OU Opens Big 12 Championship Against Baylor

(No. 7) Oklahoma

(No. 2) Baylor

Thursday, March 10 / 6 p.m. CT / T-Mobile Center / Kansas City, Mo.

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NORMAN – No. 7 seed Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 Big 12) opens the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Thursday, March 10 against No. 2 seed Baylor (26-5, 14-4 Big 12). It marks the third time this season the two programs will meet and the Bears have been ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll in all three meetings.

The Sooners enter postseason play on a three-game winning streak, beating Oklahoma State, West Virginia and K-State. Umoja Gibson led the Sooners with 29 points in the regular season finale and tallied seven 3-pointers. Fellow senior Tanner Groves tallied 14 points, four rebounds and three assists in the victory and was named Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week for the third time after aiding the Sooners to victories over WVU and KSU.

ON THE AIR

Thursday's game will be available on ESPN with Jon Sciambi, Fran Fraschilla and Kris Budden on the call.

The contest tips at 6 p.m. CT and will air on the Sooner Sports Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM The Franchise in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Varsity Radio App) with Toby Rowland and Kevin Henry announcing.

SCOUTING THE BEARS

Baylor (26-5, 14-4) Big 12 earned a share of the Big 12 regular season title with its 75-68 victory over Iowa State. The Bears enter the Big 12 Championship on a five-game winning streak and have victories over Kansas, Texas, TCU and Oklahoma State.
BU's Scott Drew was named Big 12 Coach of the Year and became the first Big 12 coach to earn the honor in three-straight seasons. Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua was named Big 12 Co-Defense Player of the Year and Jeremy Sochan earned Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year award. James Akinjo was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, Adam Flagler to the second team and Matthew Mayer and Sochan earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention accolades.
Kendall Brown and Sochan were unanimous selections on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team, Akinjo was named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team and Tchamwa Tchatchoua was honored on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

OKLAHOMA VS. BAYLOR TIDBITS

Oklahoma and Baylor will meet for the third time this season and OU holds a 3-2 advantage in neutral site games.
Senior guard Umoja Gibson is from Waco, Texas. In the Jan. 4, 2022 meeting, Gibson scored 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting and added five assists, four steals and a rebound.
In the Feb. 26, 2005 clash between OU and Baylor, the Sooners tallied a program record 66.1% (39-for-59) field goal percentage. The Sooners had five players finish in double figures and were led by Taj Gray's 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting.

OKLAHOMA LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma (17-14, 7-11 Big 12) extended its winning streak to three games and handed Kansas State (14-16, 6-12) its first loss in Manhattan since the 2012 season.
Umoja Gibson caught fire early for the Sooners and finished with a team-high 29 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field. The senior sharpshooter tallied seven 3-pointers. Tanner Groves added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Oklahoma entered halftime with a one-point lead. K-State continued to battle back and kept the score close until eight minutes remained. Ethan Chargois buried a three to make it 62-56 and OU pushed its lead to 11 after Gibson's sixth made trey. KSU chipped away to get within six before OU scored four points over 21 seconds to put the Sooners up 10 with 1:13 left.

UP NEXT

The winner of the quarterfinal matchup will play the winner of Iowa State vs. Texas Tech Friday, March 11 at 8:30 p.m.