Baylor Steals One in GIA

Three-pointers were flying in from every part of Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The Oklahoma State and Baylor men’s basketball teams were shooting the cover off the Wilson basketball they were using and it led to Baylor stealing a 73-69 road win.

One wouldn’t have thought Baylor came into the game ranked 335th in the country in 3-point shooting, while OSU was 54th defending the shot.

Senior guard King McClure led the Bears to the tune of 7-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. He finished with 29 points.

During the first half, OSU (8-9 overall, 2-3 in Big 12) allowed McClure to get open and it helped him gain confidence. 

McClure said he credited his teammates for recognizing the great night he was having.

“That’s one thing about our group of guys,” McClure said. “We’re really unselfish and it’s amazing what you can do when you got a bunch of guys behind you cheering you on.

“[It’s] exciting when you’re making plays so they were looking for me.”

McClure was part of a potent perimeter attack in the first half. Baylor went into the break having shot 11-of-14 from 3. Although it cooled down in the second half, Baylor finished 60 percent from 3, more than double its season average.

OSU coach Mike Boynton said he thought his team’s defense got better in the second half. It held Baylor to less than 37 percent from long range.

“We challenged most of their shots in the second half,” Boynton said. “Our defense wasn’t nearly as good in the first half as it needed to be.”

Senior Makai Mason, a grad transfer from Yale, ran the show for the Bears and made several plays down the stretch to secure the win.

Baylor (10-6, 2-2) was up 3 with about 40 seconds to play and Boynton decided not to foul. Mason finished the possession with a midrange jumper with 10 seconds left.

Boynton said he was reluctant to foul because the Bears kept the ball in the hands of good free throw shooters.

“The thought was maybe you could have a good possession, get a stop, maybe cut it to one and then foul,” Boynton said. “That’s something I’ll think about for a long time.”

The Bears were coming off a close loss on Saturday afternoon against Kansas, while OSU won in Morgantown on the same day. 

Baylor coach Scott Drew said he was surprised to see such hot shooting after the short time off for both teams.

“Normally you don’t shoot well when it’s a quick turnaround and you got emotions like that,” Drew said. “Both teams either didn’t guard anybody or were on fire tonight and I think it was on fire.”

Each of OSU’s Big 12 games have been within 10 points.

Junior captain Cam McGriff didn’t mince any words when he was asked if the young Cowboys needed to learn how to win close games.

“What game is this now?” McGriff said. “Like five? Yeah, I don’t know. If we don’t have it figured out by now, it’s not going to get any easier. This league is very competitive, the most competitive in the country.”