Oklahoma Primed For Crucial Big 12 Road Test in Waco

NORMAN – No. 16 Oklahoma is primed for a huge road test in a game that could go a long way toward the team's hunt for its first Big 12 title since 2009. The Sooners (18-4, 8-3 Big 12) head to Waco, Texas, Tuesday for a 7 p.m. showdown with Baylor (16-6, 7-3 Big 12) in a battle between teams that occupy the second and third spots respectively in the conference race. The game will air on ESPN+ with John Morris and Jim Haller, with Chris Plank providing play-by-play on the Sooner Radio Network.

The Sooners enter Tuesday night one game back of No. 20 Texas in the conference's title race, and were ranked No. 16 in the latest AP Poll. The NCAA Selection Committee will reveal its initial top-16 rankings on Thursday, giving insight into which teams might host the first two rounds of this year's NCAA Tournament.

THE STARTING FIVE

Tuesday night's game will mark the first time in 20 years that Oklahoma and Baylor have met with the Sooners ranked and the Bears unranked. That game, played Jan. 26, 2003, saw Dionnah Jackson hit the game-winning 3-pointer with just a second on the clock as then-No. 22 OU won in Waco. 65-64, to mark the program's 10th straight win over the Bears. Since that contest, the Sooners have only won in Waco four times, with one of the wins coming in 2022.
Oklahoma is one of two schools (Vermont) in Division I to start the same starting five in every game this season. The Sooners have let Nevaeh Tot, Ana Llanusa, Madi Williams, Taylor Robertson and Liz Scott hear their names called before each contest. The five have combined for 472 career starts, and each player has a winning record as a starter. The experience is highlighted by Taylor Robertson's 139 starts and Madi Williams' 130. Robertson needs just two more starts to break Danielle Robinson's program record of 140. Robertson is slated to tie Robinson on Tuesday night.
The Sooners have the country's No. 3 scoring offense, pouring in 86.5 points per game powered by a 20.7 assists (3rd NCAA) per game. The Sooners' 1.28 assist/turnover ratio ranks 10th nationally as the Crimson and Cream's 9.1 3-pointers per game are eighth most in the country. The Sooners have scored at least 88 points 13 times this season, six of which came vs. Big 12 teams.
A win on Tuesday would secure the 31st season that OU has won at least half of its conference games, and 22nd time in the last 24 years.
Oklahoma already has wins over six NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago, dispatching BYU (11/15), UT Arlington (11/20), Ole Miss (12/4), Florida (12/21), Iowa State (1/8) and Kansas (1/14). The Sooners have the best winning percentage vs. top-100 NET teams in the Big 12 at 9-4 (.692). OU is 15-0 under Baranczyk vs. teams outside of the NET's top 100.

SERIES HISTORY

Tuesday is the 64th all-time meeting between Oklahoma and Baylor, with the Bears holding a 17-10 lead win Waco. The Sooners knocked off the Bears in Waco last season, 78-77, at the Ferrell Center. But Baylor has won two straight, defeating OU in the Big 12 semifinal in Kansas City and then this season in Norman, 81-70.

KNOW YOUR FOE

Baylor (16-6, 7-3 Big 12) received the 26th most votes in Monday's AP Top 25 Poll, leaving the Bears just outside the top 25. Despite not appearing in the AP Top 25, Baylor enters Tuesday night 23rd in the NET, 20 spots higher than Oklahoma. A campaign highlighted by wins over Villanova, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Kansas (2x) has the Bears in the mix for another conference title. BU knocked off Oklahoma, 81-70, earlier this year at Lloyd Noble Center and has won two in a row vs. the Sooners.

LAST TIME OUT

Oklahoma led by as many as 29 points in the first half and cruised to a 93-68 win over West Virginia on Saturday in Norman. Five Sooners scored in double figures as No. 20 Oklahoma (18-4, 8-3 Big 12) set a new program mark with 18 first-half assists, breaking a nearly 40-year-old record. The Sooners led West Virginia (14-7, 5-5 Big 12) for almost the entirety of the contest to clinch their eighth win in Big 12 play, and improve to 11-1 at Lloyd Noble Center this season.

UP NEXT

A return to national television is in store for the Sooners when they travel to Manhattan, Kan., for a Sunday showdown with Kansas State. The game, set for 1 p.m. at Bramlage Coliseum, will air nationally on ESPNU.