By John Shinn
The Norman Transcript
Norman — Oklahoma’s been trying to plug a leaking dam all season. Anytime a hole is seemingly fixed, water starts streaming from somewhere else.
Saturday’s 70-63 loss to No. 24 Baylor was another example of that frustration. The Sooners don’t have the tools to fix the problems.
“One of the things about our team that’s been frustrating and I know it’s hard for people to watch is just the inconsistency,” OU coach Jeff Capel said. “You’re really not sure what you’re going to get from each guy, game in and game out.”
Against the Bears, it got great post play. Tiny Gallon had his best performance of the season with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Ryan Wright came off the Sooner bench to add 14 points and five rebounds.
They were a combined 15-for-25 from the field and kept OU in position to win for 40 minutes.
“They gave me the ball and I tried to make plays,” Gallon said. “I tried to give my teammates the ball and I rebounded. I tried to get every rebound I could. I just played basketball.”
That hasn’t happened much for the Sooners this season. The double-double was Gallon’s first in conference play since Jan. 11 against Oklahoma State.
Coupled with Wright’s effort, it also marked one of the few times the Sooners actually won the battle in the post.
Yet, OU (13-15, 4-10 Big 12) ran its losing streak to six straight games.
The reason for that falls right in with the inconsistency.
The backcourt, which has carried the Sooners on the offensive end throughout the season, was the reason why.
It was a collective effort. Tommy Mason-Griffin, Tony Crocker, Cade Davis and Steven Pledger off the bench were a collective 7-for-37 from the field.
Once the misses started, they didn’t stop. Mason-Griffin, who’s averaged 18.2 points in conference play, was 3-for-19 and only one of the makes was in the second half. Davis, who was averaging 14.5 points over the previous eight games, was 2-for-10.
“I thought both of those guys got down on themselves and that can’t happen,” Capel said. “You just have to have the mentality, ‘I’m going to make the next one.’ That’s another little thing, but a huge thing. It’s being mentally tough and being able to fight and play through stuff.”
Baylor (22-6, 9-5) hadn’t won at Lloyd Noble Center since 1977. It appeared that streak might remain intact when the Sooners led by 10 midway through the first half, but the Bears were tougher.
Their backcourt handled OU’s early run and stayed in the game.
LaceDarius Dunn, who scored a team-high 21 points, hit a 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the first half to cut OU’s lead to one point. The lead changed hands nine times until midway through the five-minute mark in the second half.
When crunch time arrived, OU stopped scoring. Baylor didn’t.
The Bears’ Ekpe Udoh, who graduated from Edmond Santa Fe, scored 20 points, but he also blocked seven shots with three coming in the final two minutes. The swats helped ward off a Sooner comeback.
The Sooners only shot 34.3 percent from the field and allowed the Bears to hit at a 51.1 percent clip. Those numbers right there make it hard to believe OU even had a chance to win in the final minutes.
“It was just one of those afternoons where we couldn’t make shots,” Capel said.
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
