking to make a comeback but eventually ran out time to drop their conference opener.
Baylor will face No. 13 Kansas in its home conference opener Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. in Waco and will air on ESPNU.
