Lester Medford had one of his most frustrating games of the season five weeks ago against the Sooners. Baylor’s point guard turned the ball over six times and scored just six points, and was largely the reason why a home game against the Oklahoma Sooners wasn't even close. The 82-72 final wasn't anywhere near as competitive as it suggests. Now, Medford and his Bears will get a chance at revenge Tuesday night in Norman.
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HOW THE BAYLOR BEARS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
In fairness to Baylor, Oklahoma isn't shooting 16-of-28 from beyond the arc most nights like it did in the first go round. The Sooners were unconscious shooting the basketball, but offensively, both Rico Gathers and Medford were completely MIA.
Gathers has completely fallen out of favor with Baylor electing to use a smaller lineup more often than not, but Medford is still a huge key. He's generally really good with the basketball, and it isn't often he has a game where he has fewer assists than turnovers. However, he has to do some scoring as well to win this one.
Medford doesn't have to score 20; he's got Taurean Prince and the up and coming Johnathan Motley to do the heavy lifting from the scoring standpoint. However, if Medford isn't effective at both ends of the court, this game is going to turn into a laugher.
HOW THE OKLAHOMA SOONERS CAN COVER THE SPREAD
It's really easy to see what happened last Saturday in Austin to the Sooners. Buddy Hield stopped scoring with about seven minutes left in the game, and no one was able to pick him up. Oklahoma let the Longhorns go on an epic 22-0 run to effectively end that game before Hield hit a meaningless three with less than a minute to go.
Hield scored 33 points and shot 12-of-14 from the field and 6-of-13 from long range. The rest of the team shot 9-of-37 from the field and 4-of-15 from beyond the arc and scored 30 points.
That's just not going to cut it. Sure, it's Hield who will have to hit the highest percentage of shots on the team, but if the rest of the club isn't competitive around him, the Sooners are going to struggle once again.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
Baylor might be a really good team with Final Four aspirations, but Oklahoma is the significantly better of the two sides. We just can't see Isaiah Cousins shooting 3-of-13 from the floor again as he did on Saturday, and with this being the final game of his collegiate career to be played in Norman, we have to think he's going to put on a show alongside fellow senior, Hield.
The Sooners might not shoot 61 percent from the floor again as they did in Waco, but they aren't going to have to either. If they can get into the high-40s in terms of shooting percentage, Baylor's offensive inconsistencies and lack of defensive presence will once again show.
We suspect the Sooners will finish their home docket with a double-digit victory to sweep this season series.
Oklahoma 84, Baylor 71
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