As good as Trae Young has been, all his points have failed to get the Oklahoma Sooners a road win in 2018. OU was a threat for the Big 12 title when league play began, now the Sooners are hoping they’ve done enough to reach the NCAA Tournament. Young tallied one of his four 40-point games earlier this season when OU knocked off the Baylor Bears in a nail-biter in Norman, now it’s time for the Bears to get some payback.
This war on the floor will go down Tuesday, February 27, 2018, at 9 p.m. ET at the Ferrell Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. We'll have NCAA basketball odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the college basketball Tuesday schedule.
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Oklahoma has been a mess since the middle of last month, plummeting down the Big 12 standings and out of the national rankings. The Sooners ended a six-game losing streak by knocking off Kansas State on Saturday. The slide started after OU edged Baylor at home. The Sooners covered the 5.5-point line in their 86-77 win over the Wildcats, ending an eight-game ATS skid, but they’ve gone winless in seven straight Big 12 road games and eight straight overall, going 0-8 ATS in that span.
The NCAA Tournament hopes of the Bears are clinging on the final regular season games and the Big 12 Tournament. A recent five-game winning streak had the Bears feeling comfortable about their at-large odds, but they’ve taken a dip with a pair of losses in their last two games. We’ve seen an inconsistent offense lately and the Bears actually won a game by scoring just 59 points. Baylor will be favored in this one and they need to take advantage of a poor road club.
Last Meeting
Playing without second-leading scorer Christian James, the Sooners used a huge night from Young to outlast Baylor 98-96. The freshman had been criticized for his selfish and inefficient play, but he was brilliant against the Bears.
Young scored 44 points on 11 of 20 shooting, and he drained 6 of 11 threes to bolster the offense. He made the Bears work on defense and his ability to sink the triple opened up driving lanes. Young used his slashing moves to get to the free-throw line a season-high 19 times and he made 16 of those attempts, matching the number of freebies the entire Baylor team attempted.
Baylor did plenty right in this game and had a chance late to tie or win. Manu Lecomte scored 29 points and Nuni Omot had 23, but a missed foul shot by Jake Lindsey with Baylor trailing by a point in the final seconds proved fatal.
Player to Watch
There is plenty of talent on the floor and several players who can fill it up. But the biggest is Young, who continues to lead the nation in scoring and assists. For a guy who does so much, he’s going to take his share of criticism, and Young has been criticized for being a selfish player.
But that’s how the Sooners are built. Young is the The Guy and he’s going to get plenty of opportunities to showcase his talents. What makes the Sooners successful is when Young plays inspired and gets his teammates involved. The Sooners may have turned a corner on Saturday when they ended a six-game losing streak and played one of their better games in some time.
OU fed off Young’s efficient play on both ends of the floor. The Sooners shot 52 percent and Young didn’t even take the most shots. James had 12 attempts and was one of four Sooners in double figures. OU also played inspired defense, holding K-State to just 19 percent three-point shooting.
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Baylor really needs some victories to avoid sitting on the bubble and this is one more opportunity. As we all know it’s difficult to win on the road in the Big 12 and the Bears are looking for some revenge after losing a close one in Norman last month.
And the Sooners have been atrocious on the road in 2018, going 0-7 in Big 12 play and 0-8 overall. They got a lift by ending their skid with a win over the weekend and look to continue that momentum. Young will be the focal point and the Bears need to do a better job defensively on him. Don’t expect Young to have as many opportunities from the stripe and the Bears take advantage of a struggling road team.
College Basketball Odds: Baylor 89, Oklahoma 85
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