No. 1 Baylor Bears make men’s college basketball history with second home loss in week

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WACO, Texas — Baylor became the first AP No. 1 team in men’s college basketball history to lose two home games in a week after Oklahoma State stunned them on Saturday with a 61-54 victory.

Baylor (15-2, 3-2 Big 12) had won a national-best 21 games in a row dating back to last season before its loss Tuesday night at home to Texas Tech. The reigning national and Big 12 champions led for only 16 seconds Saturday against an Oklahoma State team playing its third Big 12 road game in five days.

After trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, Baylor was within 55-54 with 1:20 left when LJ Cryer made two free throws to cap a 14-2 run.

Cowboys guard Bryce Thompson then made two free throws with 26 seconds left before Bears guard Adam Flagler had turnovers on consecutive possessions — losing the ball out of bounds on a drive to the basket, then a bad pass. Thompson was fouled making the steal and made two more free throws before a game-capping breakaway dunk after Baylor missed its last shot.

Thompson finished with a game-high 19 points. Cryer led the way for Baylor with 18 points.

The only time Oklahoma State (9-7, 2-3) trailed was after Kendall Brown’s basket that made it 4-3 only 2:30 minutes into the game. The Bears then missed 10 shots in a row over a span of more than six minutes before Cryer’s 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Oklahoma State followed that with another 12-2 run and had their biggest lead at 29-11 when Isaac Likekele made a short floater off the glass. There was one possession in that stretch when Baylor didn’t even get a shot off before the 30-second shot clock expired, but there was no whistle when Rondel Walker stole the ball and passed to Keylan Boone for a breakaway layup.

Oklahoma State was coming off a 78-57 loss on Thursday night at Texas Tech, a makeup of a Jan. 1 game postponed because of COVID-19 issues in the Cowboys program.

Baylor hadn’t had consecutive losses since the last three regular-season games of the 2018-19 season and its Big 12 tournament opener. The Bears also hadn’t lost back-to-back games at home since the end of the 2015-16 season.

Matthew Mayer had a season-high 16 points for the Bears, who shot a season-low 31% (18 of 58). Their 22 points before halftime were their fewest in a half this season, and the 57 points overall were also a season-low.

The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this story.



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