WACO, Texas (Ticker) -- Freshman Kevin Bookout made his presence felt early and No. 7 Oklahoma coasted late.
Bookout had six of his season-high 18 points in an early burst and Hollis Price finished with 17 as Oklahoma posted its seventh win in eight games, a 67-54 triumph over Big 12 Conference rival Baylor.
Bookout, who also grabbed nine rebounds, had a pair of jumpers and two free throws in a game-opening 10-4 burst that gave the Sooners a lead they never relinquished. The reigning Big 12 Rookie of the Week made 8-of-14 shots and is 28-for-43 from the field over the last four games.
Oklahoma (13-3, 4-1 Big 12) improved to 15-0 against Baylor under coach Kelvin Sampson and are 17-0 against the Bears since the 1977-78 season.
"THis team is easy to coach," Sampson said. "The maturity level is very high and we have great leadership."
"Oklahoma is a terrific team," Baylor coach Dave Bliss said.
John Lucas Jr. led Baylor (9-7, 0-5) with 15 points and five assists.
"We know we can play with these teams in our conference," Lucas said. "Now we need to work on getting wins."
Lucas opened the scoring with two free throws but Bookout buried a jumper to ignite a 10-2 burst. Bookout grabbed two offensive rebounds before making a pair of free throws 88 seconds into the game.
After a jumper by Price made it 6-2, Quannas White had a basket for a six-point lead. Kenny Taylor had a jumper for the Bears but Bookout grabbed another rebound and buried a jumper for a 10-4 lead with 16:21 to go.
"(Bookout) did a great job of getting position down low," Baylor forward Lawrence Roberts said.
"You have to bang down low day-in and down-out," Bookout said.
A layup by Bookout 7:20 into the contest pushed Oklahoma's lead to 22-12 but Baylor fought back and got within 22-20 on a 3-pointer by Lucas with 9:34 remaining in the half. The Sooners responded with a 9-4 spurt and led 38-31 at the half.
Oklahoma shot 51.5 percent (17-of-33) from the field in the opening 20 minutes while holding holding Baylor to 43.5 percent (10-of-23).
The Bears were within 38-36 following a free throw by freshman Corey Herring 3:02 into the second half but Price and Bookout had layups less than a minute apart for a six-point cushion.
Baylor never got it down to a single possesion game the rest of the way and trailed by 15 in the final minute.
The Bears committed just 11 turnovers but were outrebounded, 40-22. Baylor shot just 36 percent (16-of-45) from the field, including 6-of-23 from 3-point range.
Oklahoma got to the line just 10 times and went 1-of-12 from beyond the arc, but shot 53 percent (30-of-57) overall.