NORMAN — There was a sequence early in Oklahoma’s game Tuesday against No. 7 Baylor that has played out many times over the last month. How it played out shows the difference between teams that are winning and teams that are struggling.
Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson drove into the paint with the Sooners collapsing all over him. He kicked the ball out to forward Quincy Miller for a 3-pointer. That happens all the time in college basketball.
The reason the Sooners are struggling is that Miller had time to catch the ball, square his shoulders to the basket and do everything in perfect rhythm. No Sooner got a hand near his face to at least break his concentration for a millisecond. No one ran at him to give his peripheral vision something to detect. Miller was actually able to shoot a set shot. He made it, giving Baylor a 3-0 lead.
That possession was a rarity, but the Sooners (12-7, 2-5 Big 12) have allowed Big 12 Conference shooters to become way too comfortable.
Baylor’s were Tuesday, connecting on 9 of 18 3-point attempts.
“They had good rhythm jumpers that they can make,” Sooner coach Lon Kruger said. “We’ve got to do a little bit of a better job of covering both inside and outside.”
But it was a problem that carried over from OU’s loss to Texas A&M last Saturday. The Aggies went 7 for 19 from beyond the 3-point line. They, too, were able to get unencumbered jump shots at critical times.
Part of it boils to OU having to, at times, pick its poison. Baylor forward Perry Jones III demands attention. The Sooners often double-teamed Jones every time he touched the ball in the post. The extra defender was often a guard. That leaves more space open on the perimeter. The inability to get anywhere near those open shooters isn’t a matter of defensive scheme; it’s a matter of selling out on the defensive end.
Both forward Romero Osby and guard Steven Pledger admitted the team’s defensive intensity hasn’t reached the required level after Tuesday night’s loss.
“We’ve got to get tougher, mentally and physically,” Osby said. “We’ve got to find a way to get stops in crucial times.”
Until the Sooners do, losing streaks are going to be more common than winning streaks. They’ll take a two-game losing streak on the road Saturday to No. 22 Kansas State.
OU won the first meeting Jan. 14 at Lloyd Noble Center. The main reason was that it didn’t give the Wildcats many easy shots.
The Sooners haven’t guarded teams with that same intensity over the last two games.
John Shinn 366-3536 jshinn@normantranscript.com
