Jayden Nunn’s 27 points carry No. 12 Baylor over No. 25 Oklahoma
Feb 13, 2024; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears forward Jalen Bridges (11) scores a three point basket against Oklahoma Sooners guard Rivaldo Soares (5) during the first half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. credits: Chris Jones-USA TODAY Sports Jayden Nunn poured in a season-high 27 points, 18 of them in a hot-shooting first half, as No. 12 Baylor roared to a big halftime lead and rolled to a 79-62 win over No. 25 Oklahoma on Tuesday in a key Big 12 Conference game in Waco, Texas.
It was the Bears' 11th consecutive regular-season win over Oklahoma and the final scheduled game between the Big 12 rivals.
Baylor (18-6, 7-4 Big 12) took charge over the final six and a half minutes of the first half, busting open a tied game by scoring 20 of the final 27 points before halftime to build a 13-point edge. The Bears expanded their lead to 18 points early in the second half, by 21 at the 8:08 mark and never let Oklahoma get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
All five of Baylor's starters scored in double figures, as Jalen Bridges tallied 14, Yves Missi had 12 points, RayJ Dennis hit for 11 and Ja'Kobe Walter added 10 points. The Bears have won four of their past five games.
Rivaldo Soares led the Sooners (18-7, 6-6) with 17 points, with Milos Uzan, Jalon Moore, Javian McCollum and Otega Oweh adding nine points each. Oklahoma had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Oklahoma led 7-4 early on after a putback jumper from Sam Goodwin at the 17:36 mark of the first half but the game was all Baylor after that point. The Bears reeled off the next eight points capped by two free throws by Nunn to go up 12-7.
The Sooners rallied to tie it at 20 on Uzan's 3-pointer with 6:48 to play in the half before Nunn canned a pair of 3-pointers and Bridges hit another from beyond the arc to give Baylor a nine-point advantage. Nunn's jumper with eight seconds left in the half staked the Bears to a 40-27 edge at the break.
Nunn led all scorers with 18 points before halftime while hitting four of his five shots from long range. Baylor outshot the Sooners 59.3 percent to 39.1 percent in the first half while forcing 13 turnovers that it converted to 13 points.
Uzan and Soares paced Oklahoma with seven points each over the first 20 minutes of play.
—Field Level Media