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Oklahoma

Baylor clobbers OU; Rivaldo Soares leaves with ankle injury

Bob Przybyloby: Bob Przybylo02/14/24BPrzybylo
NCAA Basketball: Oklahoma at Baylor
Feb 13, 2024; Waco, Texas, USA; Oklahoma Sooners guard Otega Oweh (3) drives to the basket past Baylor Bears guard RayJ Dennis (10) during the first half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports

OU basketball went toe-to-toe with Baylor for almost 15 minutes. And then the Bears went to a level the Sooners simply didn’t have in them.

Baylor took control and never looked back in thumping OU 79-62 on Tuesday night in Waco in the teams’ only meeting of the season.

Milos Uzan hit a 3-pointer to make it 20-20. However, Baylor finished on a 20-7 run to end the half and then stretched the lead even more throughout the second half.

OU was faced with its biggest deficit of the season multiple times in the second half, biggest margin being 21 points. Rivaldo Soares was the lone player to score double-digits for the Sooners (17) before leaving with injury.

Game 25 Takeaways from the couch

*Rivaldo Soares keeps delivering. Delivering at such a high rate that you almost wonder if head coach Porter Moser will be forced to make a move, provided Soares is OK. He did pick up another technical foul, but he was also the only player to show some life, especially in the second half.

Soares was the highlight with 17 points and five rebounds. But it is a scary time for the Sooners. Soares injured his left ankle with five minutes left in the game. If he is out for any extended period of time at all, it’s a season-changing type of blow for OU.

It just is. He has been so productive in the last month. Soares has felt like the only player getting better as conference play keeps going. Not surviving but thriving. His status is now the biggest question of the season.

*It was going to be a tough task to begin with, but OU was not close to 100 percent in the post. Jalon Moore was battling the flu, per the ESPN2 broadcast. And we learned just before tipoff that John Hugley would not be playing because of a knee injury. Moser told OU radio play-by-play announcer Toby Rowland before the game that Hugley is day-to-day.

*OU gave up at least 10 3-pointers (11) for the first time this season. Baylor shot over 50 percent. OU had seven turnovers in the first half. Just add it all up, and recipe for a blowout loss.

Up next

A couple of teams licking their wounds after Monday and Tuesday. No. 25 OU (18-7, 6-6) welcomes No. 6 Kansas to the Lloyd Noble Center 3 p.m. Saturday. KU handled OU pretty easily in Lawrence last month. Moser has not defeated the Jayhawks in his Sooner tenure. KU lost 79-50 at Texas Tech on Monday.

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