Sooners win first round game of Big 12 Tournament in fine fashion over Bears

Jeff Capel's Oklahoma Sooners basketball team won convincingly over the Baylor Bears by a score of 84-67 in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Championship Tournament on Wednesday night at the Sprint Center, primarily due to the late-season resurgence of senior guard Cade Davis.  

Davis led the Sooners (14-17) with 24 points and four rebounds, but his spectacular play could not have come at a better time for Jeff Capel and Sooners coaching staff.  

"I knew we were ready to play," said Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel. "I knew we would come in with confidence." Capel got a good feeling during pre-game preparation that his entire team was ready for the challenge of defeating Baylor for the second time this season.

Carl Blair backed-up Davis' effort with 14 points and a game-high 11 assists. Two other Sooners scored in double figures for a well-balanced 17-point victory over the struggling Bears, who had to play the game without one of their top players (Perry Jones III).

Jones III dressed for the game but sat on the bench.  He was suspended earlier in the day by the NCAA for the remainder of the season for receiving improper benefits when he was in high school playing AAU ball during the summer. 

I hope no other institution, no other team, no other family and no other player has to go through what we did the last couple of hours," said Bears coach Scott Drew.

The Bears (18-13) came into this game considered a long shot to make the NCAA Tournament if they could make a good run in this tournament, but it was to no avail.

The Bears were led by Quincy Acy's 21 points and game-high 15 rebounds. Two other Bears players scored in double figures.  

The other Jones (Anthony), scored 13 points and snagged five rebounds, while Baylor’s enigmatic but usually steady shooting guard LaceDarrius Dunn,  scored 11 points and dished out three assists in the losing cause. 

It was obvious that the Sooners won this game decisively and convincingly on the back of senior guard Cade Davis.  Davis played one of his best games of the season. 

Much to the delight of Coach Jeff Capel, Davis has used the month of March (playoff time) to play his best ball of the season.

With the 6-foot-11 Jones out and leading scorer LaceDarius having a poor game, the Bears never threatened.  This win over the Bears assures the Sooners of having a better record than last year. 

It's also an accomplishment that Jeff Capel and the OU coaching staff can hang their hats on amid all of the innuendo and speculation surrounding whether or not Jeff Capel should be allowed to continue coaching this team through the remainder of his contract at OU. 

The Sooners built an insurmountable lead in the first half by draining 4-of-11 three point field goals attempts, while Baylor struggled at only making one of seven. 

"When we built that lead, we wanted to make sure we kept pushing it and kept trying to knock them back even more," said Davis. "We didn't want them to get back in the game at all and have any hope of any momentum."

Next up for the Sooners is Texas.  Texas got a first-round bye based on their spectacular regular season play where they practically dismantled the entire Big 12 Conference in route to 25 wins against only six losses.

But Big 12 coaches know that usually around this time of the year (March Madness), regular season success doesn't really matter anymore as teams look to embark upon a new season with hopes of gaining access and a favorable seeding into the prestigious NCAA Tournament. 

With a good showing or actually winning their respective conference tournament, teams can virtually control their own destiny. 

The Sooners don't figure to factor into NCAA Tournament discussions, but a good showing in the NIT could be well within their grasp. I'm just saying.