Oklahoma road loser again, 70-60 at No. 13 Baylor

WACO, Texas – Oklahoma got bothered by the big bodies No. 13 Baylor has inside and beat by the little shooters hitting from outside.

The Sooners also got blanked from long range for the first time in more than 15 years.

Pierre Jackson and Brady Heslip each had four 3-pointers, and both hit from long range in the Bears' game-turning run midway through the second half in Baylor's 70-60 victory Saturday.

"We didn't shoot it as quite as well, thanks to their length and ranginess. We missed some opportunities," Sooners coach Lon Kruger said. "They knocked down opportunities to take an even ballgame to eight, 10, and we fight from that deficit the rest of the way. We've got to get better."

The game was tied for the 12th time before Jackson's 3 put the Bears (24-5, 11-5 Big 12) up 49-46 with 10:48 left. That started a 13-2 run that was capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Heslip.

Baylor, the league's top-shooting team from beyond the arc, has made a 3-pointer in 648 consecutive games.

Oklahoma (14-14, 4-12) went for 0 for 12 from long range and ended a streak of 510 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer. The last time that happened was Dec. 23, 1996, at Memphis.

"We had some looks from 3, obviously we didn't make any today. We need those guys to keep looking and stay aggressive," Kruger said. "When Baylor is in a zone, those are the shots you're going to get. Again, ranginess I'm sure affected some of those. We have to step up there and shoot them aggressively."

Steven Pledger, despite going 0 for 5 on 3s, had 21 points to lead the Sooners, while Romero Osby and Cameron Clark had 12 each.

Jackson had 18 points for Baylor and Heslip 16. Quincy Miller had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Oklahoma led 34-31 at halftime. A 3-pointer by Jackson about 3 minutes into the second half tied the game at 36, and the teams went back and forth until Baylor's big spurt.

"Second halves have been very good in our last two games. Maybe it's our depth and wearing people down a little bit," Bears coach Scott Drew said. "Or maybe it's just us making more plays and playing with more energy."

Baylor goes into the final week of the regular season tied with Iowa State for third place in the Big 12 standings.

The Bears play their home finale Monday night against Texas Tech, when Quincy Acy, Fred Ellis and Anthony Jones will be honored as the winningest senior class in program history with 94 wins. They go on the road to play the Cyclones next Saturday.

Osby's jumper with 11 minutes left tied the game at 46. But the Sooners didn't make another field goal for nearly 6 minutes. But they were still down 59-50 when Andrew Fitzgerald ended their shooting drought.

The Sooners finished shooting 39 percent (23 of 59), the same as Baylor (21 of 54). The difference was the 3-pointers (8-0) and free throws (20-14).

Baylor completed its fourth Big 12 series sweep of the regular season. The Bears had never swept Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the same season.

The Sooners had won 30 straight against Baylor before January 2010. Baylor has won four of six in the series since then.

Oklahoma has lost seven of its eight Big 12 road games this season, and 22 of the last 24.

"To win today, we needed to make all the shots, all the opportunities we had," Kruger said. "There in the first half when we're up five, seven, to widen it out that point. When you play a good club like Baylor, you need as much margin as you can to work with. You know they're going to make that run in the second half."