Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery | Baylor Photos

2/3 BAYLOR (15-0, 3-0) 61, NR/RV OKLAHOMA STATE (10-5, 0-3) 57
Sat., Jan. 7, 2017
Ferrell Center (Waco, Texas)
Attendance: 10,627

BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES

Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew

Opening Statementà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Well, another Big 12 game comes down to a couple possessions, and I know in the second half we did a better job competing on the glass, but in the first half, Oklahoma State was tremendous on the offensive glass. I thought we did a better job in the second half with that and turnovers, and that enabled us to get the lead. Defensively, we were really good throughout the game, and at the end of the day, the crowd was super, and it was a blessing to get the win today."

On what contributed to offensive struggles in first half...
"I thought they were really aggressive and physical and I think that took us some time to get used to. After we did, I think we responded a little bit better. But credit to them for coming out and being physical early."

On style of offense in second half...
"I think we had a better rhythm in the second half. We were able to get stops and get the ball down quicker, and we figured out how we wanted to attack them. Credit them, in the first half, for doing a great job, making everything hard for us to get into. That's Coach Underwood's style. They take you out of what you feel comfortable running, but I think we found a little more rhythm in the second half thanks to a couple transition buckets. Credit our guys for defending when we're not scoring, and if we can clean up our rebounding and our turnovers, then we'll be a better team."

Junior Guard Manu Lecomte

On a potential No. 1 ranking...
"It's a great feeling. Not a lot of teams get to be No. 1 during the season, but again, our goal is first to win the Big 12, and then to go to the Final Four and win it all. Next game, we're 0-0."

On what this milestone means to the players...
"Like I said, it's a great feeling to be No. 1, but we're still the underdogs. That's how we're gonna keep winning. We're going to play every game like it's our last, and we still suck. So we're going to go back tomorrow, and it's 0-0, and we're ready for West Virginia."

Junior Terry Maston

On what he did differently today...
"I tried to rebound my best. I was trying to get as many offensive boards as I could since they were getting all of them. They had a 9-2 advantage in offensive rebounds at halftime, so I knew I had to get some more second chance points and that would be the difference in the game. So I just brought my energy and fed off the rest of the team."

On being down seven in the second halfà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"We've been down by more and come back, so we just needed to stay together and execute what we needed to. We knew what we needed to do, so we came out and executed and got the W."

OKLAHOMA STATE POSTGAME QUOTES

Oklahoma State Head Coach Brad Underwood

On the loss à ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Hard fought, really good college basketball game. I give a lot of credit to Baylor. They made plays when they needed to, and I'm really proud of our locker room. I'm really proud of the guys in there. I think Jawun (Evans) played four or five minutes the first half, and I thought we controlled it without him. That's growth on our part. It's what we preach and what we talk about, and I thought that on a night that you can't shoot the basketball very well, you have to find a way to be in games to win them. But if we keep competing like that, we're going to win some games. They made plays tonight and got the offensive rebounds when they needed them, and I knew that was a big key coming in."

On what makes this team specialà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"They're really old. I mean that in a great way. You win in college basketball with age. This is an old, experienced basketball team. I don't know how many redshirts they have, but it's a bunch. So now they're 22 or 23-year-old seniors. We threw 18-year-old guys out there today, a bunch of them. Big difference. That allows you to expand your playbook. It allows you chemistry at both ends of the court. They are very deserving. I've watched them. You get down 20 at Louisville, and you fight back. Nothing rattles them; there's a maturity."

Oklahoma State Guard Phil Forte

On what happened in the second halfà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"I think they just made those winning plays. I thought for the most part we executed our game plan and played well on the defensive end, but there were a couple stops and a couple rebounds that we didn't get that cost us the game."

On what makes this Baylor team so specialà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"They have a great balance. They have very many ways that they could be great. Obviously with their bigs, Motley, and the point guard, Lecomte, so they're very balanced and they execute on the offensive end. I think that's what makes them such an interesting team is that they're very balanced."

Oklahoma State Forward Jeffrey Carroll

On the two days leading up to the gameà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"I know we grew as a team. I thought we came closer. We practiced hard, and I thought we just grew as a team and became closer these past few days. It was fun."