By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The Big 12 is such an unforgiving conference. As hot as Baylor was winning 10 of 11 before this trip to the state of Kansas, the Bears left frustrated and bewildered.
They should also be concerned.
After what occurred in the second half at Kansas, Kansas State delivered a somewhat sequel performance and sent the Bears winless in this trip to the Sunflower State. Kansas State swept the season series for the first time in three years.
Kansas State outscored Baylor 42-16 in the paint. Adam Flagler was held to four points on one made field goal (1-13, 0-6 from deep) and two free throws.
What made this night more frustrating is that the Wildcats shot 57.7 percent in the second half but just 1-9 from the arc. Baylor's inability to keep the Wildcats out of the paint much less off the rim just added to this.
And it had the makings of a pretty encouraging start. The Bears overcame a 23-13 deficit and took a 34-31 into the intermission. More importantly, they kept likely Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Markquis Nowell scoreless in the first half.
Baylor started getting choppy in the second half and fell into a 49-43 when Scott Drew called a timeout. But it didn't impact anything. Kansas State wound up extending its lead to as many as 14 (65-51).
Nowell finished with a double double. He scored all 14 in the second (10-10 FT) and handed out 10 assists.The Bears shot 37 percent in the second half.
The concerns for the interior defense are something to be addressed. But can they fixed with a soluble solution is another matter.
Keyonte George finished with 23 points including 6-10 from the arc. LJ Cryer added 16 and was 4-7 from deep.
Sometimes, a team isn't as bad as a poor stretch suggests. That's just life in the Big 12.
The Bears return to the Ferrell Center Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. with Texas. The Longhorns won the first meeting, 76-71, Jan. 30 in Austin.
Scott Drew quotes
(second half issues- Scott)
Yeah, I don’t’ know both halves our defense really struggled. We gave up 58% today and 63% at Kansas. And our offense led to some of that. Today they had 19 points on our turnovers. I do think we have an unbelievable backcourt but we can’t give up 19 points in turnovers. Part of being a good backcourt is taking care of the rock. And credit to them they forced us into some turnovers and they took advantage of them. And at the end of the day, in Big 12 games, transition points are huge. That leads to paint points. They outscored us in the paint 42-16. Gotta do that. We had the lowest turnover percentage coming into this week and our guards have done a really good job at that. This week we weren’t as good as we have been.
(defense need to improve- Scott)
Every game we’re going to keep switching up what we do until we find something until it works. I love our staff in that we’re not going to handle the defense not getting better. We’ve shown a lot of strides—that’s why we’ve won 10 of 13. But our offense has been really good. And now when our offense isn’t really good, we have to make sure our defense can carry us because you’re not always going to make shots. Take care of the basketball. Taking away transition points. Getting shots on the offensive end so you can get offensive rebounds. We’ve been really good at that and making free throws. Tonight didn’t get there and make enough. Same thing at Kansas. It’s been one of the best free throw shooting teams I’ve ever had. That will come back.
(Key- frustration with this)
Comes back to all of us. You know, it’s a team effort. In the second half, things that we’re giving up are things we can control. We have to play harder, including myself. Just go out there and just play Baylor basketball that’s what we gotta do. Stop worrying about all the other things. We’re going to figure out what we need to get better at.
(take away from 0-3 start- Key)
I mean everyone knows we went 0-3 then went on that winning stretch. We just figure out our identity. What are we in this for? We always talk about playing for an audience of one, that’s our lord and savior and we want to show that to you each and every night. We were able to go on that winning streak and not focus on that outside noise. Just playing for one another. Playing with joy. Now we’re on a two game winning streak. Now we’re going to go back home and put in more work. That’s really all we’ve gotta do.
(Focus with three games left-Scott)
We try to get better each and every day. The great thing about the Big 12 is there’s quad one opportunities each and every night. There’s top 25 games every night. That’s why Keyonte and these guys came to Baylor to be in the best conference. I’ve been here 20 years and it’s the best it’s ever been top to bottom. So it’s a great honor and privilege and like he said it’s a great opportunity and a great platform to play with joy. We win, we lose, God gets the glory. Everybody lives to play and improve. And I love our guys. They don’t like losing. And they’re great people. And if you have those two things as a coach, you’re pretty lucky.
Publisher
The Big 12 is such an unforgiving conference. As hot as Baylor was winning 10 of 11 before this trip to the state of Kansas, the Bears left frustrated and bewildered.
They should also be concerned.
After what occurred in the second half at Kansas, Kansas State delivered a somewhat sequel performance and sent the Bears winless in this trip to the Sunflower State. Kansas State swept the season series for the first time in three years.
Kansas State outscored Baylor 42-16 in the paint. Adam Flagler was held to four points on one made field goal (1-13, 0-6 from deep) and two free throws.
What made this night more frustrating is that the Wildcats shot 57.7 percent in the second half but just 1-9 from the arc. Baylor's inability to keep the Wildcats out of the paint much less off the rim just added to this.
And it had the makings of a pretty encouraging start. The Bears overcame a 23-13 deficit and took a 34-31 into the intermission. More importantly, they kept likely Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Markquis Nowell scoreless in the first half.
Baylor started getting choppy in the second half and fell into a 49-43 when Scott Drew called a timeout. But it didn't impact anything. Kansas State wound up extending its lead to as many as 14 (65-51).
Nowell finished with a double double. He scored all 14 in the second (10-10 FT) and handed out 10 assists.The Bears shot 37 percent in the second half.
The concerns for the interior defense are something to be addressed. But can they fixed with a soluble solution is another matter.
Keyonte George finished with 23 points including 6-10 from the arc. LJ Cryer added 16 and was 4-7 from deep.
Sometimes, a team isn't as bad as a poor stretch suggests. That's just life in the Big 12.
The Bears return to the Ferrell Center Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. with Texas. The Longhorns won the first meeting, 76-71, Jan. 30 in Austin.
Scott Drew quotes
(second half issues- Scott)
Yeah, I don’t’ know both halves our defense really struggled. We gave up 58% today and 63% at Kansas. And our offense led to some of that. Today they had 19 points on our turnovers. I do think we have an unbelievable backcourt but we can’t give up 19 points in turnovers. Part of being a good backcourt is taking care of the rock. And credit to them they forced us into some turnovers and they took advantage of them. And at the end of the day, in Big 12 games, transition points are huge. That leads to paint points. They outscored us in the paint 42-16. Gotta do that. We had the lowest turnover percentage coming into this week and our guards have done a really good job at that. This week we weren’t as good as we have been.
(defense need to improve- Scott)
Every game we’re going to keep switching up what we do until we find something until it works. I love our staff in that we’re not going to handle the defense not getting better. We’ve shown a lot of strides—that’s why we’ve won 10 of 13. But our offense has been really good. And now when our offense isn’t really good, we have to make sure our defense can carry us because you’re not always going to make shots. Take care of the basketball. Taking away transition points. Getting shots on the offensive end so you can get offensive rebounds. We’ve been really good at that and making free throws. Tonight didn’t get there and make enough. Same thing at Kansas. It’s been one of the best free throw shooting teams I’ve ever had. That will come back.
(Key- frustration with this)
Comes back to all of us. You know, it’s a team effort. In the second half, things that we’re giving up are things we can control. We have to play harder, including myself. Just go out there and just play Baylor basketball that’s what we gotta do. Stop worrying about all the other things. We’re going to figure out what we need to get better at.
(take away from 0-3 start- Key)
I mean everyone knows we went 0-3 then went on that winning stretch. We just figure out our identity. What are we in this for? We always talk about playing for an audience of one, that’s our lord and savior and we want to show that to you each and every night. We were able to go on that winning streak and not focus on that outside noise. Just playing for one another. Playing with joy. Now we’re on a two game winning streak. Now we’re going to go back home and put in more work. That’s really all we’ve gotta do.
(Focus with three games left-Scott)
We try to get better each and every day. The great thing about the Big 12 is there’s quad one opportunities each and every night. There’s top 25 games every night. That’s why Keyonte and these guys came to Baylor to be in the best conference. I’ve been here 20 years and it’s the best it’s ever been top to bottom. So it’s a great honor and privilege and like he said it’s a great opportunity and a great platform to play with joy. We win, we lose, God gets the glory. Everybody lives to play and improve. And I love our guys. They don’t like losing. And they’re great people. And if you have those two things as a coach, you’re pretty lucky.
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