OU men's basketball is left 'mad and frustrated' after close loss to No. 21 Baylor

NORMAN — Jalen Hill did his best to keep his head up as he walked off the floor at Lloyd Noble Center.

OU suffered a 62-60 loss to 21st-ranked Baylor on Saturday afternoon. It’s a game the Sooners led by four points at halftime only to still suffer a heartbreaking defeat.

The dagger came courtesy of Baylor’s Adam Flagler, who sank a deep 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to give his team a 62-58 lead with 22 seconds remaining.

OU drops to 11-8 on the season, including a 2-5 record in Big 12 play. Three of those conference losses have come at home, and all of them have been by one possession.

Hill delivered what OU head coach Porter Moser described as a “warrior” effort in the loss. The senior forward racked up team-highs of 17 points and 9 rebounds to go along with a block.

And while Hill kept his composure as Baylor’s players celebrated around him Saturday, his frustration level was rising internally.

“We're obviously just really mad and frustrated,” Hill said. “We're playing our butts off out there. We're competing, and we just can't find a way to win. That's obviously frustrating.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

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Otega Oweh shows defensive impact

Otega Oweh formed a one-man wall at halfcourt.

OU trailed 10-9 with 12:45 left in the first half when Baylor’s Keyonte George tried to dribble the ball up the floor. He reached halfcourt before running into Oweh, who applied pressure and poked the ball away.

Oweh then scooped up the loose ball and finished on the other end with a two-handed dunk.

OU’s freshman guard struck again a few minutes later. This time George got the ball past halfcourt and tried to deliver an inside pass to Flo Thamba, but Oweh intercepted the pass for his second steal of the day.

Oweh then went on a one-man fastbreak and sank a layup to give the Sooners a 17-15 edge.

Oweh made his mark on defense Saturday. He finished with 6 points and 5 steals in just 11 minutes.

“He’s got great feet, and we just thought with their guards he could just physically guard," Moser said of Oweh. "I think we’ve got to keep working on him, on his skill level on offense and everything. But man, he works his tail off... I thought he really gave us great minutes.”

It’s a breakout performance for the four-star freshman, who entered Saturday averaging just 6.7 minutes of playing time per game.

Even though it’s a small sample size, Oweh has shown his defensive prowess this season. The 6-foot-5 guard boasts a steal percentage of 6.7%, while no other OU player has a percentage higher than 2.2%.

OU has plenty of serviceable guards such as Sherfield, Milos Uzan, Bijan Cortes and C.J. Noland. But if Oweh continues to have an impact on defense, it’ll be difficult to keep him off the court.

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Tanner Groves is at his best when he spaces the floor

Tanner Groves missed his first three shots from deep to start Saturday’s game.

But that didn’t stop him from calling for the ball at the top of the arc.

OU trailed 18-15 with 9:10 left in the first half when Uzan swung the ball over to Groves. The senior center heaved his fourth 3-point attempt of the day without hesitation, and this time it found the bottom of the net.

That was all it took.

Groves got to his spot at the top of the arc two possessions later, and Uzan fed him once again for another 3-point attempt that he buried.

OU entered halftime with a 30-26 lead thanks in part to Groves, who scored a game-high 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the floor (2-for-5 from deep). He finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds and a game-high 3 blocks.

"It was great," Moser said of Groves' shooting. "I thought he had one of his best all-around games. His passion to win... He did a lot to impact the game."

Groves prefers to space the floor rather than bang down low, but he has struggled from deep this season. The fifth-year forward entered Saturday shooting a career-low 28% in that department.

OU has wanted to get Groves more involved on offense as of late, so the improvement of his 3-point shot would be a welcomed sight.

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Offensive rebounds sink the Sooners

Baylor squeezed out a win Saturday by dominating the offensive glass.

The Bears snagged 17 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 30 of their 62 points.

Second-chance opportunities were a lifesaver for a Baylor team that struggled against OU’s defense all afternoon. The Bears shot 12-for-45 from the floor (26.7%) on the first shot of their possessions but shot 9-for-13 from the floor (69.2%) on extra opportunities created by offensive boards.

"That was the storyline," Moser said of Baylor's offensive rebounds. "We couldn't get the rebound. And I thought Tanner (Groves) and Jalen (Hill) played like warriors. They needed some help on the glass, and we just didn't get it anywhere. That was really the storyline."

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU men's basketball: Sooners fall short of key win vs. No. 21 Baylor