Instacap: Baylor Beats Down Oklahoma State in Waco, 76-60

Baylor (12-6, 2-4) lit up Oklahoma State (12-6, 2-4) in the second half on Monday night and cruised to a 76-60 victory, their 11th in 12 tries against OSU in Waco. The Bears scored 50 in the second half for their fifth straight win against OSU.

Manu Lecomte looked more like Manu Ginobli for the Bears as he poured in 30 points and had 4 assists to lead the charge. He was 7 of 12 from 3-point range after starting conference play 7 for his first 34. I know it’s shocking that a Big 12 guard would have a breakout career high against OSU at this point. Cannot believe it.

On the OSU side, Cam McGriff led the Cowboys with his own career high of 16 points. Tavarius Shine added 14 points coming off the bench. OSU’s bench actually doubled up the point total of the starters, 40-20, and no starter scored more than 8 points. Yankuba Sima tossed in 10 boards but also had 5 turnovers.

As a team, OSU turned it over 14 times to just 8 for Baylor, and that allowed the Bears to take 12 more shots than OSU. Combine that with the fact that Baylor shot 44 percent from 3-point range, and it’s easy to see how this turned into a rout.

It wasn’t always trending that way, though. After Baylor lit OSU up early and jumped out to a 15-5 run to open the game, the Cowboys battled back to lead 27-26 at halftime. They were improbably led on offense by McGriff (6 points in the first half) and Thomas Dziagwa (8 points) and beat up Baylor on the glass.

They were a defensive force inside in the first half (can’t believe those are words I’m typing), took good 3-pointers against Baylor’s tricky zone (although they still missed a number of them) and attacked the rim with their playmakers. It was more of the same early in the second half.

But then Lecomte went bonkers. OSU did not defend the perimeter well, and Baylor hit everything in the final 20 minutes. After going 2 of 10 in the first half from deep, the Bears were 8 of 13 down the stretch and shot 52 percent from the field.

With Jeffrey Carroll (8 points on 2 of 12 shooting) submitting another semi-sketchy game offensively, OSU didn’t have the offensive firepower, or for that matter, even the kindling to keep up.

Mike Boynton’s squad momentarily found itself in more or less the same position it was in against Texas last Saturday, though. They cut Baylor’s lead to 9 with just under 6 minutes left, and it left you wondering if it could happen in consecutive games. But Lecomte closed and the Bears kept the Pokes at arms’ length, and Boynton was frustrated with OSU offensively.

Mike Boynton on #OKState's offensive struggles (via radio broadcast): "To be honest, I just don’t think we played an attacking way." Lack of assists a "telltale sign" you didn't execute vs. zone.

— Mark Cooper (@mark_cooperjr) January 16, 2018

It was a disappointing performance on the heels of an exciting W in Stillwater. OSU seems to have a legitimate big man presence in Sima and some guys really finding their roles. But with a superstar on offense not playing the part, it’s tough to roll in the Big 12.

Just not enough weapons on offense. When Carroll plays like this, they basically don’t have a chance

— PFB_Nate (@PFB_Nate) January 16, 2018

OSU only had 10 assists on offense (to Baylor’s 20), which makes sense given that the only had two steals and very few opportunities for fast break points. When a team like Baylor is shooting 12 more times than you are and you aren’t turning them over (they’re 214th nationally in offensive turnovers), you don’t have much of a chance.

To pour some salt in the wound, Baylor also got offensive rebounds on 44 percent of their missed shots. Once they got going downhill, it felt like they would score three buckets for every one OSU scored.

The loss means OSU remains winless on the road in the Big 12 with a third of the conference season now in the books.

Oklahoma State returns home on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Oklahoma. The game will be televised on ESPN.