QUICK PREVIEW
No. 18/21 Oklahoma (9-3) opens the 19th year of Big 12 play when it hosts No. 22/22 Baylor (11-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. CT at Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners, who are 6-0 at home with an average scoring margin of +25.0, are coming off a 61-43 win over George Mason on Wednesday in which they held the Patriots to a .295 field goal mark. Baylor, which has won six straight games, is 2-0 in true road contests with victories over South Carolina (69-65) and Vanderbilt (66-63).
ON THE AIR
Saturday's game will air on the Sooner Radio Network (KRXO 107.7 FM "The Franchise" in Oklahoma City; KTBZ 1430 AM in Tulsa; Sirius 84; XM 84) with Toby Rowland and Mike Houck calling the action. The contest will be televised by ESPNU with Jon Sciambi and Fran Fraschilla announcing.
PREVIEWING BAYLOR
No. 22/22 Baylor enters Big 12 play with an 11-1 record and has won six straight contests. Its only loss came on Nov. 28 to Illinois (62-54) in the Las Vegas Invitational championship game. The Bears lead the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.268) and rank second in the league in scoring defense (54.7 ppg) and rebounding margin (+11.8 per game). They are averaging 70.6 points a contest (eighth in Big 12) on .446 field goal shooting (seventh), .376 3-point shooting (fourth) and .632 free throw shooting (ninth).
Junior forward Taurean Prince leads three Bears who average double figures in scoring. The 6-7, 215-pounder has started five of his 11 contests and is averaging 11.5 points with the help of a Big 12-best .548 (17 for 31) 3-point shooting (next best percentage in the league is .452). Prince has been held to four or fewer points in two of the last three outings (scored 13 in Tuesday's win over Norfolk State). Senior forward Royce O'Neal is averaging 10.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists while shooting .500 from the field and .442 from deep (team-high 19 3-pointers). Junior forward Rico Gathers averages 10.1 points and leads the Big 12 in rebounding (10.5 rpg) and double-doubles (six).
Scott Drew is in his 12th year as Baylor's head coach and owns a 215-151 (.587) record at the school.
THE SERIES
Oklahoma owns a 41-11 series lead against Baylor and has won 36 of the last 41 meetings (includes a streak of 30 straight wins that was snapped five years ago). The Sooners possess a 20-4 series advantage in games played in Norman. OU is 32-6 against the Bears since the inception of the Big 12 Conference (16-2 at Lloyd Noble Center; average scoring margin in those 18 games is +18.4).
