No. 3 Baylor Upset by Oklahoma in Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals

The No. 3 Baylor men's basketball team suffered a 72-67 upset loss to Oklahoma in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday night.

It's the second straight season that the Bears have won the regular-season conference title but failed to reach the championship game in the tournament. Baylor fell in the semifinals last year to Oklahoma State.

The Bears (26-6) had a six-point lead at halftime, but their defense fell apart in the final 20 minutes. Baylor surrendered 45 points to Oklahoma in the second half and allowed the Sooners to shoot 51 percent from the field in the game and 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from beyond the arc.

Baylor had four players score in double figures, led by James Akinjo's 16 points. But the team struggled with its efficiency, shooting 38.5 percent from the field. The Bears connected on just three of their 22 three-point attempts. Leading scorer Adam Flagler, who averaged 13.8 points this season, was held to two points on 1-of-10 shooting.

Oklahoma (18-14) was led by junior forward Jacob Groves, who had a team-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Umoja Gibson added 14 points, and Marvin Johnson had 12 off the bench. The Sooners will face the winner of Iowa State vs. Texas Tech in the semifinals on Friday.

The upset loss comes at an inopportune time for Baylor with the NCAA tournament right around the corner. The Bears will be looking to defend their 2021 national championship. It will be interesting to see if the loss will knock Baylor from one of the four No. 1 seeds in the Big Dance.