Less than a week from the revelation of the NCAA tournament table, place in the conference tournaments, and this night, the feat came from Oklahoma, winner 72-67 of Baylor, the defending champion and 3rd in the AP rankings . It’s even more of a feat as the Sooners recently lost Elijah Harkless, one of their best players.
Author of 14 points, Umoja Gibson scored the most important basket of the match, a 3-point less than a final at the end of this quarter-final of the Big 12.
Holder since the Harkless injury, Jacob Grouves finished top scorer in his training with 15 points. In the semifinals, Oklahoma will challenge Texas Tech, easy winner of Iowa State.
Defending champion and co-leader of the Big 12, Baylor had beaten the Sooners twice during the season and coach Scott Drew takes responsibility for the loss. “I’m proud of the way the guys fought at the end. We pressed and came back to possession. But it is the two starts of the halves that are the key to the game. I probably did a bad job preparing the players. “
This surprise elimination will not be without consequences for Baylor since the 2021 champion should not be designated as the number 1 seed in their regional table.
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