Two days after the OU men’s basketball team pulled out a physical, 72-61, win over the Cornhuskers at Lloyd Noble Center, players and coaches are still probably trying to peel Nebraska defenders off sophomore forward Blake Griffin.

It may be a vain effort, especially since there is guaranteed to be another swarm of defenders knocking on Griffin’s door when the Sooners take on Baylor tomorrow at 3p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center.

The Bears and Cornhuskers are incredibly similar. Both teams employ the same strategic philosophy and both teams’ game plans revolve around their guards.

“They are the same,” Griffin said. “[Baylor] is a tough team and they can score in bunches. We’re going to have to do a good job defensively and come out better in the first half than we did [against Nebraska].”

The Cornhuskers double-teamed Griffin, somewhat limited his scoring ability, and consequently took a six-point lead into the half.

Baylor will also be forced to put multiple bodies on Griffin because of its lack of size. What they lack in size, however, they make up with speed and ball movement.

The Bears will almost certainly start at least three guards and possibly four. They come equipped with one of the best guard tandems in the country in senior Curtis Jerrells (17.1 ppg, 5.8 apg) and sophomore LaceDarius Dunn (15.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg). Three other Bears average over 11.5 points per game.

Senior guard Austin Johnson, who is playing his best basketball of the season recently, knows he’ll have to continue his scoring streak for OU to keep pace with the Bears. He also said he enjoys being the guy who hits big shots.

“I’ve been in that situation before,” Johnson said, “like [last year] against West Virginia and Baylor. I like taking the big shot, so I don’t shy down when I get the chance to.”

It’s easy to start panicking and making bad decisions when the game is played at such a high pace or when you’re opponent gets hot.

Head coach Jeff Capel said that’s another thing Johnson will bring to the game.

“He is a real confident basketball player right now,” Capel said. “There is calmness when he is on the floor.”

If the Nebraska game was any indication, Saturday’s match up has the potential to remain close throughout the game and even during the final minutes. But also like against Nebraska, Capel’s club has proved they are fully capable of winning the close games.

“We’ve shown that we can [win in close games],” Capel said. “We’ve had different kinds of adversity, but we’ve still found a way to get to 18 wins against one loss. It doesn’t always look pretty. It drives me crazy sometimes, but I like being 18-1.”