OKLAHOMA 92, BAYLOR 91: Bears drops awfully officiated game to Sooners, fall by one in OT
OKLAHOMA 92, BAYLOR 91: Bears drops awfully officiated game to Sooners, fall by one in OT
Leave no doubt – the Bears were robbed of a road win in this one.
After battling back from awful calls by the officials, unsportsmanlike play by OU and a 10-point halftime deficit, the Bears were ultimately robbed by the trio of men in stripes when it mattered most – in overtime with Baylor up big.
Yet somehow,
Albeit cheating, the Sooners came out on top in a one-point heartbreaking, irritating, nerve racking, throw everything-but-the-dog-at-the-TV evening.
It’s unreal, but
Cheating might not be the best word to describe the night.
Unsportsmanlike works better.
Unfortunately, Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel applauds unsportsmanlike play – and it shows with his players attitudes on the court.
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First, there was the off-the-backboard slam dunk on a breakaway steal.
Then, there was the “skirmish” where OU’s star forward put Mark Shepherd in a full-nelson choke hold before Shepherd reacted by throwing an elbow in the direction of Blake Griffin – only to result in two BU players being ejected and just one Sooner, an assistant coach, being tossed from the game.
And last but not least, there was Capel – urging his home crowd to stand and continue applauding after an opposing player’s miss at the free throw line with one more still to come, something I had never seen happen in NCAA basketball until tonight in
Unsportsmanlike is the perfect word to describe why and how OU defeated BU, but unfortunately all that really matters is a team’s record.
The Bears can still climb back out of the mini-hole the officials dug for them; it’s just going to take a lot of heart to rise out from the ashes after this evening’s terribly-called game.
As far as final stats are concerned,
As a team, Baylor shot 50.8 percent from the field (32-of-63) and hit 17-of-23 from the free throw line (73.9 percent);
The Bears were also whistled for 33 fouls on the night and had 16 turnovers, compared to the Sooners’ 23 fouls called against them and 14 turnovers.
Tags: Baylor, Bears, Blake Griffin, BU, cheating, Curtis Jerrells, Jeff Capel, Mark Shepherd, NCAA Basketball, Norman, Oklahoma, OU, Sooners, unsportsmanlike
February 20th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
This article couldn’t be further from the truth. There was no “cheating”. The refs called the game tight, but it was on both ends. How can a dunk and a coach trying to get the fans involved “unsportsmanlike?
Blake Griffin was lying on Shepherd’s back with his hands around his head. There was no pressure or choke hold. If anything, you should call Baylor and Shepherd unsportsmanlike for elbowing Griffin in the face.
February 20th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
All I got from this was “My team didn’t make it’s free throws when it mattered most. My team isn’t clutch. I’m gonna vent about the refs.” Yes, the refs called a horribly inconsistent game, but Blake Griffin was getting shoved, bruised, slammed, and otherwise thrown around in the paint all game long. Blake Griffin might have drawn 15 fouls against Baylor last night.
Ohh, how did we cheat?
February 20th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I know you are not at all use to winning, but this article is pure gold. You have never in your life seen a coach urge the crowd to get loud? I guess there is no reason for this in Waco seeing that they are usually on the ass end of an ass kicking. Off the backboard is unsportsmanlike? Tell that to ESPN who is showing off Blake Griffin 24/7 so far.
I like how you dismiss that Baylor had players ejected for throwing an elbow right into Blake Griffins face… Isn’t Baylor supposed to be a Baptist university? Way to represent.
February 20th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
You’ve gotta be kidding. Have you ever BEEN to a basketball game before? People yell when the opposing team shoots free throws. Coaches encourage it. That’s why home court is such an advantage. Also, Griffin didn’t have Shepherd in a “choke-hold”…that was just the way they fell as they were all going for the ball. Shepherd overreacted and got himself thrown out. No foul was committed until Shepherd got frustrated.
Listen - BU has a gutsy team and some great guards. Their big men are a step slower than Griffin, thus had to foul him. They showed a great effort in coming back despite serious foul trouble.
But you’ve gotta admit, OU guards showed some amazing guts themselves in hitting a few clutch threes - especially the last one. And the refs, or the crowd, cannot be blamed for Jerrels missing those last two shots.
February 20th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
You obviously didn’t watch the entire game.
February 20th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Full nelson choke hold? Thats pretty hard to do since a full nelson takes both arms to apply. What did he choke him with?
Of course, you guys are used to Baylor basketball players taking out their aggression on each other.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
“On top of that, I honestly don’t think I have a seen a more one-sided officiated game as called by the Big 12 trio of Steve Welmer, Mark Whitehead and Curtis Shaw”
you clearly dont watch much basketball do you?
February 20th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Sour grapes, much?
Only a Baylor Correspondent would write an article like this. You’re a complete homer, and probably didn’t watch the game in it’s entirety.
Please watch the “choke-hold” again. If it was one, his arm would be wrapped completely around his neck. It wasn’t. His arm was flat on the ground. It’s just the way it happened because of the way they were going for the ball. And it takes Griffin awhile to get up, sometimes… which probably didn’t help. Still, Shepherd had no right to intentionally swing his elbow at Blake’s jaw.
And a bad officiated game? It looked pretty even to me. It was a much better officiated game than any of the other games these two have played it. They both get hosed every game. So don’t blame the officiating, it’s NO excuse. We overcame it, Baylor did not.
You should never be allowed to write again, you’re completely biased. It’s disgusting.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
what are you kidding me! your not a homer at all are you? it was a great game, the refs gave baylor a chance, do you remember that bad call, your best guard can’t hit clutch free throws don’t take it out on the refs
February 20th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
The game was called too tight - on both ends of the court. I can totally understand the potential frustration of the Baylor fan on the call that resulted in the four point play and lead for the Sooners IF (and this is the key Denton Ramsey) the officials had not made an even more unusual foul call on the other end to give Jerrells the opportunity to WIN THE GAME with 2 free throws and TIE THE GAME with one free throw. The overwhelming majority of officials don’t make that call. First of all the timing and second of all the lack of serious contact by David Godbold. But, given ALL that Baylor has control of the game with 1 second to play. How can you complain about the officiating given those circumstances?
The stick kid deserved to get the boot. That was a cheap shot and it was clear upon review. He was just frustrated with getting dominated by a freak of nature freshman. Baylor has a talented team and I really like the coach. He made great moves down the stretch of regulation to spread out his smaller lineup and exploit Oklahoma’s lack of man to man defense.
The Sooners were fortunate to win the game but it wasn’t due to officiating. It was due to some desperation threes going down when they absolutely had to go in for the Sooners to have any chance in OT.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Mark Shepherd…is that you? This story is just another poor BU fan showing 30+ years of sub par athletics.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
[Quote]And last but not least, there was Capel – urging his home crowd to stand and continue applauding after an opposing player’s miss at the free throw line with one more still to come, something I had never seen happen in NCAA basketball until tonight in Norman.[/Quote]
Uh…go back and listen during the game whenever an OU player was at the line shooting FTs. What’s that you can clearly hear? Yeap. That’s Baylor’s headcoach screaming “BOX OUT, BOX OUT” right before the OU player is about to release his shot. Pefectly legal? I think so. Does that construe bad bench decorum? Maybe, since it clearly was timed to attempt to affect the OU player’s concentration b/c the home crowd gets quiet when their players are shooting FTs.
So what’s so unsportsmanlike for a coach to urge their crowd to make noise? Maybe you could go ask Mulkey. She does it all of the time. At least she doesn’t scream something at the opponent’s player getting ready to shoot a FT.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
As a lifelong Baylor fan this article is amateurish and embarrassing to our school. Please don’t pretend to be a real journalist and trot out garbage like this. Oklahoma won a physical game fair and square. Mark Shepherd made a terrible error in judgement and got tossed for it. Hopefully he will have learned a lesson.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:47 am
No, if you wanted to see bad sportsmanship, they should have let Griffin and wats-his-face from Baylor duke it out right there on the court. It was sportsmanship that kept a young Blake Griffin from bashin’ his face in.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:48 am
Oh…and what was BU’s excuse for losing at HOME to the Sooners?
February 21st, 2008 at 12:53 am
Stop with this bullshit. Baylor lost. Period. Nothing else to it. Don’t foul a guy while he’s shooting a 3 pointer. Or here’s one for ya….make your freethrows and BU wins.