Even before the Big 12 tournament, you could tell first-year Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser wanted to go into the litany of reasons the Sooners belong in the NCAA tournament.
Not many people would have listened at 17-14 overall and 7-11 in the Big 12. But ears are perked up now after the Sooners earned their biggest win of the season, 72-67 against No. 2 seed and defending national champion Baylor in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City.
“Unequivocally, we’re in,” said Moser in the ESPN postgame interview.
That remains to be seen, and now OU has a chance to bolster its resume even more in playing in the semifinals Friday evening against Texas Tech.
It took a little bit from a lot of people for the Sooners to earn the upset. That will have to be the case the rest of the way, but OU is starting to find that groove in that regard.
The Sooners (18-14 overall) had five players score in double figures, led by a season-high 15 points from Jacob Groves.
Groves hit three 3-pointers and added nine rebounds in 31 minutes in his best performance of the season. He’s been the starter ever since the season-ending knee injury to Elijah Harkless, and he played like one vs. Baylor.
“I was the one that the coaches chose first to step into that starting spot,” Groves said. “I've just done my best to accept it, you know, do whatever the team needs me to do to win games. Tonight, I came out and was hot, shot the ball well, which is good to see; my confidence is definitely pretty high.”
OU did a lot of good things in the first half, but 11 turnovers led to a late Baylor run and the Bears led 33-27 at the break.
Instead of wilting, OU fought its way back, namely from the 3-point line. OU has been as inconsistent as it gets from deep this season but went 11 for 21 from 3-point territory with seven guys connecting on at least one.
With OU up 65-62 in the final minute, it was Mo Gibson delivering the big basket. No, not a 3-pointer but a drive to the basket to earn an and-1.
“I thought of that so much because we've has some close games where we settled for that three instead of going downhill, and I know he wanted it,” Moser said. “He was setting up that step-back, and for him to kind of lean in and go downhill was a great growth spot for him.”
Gibson had 14 points and five rebounds with three assists. Jordan Goldwire had 10 points and six assists. Jalen Hill added 10 points, and Marvin Johnson came off the bench with 12 points and three rebounds.
“Happy with the guys to stick with this and be resilient,” Moser said. “When we lost Elijah Harkless, we found out the day before and it took us by surprise. Now we have regrouped. We have won four in a row. We're confident, we're hot, and that was a huge win for us.”
OU entered the day No. 42 in the NET rankings. That will most definitely get a nice boost when they’re released again Friday.