By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The NCAA tournament is beautiful. The NCAA tournament is cruel. As the South Region’s No. 3 seed, Baylor comes into its Round of 64 game with No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Friday in Denver knowing this:
No. 2 seed Arizona out.
No. 4 seed Virginia out.
The anarchy of March Madness produced No. 15 Princeton over the Wildcats and No. 13 seed Furman upsetting the co-ACC champion Cavaliers on Thursday.
Of course, the Bears have to take care of business against the Gauchos at Ball Arena.
It’s a reminder that chalk means nothing. You better play. And you better play well. The tournament is just a different game.
Should Baylor survive, it will get the winner of No. 6 Creighton-No. 11 NC State Sunday.
“Everybody at this time of year knows that this could be your last practice in the Ferrell Center,’’ Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “So, you’re dialed-in, you’re locked-in and you’re competing as hard as you can, trying to execute as well as you can. And as a coaching staff, you want them fresh, you don't want to get anyone injured. At the same time, you want to get them ready. So, it’s a fine line, and prayer in between.”
The Bears appear to be pretty much healthy. Of course, complete health depends on guard Langston Love (cornea abrasion). He went through Thursday’s practice in Denver wearing protective goggles. Drew said it will be a gametime decision if he can play.
For the Bears, they have the incentive to put the frustration of this season’s finish in the rearview mirror. They dropped four of their last six and had defensive issues around the block and keeping opponents off the glass.
“Just also focusing on defense,’’ Baylor center Flo Thamba said. “We can always try to get better on defense and defensive assignments, understanding, especially scout; paying more attention to the scout, because I feel like we made a lot of errors in (terms of) focus.”
But this team still has a lot of tournament experience with 2021 national title holdovers Thamba, Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. It doesn’t guarantee success. Yet it’s a nice commodity to have.
“For me, the most important thing is togetherness, weathering the storm,’’ Thamba said. “There comes a time in certain moments of the game where we’ve just got to stay together.”
Winning the Big West regular season and tournament championships, UC-Santa Barbara didn’t play an overall demanding non-conference schedule. But the Gauchos are a savvy team. They went 9-3 in games decided by single digits.
This team is very good offensively averaging 72 points per game while shooting 49 percent for the field, 35 percent from long distance and nearly 73 percent at the foul line.
Guard Ajay Mitchell (16.4), who is from Belgium, and forward/Oregon transfer Miles Norris (14.1, 6.1) are their most productive players. Norris adds a little more from the wing shooting nearly 39 percent from the arc. He’s one of three who are 38 percent or better from there. Cal transfer Andre Kelly (9.5, 6.5, 56%) has been productive.
The tournament is surviving and advancing to see another round. Baylor hasn’t lost in the first round since it fell to Yale in 2013. That history doesn’t need to repeat itself.
“Normally, you’re excited for rivals and people on draft boards, and people who are talked about,’’ Drew said. “That’s easy motivation for you. At the same time, that’s what makes college basketball. There are 363 teams and so many good players and so much parity between them. A lot of guys were overlooked, a lot of our guys started in Division II or low Division I. So, they know there are great players everywhere and you’ve got to be ready to go.”
StoryLines
• BU is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine tournaments.
• The Bears are 21-15 in 14 NCAA Championship appearances and 18-9 under Scott Drew.
• Drew is one of two active coaches to have won an NCAA Title and an NIT Title (John Calipari). He is the only active coach to have won both at the same school.
• Baylor is one of just four teams to be a three-seed or higher in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments.
• BU is 8-5 all time when playing as a No. 3 seed.
• The Bears are appearing in the NCAA postseason for a school-record 11th-consecutive time (9 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• Baylor is 41-24 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 15 seasons.
• BU and UCSB will be meeting for the third time, and Baylor is 1-1 in the series. The Bears won 78-75 in Santa Barbara on Dec. 11, 1965 and lost 95-68 in Santa Barbara on Dec. 5, 1970.
• The Bears played 18 of 32 (.563%) games this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
• Baylor is 8-10 against the 2023 NCAA Tournament field – No. 1 seed Kansas (1-1), No. 2 seed Marquette (0-1), No. 2 seed UCLA (1-0), No. 2 seed Texas (1-1), No. 3 seed Gonzaga (1-0), No. 3 seed Kansas Stats (0-2), No. 4 seed Virginia (0-1), No. 6 Seed Iowa State (0-3), No. 6 seed TCU (1-1), No. 8 seed Arkansas (1-0), No. 9 seed West Virginia (2-0).
• BU is 7-4 (4-straight wins) in opening-round games in the modern-tournament era.
• Baylor is 1 of 10 teams to appear in eight of the last nine tournaments, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, Villanova and Virginia.
• BU has won 17 of its last 18 neutral-site games against non-conference opponents (only loss in that span was vs. Virginia 11/18/22).
• All nine of BU's losses have come against teams currently ranked in the top 30 of the latest NCAA Net rankings.
• The Bears are 13-3 in the last 16 games against AP Top-10 teams, beating Nos. 5, 9, 6, 6, 10, 6, 1, 6, 8, 5, 8, 9 and 8.
• Baylor's Adam Flagler (First Team), Keyonte George (Second, All-Freshman and All-Newcomer Teams) and LJ Cryer (Third Team) were named All-Big 12 selections by league's coaches.
• Twelve of Baylor's 13 starting point guards during the Drew era have earned All-Big 12 recognition.
• Flagler is one of two Big 12 shooting guards on a five-man list of finalists for the Jerry West Award (nation's top shooting guard).
Publisher
The NCAA tournament is beautiful. The NCAA tournament is cruel. As the South Region’s No. 3 seed, Baylor comes into its Round of 64 game with No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Friday in Denver knowing this:
No. 2 seed Arizona out.
No. 4 seed Virginia out.
The anarchy of March Madness produced No. 15 Princeton over the Wildcats and No. 13 seed Furman upsetting the co-ACC champion Cavaliers on Thursday.
Of course, the Bears have to take care of business against the Gauchos at Ball Arena.
It’s a reminder that chalk means nothing. You better play. And you better play well. The tournament is just a different game.
Should Baylor survive, it will get the winner of No. 6 Creighton-No. 11 NC State Sunday.
“Everybody at this time of year knows that this could be your last practice in the Ferrell Center,’’ Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “So, you’re dialed-in, you’re locked-in and you’re competing as hard as you can, trying to execute as well as you can. And as a coaching staff, you want them fresh, you don't want to get anyone injured. At the same time, you want to get them ready. So, it’s a fine line, and prayer in between.”
The Bears appear to be pretty much healthy. Of course, complete health depends on guard Langston Love (cornea abrasion). He went through Thursday’s practice in Denver wearing protective goggles. Drew said it will be a gametime decision if he can play.
For the Bears, they have the incentive to put the frustration of this season’s finish in the rearview mirror. They dropped four of their last six and had defensive issues around the block and keeping opponents off the glass.
“Just also focusing on defense,’’ Baylor center Flo Thamba said. “We can always try to get better on defense and defensive assignments, understanding, especially scout; paying more attention to the scout, because I feel like we made a lot of errors in (terms of) focus.”
But this team still has a lot of tournament experience with 2021 national title holdovers Thamba, Adam Flagler, LJ Cryer and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. It doesn’t guarantee success. Yet it’s a nice commodity to have.
“For me, the most important thing is togetherness, weathering the storm,’’ Thamba said. “There comes a time in certain moments of the game where we’ve just got to stay together.”
Winning the Big West regular season and tournament championships, UC-Santa Barbara didn’t play an overall demanding non-conference schedule. But the Gauchos are a savvy team. They went 9-3 in games decided by single digits.
This team is very good offensively averaging 72 points per game while shooting 49 percent for the field, 35 percent from long distance and nearly 73 percent at the foul line.
Guard Ajay Mitchell (16.4), who is from Belgium, and forward/Oregon transfer Miles Norris (14.1, 6.1) are their most productive players. Norris adds a little more from the wing shooting nearly 39 percent from the arc. He’s one of three who are 38 percent or better from there. Cal transfer Andre Kelly (9.5, 6.5, 56%) has been productive.
The tournament is surviving and advancing to see another round. Baylor hasn’t lost in the first round since it fell to Yale in 2013. That history doesn’t need to repeat itself.
“Normally, you’re excited for rivals and people on draft boards, and people who are talked about,’’ Drew said. “That’s easy motivation for you. At the same time, that’s what makes college basketball. There are 363 teams and so many good players and so much parity between them. A lot of guys were overlooked, a lot of our guys started in Division II or low Division I. So, they know there are great players everywhere and you’ve got to be ready to go.”
StoryLines
• BU is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last nine tournaments.
• The Bears are 21-15 in 14 NCAA Championship appearances and 18-9 under Scott Drew.
• Drew is one of two active coaches to have won an NCAA Title and an NIT Title (John Calipari). He is the only active coach to have won both at the same school.
• Baylor is one of just four teams to be a three-seed or higher in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments.
• BU is 8-5 all time when playing as a No. 3 seed.
• The Bears are appearing in the NCAA postseason for a school-record 11th-consecutive time (9 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• Baylor is 41-24 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 15 seasons.
• BU and UCSB will be meeting for the third time, and Baylor is 1-1 in the series. The Bears won 78-75 in Santa Barbara on Dec. 11, 1965 and lost 95-68 in Santa Barbara on Dec. 5, 1970.
• The Bears played 18 of 32 (.563%) games this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
• Baylor is 8-10 against the 2023 NCAA Tournament field – No. 1 seed Kansas (1-1), No. 2 seed Marquette (0-1), No. 2 seed UCLA (1-0), No. 2 seed Texas (1-1), No. 3 seed Gonzaga (1-0), No. 3 seed Kansas Stats (0-2), No. 4 seed Virginia (0-1), No. 6 Seed Iowa State (0-3), No. 6 seed TCU (1-1), No. 8 seed Arkansas (1-0), No. 9 seed West Virginia (2-0).
• BU is 7-4 (4-straight wins) in opening-round games in the modern-tournament era.
• Baylor is 1 of 10 teams to appear in eight of the last nine tournaments, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina, Purdue, Villanova and Virginia.
• BU has won 17 of its last 18 neutral-site games against non-conference opponents (only loss in that span was vs. Virginia 11/18/22).
• All nine of BU's losses have come against teams currently ranked in the top 30 of the latest NCAA Net rankings.
• The Bears are 13-3 in the last 16 games against AP Top-10 teams, beating Nos. 5, 9, 6, 6, 10, 6, 1, 6, 8, 5, 8, 9 and 8.
• Baylor's Adam Flagler (First Team), Keyonte George (Second, All-Freshman and All-Newcomer Teams) and LJ Cryer (Third Team) were named All-Big 12 selections by league's coaches.
• Twelve of Baylor's 13 starting point guards during the Drew era have earned All-Big 12 recognition.
• Flagler is one of two Big 12 shooting guards on a five-man list of finalists for the Jerry West Award (nation's top shooting guard).
