WACO, Texas – Buddy Hield scored all 19 of his points after halftime and No. 25 Oklahoma stormed from behind with a big run on the way to a 66-64 victory at No. 12 Baylor on Saturday.
The Sooners (14-4, 3-2 Big 12) were down by eight right after halftime before reeling off 16 consecutive points. Baylor regained the lead on a putback by Cory Jefferson with 9:13 left, and the lead changed hands three more times and there were three ties before Heild's 3-pointer with 4 minutes left made it 58-57. That put the Sooners ahead to stay.
Baylor (13-4, 1-3) had won 13 straight home games, and their only non-conference loss was to No. 2 Syracuse. The Bears next play at No. 15 Kansas on Monday night.
Jordan Woodard made two free throws with 29 seconds left for a 65-58 lead. Baylor's 7-foot-1 center Isaiah Austin then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key before Woodard, a 78 percent free throw shooter, missed after being fouled with 18 seconds left.
Austin hit another 3 from pretty much the same spot and Woodard had the ball again and was fouled. Woodard made the second of two free throws with 9.1 seconds left, leaving Baylor with one more chance.
After point guard Kenny Chery brought the ball down the court and passed it to Royce O'Neale whose pass toward Austin was deflected. O'Neale came away with the ball and turned for a shot, but it came after the buzzer and the basket that would have forced overtime didn't count.
Oklahoma got into the AP poll this week for the first time since November 2009, then promptly lost 72-66 at Kansas State while shooting a season-worst 33 percent. The Sooners were even worse than that in the first half Saturday before getting things on target in their big run.
Cameron Clark had 14 points and Woodard added 10 for Oklahoma. Ryan Spangler, the Gonzaga transfer, had seven points and nine rebounds.
Chery had 16 points and five assists for Baylor while Austin had 12 points and nine rebounds. Jefferson had 11 points and eight rebounds.
The Bears were deliberate on their opening possession of the second half, making several passes before finally finding Jefferson inside for a basket that made it 32-24. They then went 5½ minutes before Jefferson scored again.
At one point, Baylor coach Scott Drew ripped off his jacket in obvious anger with Austin down on the court after being elbowed in the face without a foul called. Drew even took two 30-second timeouts trying to slow down the Oklahoma run.
Woodard had a steal from Chery, then had an assist on Hield's layup that got the Sooners within 32-31 with 17:04 left. A minute later, Hield hit a 3-pointer to put the Sooners ahead for the first time since the game's opening minutes.
The Sooners made only one of their first 12 shots nearly 7 minutes into the game. But after making consecutive baskets, by Spangler and a 3-pointer by Woodard, they trailed only 11-9. They never got closer until after halftime, and trailed by as many as eight points before the break when they were shooting only 23 percent (7 of 30).
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