Did OSU escape Baylor...or Coach Ford?

I don't have a problem with the time out.

2.9 seconds left...Forte hits the first of two FT's. Baylor has no time outs left and are down 2.

Obvious call here...intentionally miss the 2nd FT. Who better for an intentional miss than the best FT shooter in the league.

And he makes it.

Coach Ford has instructed the troops accordingly..NO FOULS. OSU allows a inbounds pass to the hottest shooter on the floor near half court AND allows him to run unmolested to a perfect spot on the wing for the potential winning shot. Phil Forte, already guilty of a 4 point play foul less than a minute earlier, manages to get in the way just enough to alter the shot. Game over. Cowboys advance.

Then comes this interview nugget from Markel Brown (courtesy of Anthony Slater and The Oklahoman)...

"Coach told him to miss it and I looked at coach and I was like, 'Hold on coach, we need these points,'" Brown said. "And he changed his mind because I told him to. When Pierre Jackson went flying down that court I was like, ‘Please don't let this be my fault.'"

Say wha? Markel obviously has a LOT to learn before becoming a coach.

No need to go into the physics of that decision. Suffice it to say that should go down as one of the all time worst decisions EVER by a coach. This wasn't "Hoosiers," where Jimmy says "I'll make it." The other team had the ball.

This is why we question his X's and O's.

Throw in the fact that OSU went completely soft in the 2nd half after blitzing Baylor with aggressive offense AND defense in the 1st half. It's almost as if Coach Ford decided to take the air out of the ball at halftime.

There was a VERY telling moment part way through the 2nd half when, after a Nash bucket, Markel Brown immediately turned around and picked up as if OSU were going to trap at 3/4 court. The only problem was that nobody else followed suit.

The TV announcers noticed this, and also noticed as Brown looked to the bench and raised his arms as if to say "I thought we were going to press?"

OSU was lucky to escape Baylor. They were even luckier to escape a blatantly horrible coaching decision.

Now let's go beat Kansas State!

GO POKES!!!

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