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Baylor shuts down struggling Oklahoma

Jan 25, 2015 - 2:56 AM Waco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Lester Medford scored 17 points and dished out five assists to help No. 21 Baylor exact some revenge on slumping Oklahoma with a 69-58 victory over the 19th-ranked Sooners.

Kenny Chery went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in a 13-point effort for the Bears (15-4, 3-3 Big 12), who turned the tables on the Sooners to reverse a 73-63 loss in Norman earlier this month.

Oklahoma held Baylor to a 37.3 field goal percentage in the previous meeting, but the Sooners shot just 38.7 percent in Saturday's rematch to fall for the fourth time in five games.

Buddy Hield, the Big 12's leading scorer, went 0-for-7 on 3-point tries and 6- of-17 overall to finish with 12 points for Oklahoma (12-7, 3-4). The Sooners managed only a 6-of-24 rate from long distance.

"We turned up our intensity. It led to transition and easy baskets," said Baylor forward Royce O'Neal. "We had dunk after dunk after dunk. Everyone was being unselfish and sharing the ball."

Oklahoma also had to deal with limited duty from its second-leading scorer, Isaiah Cousins, who played just 18 minutes and sat out most of the second half with an injured wrist.

"His wrist bent back and was pretty sore," Sooners head coach Lon Kruger said afterward. "They're getting X-rays now to see if it's anything more. He wanted to go and tried to go, but it was pretty painful."

Despite their offensive struggles and the absence of Cousins, who did not return after departing with 15:40 remaining, the Sooners owned a 49-46 lead after Jordan Woodard knocked down a 3-pointer with just over eight minutes to go.

Oklahoma's next points did not come for more than 5 1/2 minutes, however, as the Bears embarked on a 15-3 run to take control for good.

Chery began the surge with a triple and Medford and O'Neal canned treys as well during the pivotal stretch, which Chery capped with a pair of free throws to put Baylor up 61-52 with 2:18 left.

Ryan Spangler's layup on the ensuing possession finally put an end to the Sooners' drought, but transition dunks by Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince had the Bears in front comfortably at 65-54 nearing the final minute.

"I was really proud of how we executed down the stretch, because like any Big 12 team, (Oklahoma) is a great team that made us work really hard to get a win," said Baylor head coach Scott Drew.

Oklahoma shot just 30.6 percent while trailing 30-24 at intermission, but began the second half on a 7-0 spurt to move ahead for the first time of the day. Baylor countered with an 8-2 push to regain the upper hand, then Oklahoma answered with nine consecutive points shortly afterward to claim a 44-40 edge nearing the midway stage of the frame.

The Sooners, who could not overcome a 19-point halftime deficit in Monday's 85-78 loss, got this game off to a poor start as well.

Oklahoma missed 10 of its first 11 shots as Baylor began the contest on an 11-4 run, with Medford accounting for seven of those points. The Bears' lead was up to nine later in the period when Chery buried a trey to make the score 21-12.

The Sooners did pick it up towards the end of the half, putting forth a 6-0 run to close within 27-24 with under a minute left. Chery hit another triple with six seconds on the clock, however, to send Baylor into the break up by six.

Game Notes

Hield was averaging 18.1 points per game coming in and 26.3 points over Oklahoma's previous four contests ... The Bears ended 9-of-19 on 3-point attempts ... Baylor improved to 11-1 at home this season, with the lone blemish a 56-55 setback to Kansas on Jan. 7 ... Woodard finished with 12 points and six assists for Oklahoma, which fell to 5-38 on the road against Top 25 teams dating back to 2001.