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Baylor takes on Oklahoma State at 8:00 on Wednesday at the Ferrell Center. The game airs on ESPN2.
Baylor won the first meeting 73-69. The Bears went 15-of-25 from three, led by King McClure’s 7-of-11 performance from deep.
Three Keys:
1) Finding shooters- Oklahoma State loves to fire threes. They’re 25th nationally in 3-point percentage and attempt a triple on 42% of their shots. Lindy Waters is the league’s best marksman, hitting 46% of his 163 shots from beyond the arc. Thomas Dziagwa has nailed 44% of his 216 3-point attempts. The Bears can’t give them any space. The Bears have botched a few switches in recent games, and they sometimes leave larger gaps when they hard hedge. This is not the game to do that.
2) Offensive rebound- Oklahoma State is 238th in defensive rebounding. Baylor is the nation’s best offensive rebounding team. Mark Vital and company should work the glass.
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3) Fire away triples- Oklahoma State’s defense doesn’t run guys off the line—they’re 298th in opponent 3-point attempts. Baylor passed up some opportunities in Manhattan. They can’t do that on Senior Day.
Prediction:
Oklahoma State has played well lately. They had a wide open shot to force overtime on Saturday against Kansas.
Baylor has been a better team than Oklahoma State all season. It’s Senior Day, and McClure looks like he’s about all the way back from injury. Baylor hits enough threes to pull away. I’ll take Baylor 74-66.