By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer
No. 2 Baylor men’s basketball came back from a slow start Saturday against Oklahoma State to pull out a 75-68 win. The Bears were down by as many as 10 points with less than 13 minutes to go.
The Baylor offense struggled throughout the game as three starters, redshirt-junior guard MaCio Teague, junior forward Mark Vital and redshirt-sophomore guard Davion Mitchell, combined for 9 points on 2-16 shooting. The trio also supplied a grand total of 13 rebounds, four assists and five turnovers.
OSU, meanwhile, had four players, including one off the bench, score 60 of their points. Cameron McGriff and Isaac Likekele scored 16 each, while Lindy Waters III put up and Thomas Dziagwa put up 14 each
Another Bear trio, sophomore guard Jared Butler (17 points), redshirt-senior forward Freddie Gillespie (17) and senior Devonte Bandoo (16), were responsible for 67% of Baylor’s scoring. Bandoo’s performance off the bench featured season-highs in points, threes attempted and threes made.
Junior forward Tristan Clark also had one of his most efficient games since returning from injury, posting eight points on 4-4 shooting with two rebounds in just 12 minutes. Sophomore guard Matthew Mayer also added six points, two boards and two dimes in 14 minutes.
Oklahoma State’s offensive onslaught through the middle half of the game was spurred by hot three-point shooting and a major advantage in size and rebounding. The Cowboys shot 42% from deep, tied for their best result from behind the arc all season. They also beat out the Bears in both offensive (12-9) and defensive (25-21) rebounds as Baylor lost the battle on the boards for just the fifth time this season.
Even with the raining threes and consistent rebounding from Oklahoma State, the Bears’ defense kept them in the game. Baylor forced 15 turnovers compared to OSU’s nine and gained 22 points off of those mistakes compared to the Cowboys’ eight. The Bears also took advantage of Oklahoma State’s sloppy fouls, nailing 19 of their 23 free throws after 19 personal fouls.
The Bears improve to 15-1 on the season with the win and have now won 14 straight after dropping their second game of the season. They are also a perfect 3-0 on the road and 5-0 in conference play.
Baylor will take on the other team from across the Red River at 8 p.m. Monday when Oklahoma comes to the Ferrell Center. The game will be aired on ESPN and can be streamed on the ESPN app.
