BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 10, 2022

Drew Scott

Jeremy Sochan

James Akinjo

Baylor Bears

Postgame Press Conference

Oklahoma 72, Baylor 67

SCOTT DREW: I thought we did a couple things well. 11 assists, 6 turnovers. First two meetings we had 20 turnovers and 17, so 6 was excellent.

Second chance points, 14-2 was very good. Three point shooting, letting them go 11 for 21 and us 3 or 22, that's probably the difference in the game.

Really got to credit them. They did a great job executing, great job making big three's, timely three's.

And then down the stretch getting three layups to finish it out. I was proud of how our guys competed at the end where we pressed and gave ourselves a chance, cut it to one-possession game.

How we started both halves probably was the difference in the game. And credit OU for doing a good job executing early, and I did a bad job preparing our guys early.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. We will go to questions for our student-athletes and then come back for Coach Drew. Our student-athletes are James Akinjo and Jeremy Sochan.

Q. James, did you expect -- OU probably needs to win some games here to get in the NCAA Tournament, did you expect a great effort from them?

JAMES AKINJO: Yeah, they came out and they played really hard. Give credit to them.

Q. Jeremy, the press worked really well for a couple of possessions and seemed like OU got free a little bit. Talk about that and how they broke it down in the end.

JEREMY SOCHAN: I think we were aggressive on the press and created some urgency, and they got back to their level, and yeah.

Q. Jeremy, how do you rebound looking forward to the NCAA Tournament and not thinking about this loss?

JEREMY SOCHAN: Yeah, I think just having a growth mindset, reviewing what we just did and just growing from it.

Q. Jeremy, you wanted to show your support for Ukraine. Why did you want to do that with your uniform, your tee shirt, and all that?

JEREMY SOCHAN: For sure. I think no matter what outcome we just had, I think it's obvious that there is something going on in this world that isn't the best thing.

I think we're all connected in some way, and, you know, what's happening isn't right. Just trying to show some awareness is the only thing I can do, and even if it's a small thing, I'm going to try to do my thing, my best to help out.

Q. Scott, what do you think this does from a seeding perspective? Obviously you put up some big numbers this year, but some think this would knock you down to a two seed.

SCOTT DREW: I think a lot depends on the other teams and what happens with them. It takes us controlling our own destiny away, and as teams, players, you always want to have the opportunity to control your own destiny. We will see what happens from there.

The one thing that we do have is the most Quad 1 wins, and at the end of the day, I know the NCAA values Quad 1 wins and your ability to control your nonconference schedule. Obviously we have played a great nonconference schedule that gave us that opportunity and did a good job in that nonconference.

Q. How surprised were you the energy wasn't there early?

SCOTT DREW: Again that's on me. I'll change some of the things we did. I know our players are winners, they will change some of the things they did. Unacceptable on you we started both halves.

Q. Scott, I was just wondering, three-point shooting wasn't there for you guys tonight. Was that a matter of you had open looks and missed them or was there something that OU was doing to take that away from you?

SCOTT DREW: I think first you've got to did I have the defense credit. Our shooters normally don't go 3-22 so OU had something to do with that. At the same time you're want always going to make shots. I think you can control the shots you take, and if they're the right shots hopefully teams are in rotations where you can get offense rebounds, and that didn't happen enough tonight. Credit OU for doing a good job, contesting shots and we got 14 second-chance points, but when you shoot as poor as we did you need more.

Q. Coach, last year you talked about how vital those extra days of practice were when you got bumped from the tournament early. What's going to be the focus this year and how can you make them count the way you did last year?

SCOTT DREW: I think first nobody likes losing, and when you lose it recalibrates you, makes you hungrier. We had a nice run, so that will be the first thing. Second thing is it will be different from the standpoint, last year we were coming off an extended three-week pause, and we needed to get back practicing hard, we needed to get back to the basics. This year rotation wise, injury wise, we haven't had a pause.

A couple days right now to recover and rehab is going to be important, and then when we do practice, we will make sure that we do a better job putting our guys in position to be successful.

Q. Scott, would you be able to shed some light on Kendall's injury, what happened to him during the game and his status?

SCOTT DREW: You have to talk to Dave on that.

Q. Scott, OU was probably kind of a desperate team tonight. They needed to win some games here. Did you feel like they would be pretty dangerous coming in just because of the situation they were in?

SCOTT DREW: We had two great games with them this year two possessions under five minutes to go. So I mean, hungry or not hungry they're a good team. Porter does a great job coaching them, and that's why their net rating is so high. It's the best conference in the country because of the parity, and each and every night if you don't bring it, you're going home. It's hard to beat a team three times, let alone a good team and a well-coached team.

Q. Scott, kind of following up on that, Oklahoma squarely on the bubble. You've played them three times. Do you feel like they're an NCAA Tournament team? How do you feel about Oklahoma?

SCOTT DREW: I know they do a great job in scheduling and I think their net rating will speak for itself. At the end of the day I believe we're a seven-team bid league, and any team in the Big XII that gets into the Tournament can win games in the Tournament, so obviously we're cheering and hoping they do.

Q. Scott, if LJ is cleared for the Tournament, having missed 11 out of 12 games, do you feel like you can insert him right away, or does that kind of limit how much you want to play him since he hasn't played with these guys as much?

SCOTT DREW: I think we'll figure that out in the days to come here.

Q. James, as the leader on this team what's the message going to be so you don't doubt yourselves coming into the Tournament off a loss like this?

JAMES AKINJO: Put it behind us and look forward.

THE MODERATOR: Okay, guys, we will let you go.