Former Big 12 rivals Oklahoma and Baylor will square off in the College Basketball Crown semifinals on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Both were members of the Big 12 for 28 years before the Sooners bolted for the Southeastern Conference ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Oklahoma and Baylor came to the tournament with their rotations relatively intact, both bringing their top seven scorers.
The teams advanced with quarterfinal wins on Wednesday. Oklahoma (20-15) topped Colorado in overtime 90-86 as Nijel Pack scored 20 points.
Pack scored the Sooners’ first six points of OT with two 3-pointers. In the final 1:16, Oklahoma made all eight of its free-throw attempts to wrap it up.
Tae Davis (19 points), Xzayvier Brown (17) and Kuol Atak (16) contributed in a balanced attack for the Sooners.
“We got some stops down the stretch but we were really rusty offensively,” Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said. “To stick with it, being down 10, we’ve been there before, just knowing you’re going to win by getting stops.”
In Wednesday’s other quarterfinal, Baylor (17-16) got off to a slow start before pulling away for a 67-48 victory over Minnesota.
Tounde Yessoufou scored 19 points, including the first six of the second half to trigger a 17-1 run that put the Bears in control. Obi Agbim knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. Cameron Carr added 15 points and nine rebounds.
The Bears committed just five turnovers, made 46.6% of their shots from the floor, had a 37-29 edge on the boards and limited the Golden Gophers to 13.0% shooting (3 of 23) accuracy from beyond the arc.
“They were one of the last teams out of the (NCAA) Tournament,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said of Oklahoma. “They’re playing great basketball.”
Baylor won the most recent meeting, beating Oklahoma 79-62 on Feb. 13, 2024, in Waco, Texas.
Saturday’s other semifinal in the second annual tournament pits West Virginia (19-14) against Creighton (16-17).
–Field Level Media
