By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
I don’t want to repeat last week’s analysis from the round of 32 win over Wisconsin.
However, I’m only going to say this: when you play defense like Baylor can play defense, your team can play into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, play into the third weekend of the NCAA tournament and play in the final game of the college basketball season.
As concerning as the first half was in the South Regional Sweet 16 matchup with No. 5 Villanova, No. 1 Baylor revealed how resourceful it was, how mentally tough it was and how committed it was.
Baylor 62, Villanova 51 was different because Baylor was very un-Baylor like in the second half. Down 30-23 at the break, the Bears committed themselves to going to the glass, making life miserable for the nation’s best ball-handling team and use its bench at a time when its starters were struggling.
The Bears (25-2) are moving on to their third Elite 8 since 2010 because they completely manhandled the Wildcats. They punched this team from Philadelphia in the mouth and Philadelphia didn’t punch back.
Toughness won this game in the second half. Here’s the breakdown:
>Baylor scored 28 of its 39 points on points in the paint.
>Baylor held Villanova to just 37.5 shooting and 0-9 from the arc.
>Baylor forced nine turnovers and converted them into 13 points.
>Baylor won a game where it was just 3-19 from the 3-point line and just 1-7 in final 20 minutes.
>Baylor held Villanova’s best player, sophomore forward Jonathan Robinson-Earl, to just eight points and just two in the second half.
>Baylor won a game where it’s alpha Jared Butler scored only nine points and its leading scorer was coming off the bench in Adam Flagler who had a team-high 16.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew made the bold move after the first half that they were going to bypass the 3-point ball and go attack the glass. This is a Baylor team that leads the nation in 3-point shooting at 41.2 percent. The Bears embrace that shot. They live for it. They want it. They need it.
And yet they understood that they had to get out of that comfort zone. Rather than try to shoot their way out of it, it was almost like they re-invented themselves in the middle of this game.
I’ll admit that when the Bears scored a couple of baskets to start the second half from the block, I thought well this is going to force Villanova to collapse the defense so the Bears can kick it out and free up shooters.
Not. A. Chance.
They stuck with the game plan to keep going to the glass and making the Wildcats defend. They trust themselves. They understand each other. They know they can find other ways to win. Simply put, Villanova could not.
But defensively, they were so locked in that Wildcats just couldn’t run their offense. Consider that Villanova committed the fewest turnovers per game in the country at 8.8. The Bears induced 16 and wound up scoring 22 points overall off of them.
That’s the game.
You really appreciate a team’s ability to play defense the deeper it goes into the tournament. It’s not an accident that you can lock people down when you have the ability to harass like Baylor can. This is something that has been in the making since the summer of 2020.
Baylor won a NCAA tournament game when it scored only 62 points. Think of that.
As much as we have watched this team go bombs away from the line and get everybody excited with the long ball, we’re reminded that it doesn’t matter if you are a football team, baseball team or basketball team, when you stop the other guy, you’re going to win.
And that’s why Baylor has a chance to advance to its first Final Four for the first time since 1950.
Publisher
I don’t want to repeat last week’s analysis from the round of 32 win over Wisconsin.
However, I’m only going to say this: when you play defense like Baylor can play defense, your team can play into the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, play into the third weekend of the NCAA tournament and play in the final game of the college basketball season.
As concerning as the first half was in the South Regional Sweet 16 matchup with No. 5 Villanova, No. 1 Baylor revealed how resourceful it was, how mentally tough it was and how committed it was.
Baylor 62, Villanova 51 was different because Baylor was very un-Baylor like in the second half. Down 30-23 at the break, the Bears committed themselves to going to the glass, making life miserable for the nation’s best ball-handling team and use its bench at a time when its starters were struggling.
The Bears (25-2) are moving on to their third Elite 8 since 2010 because they completely manhandled the Wildcats. They punched this team from Philadelphia in the mouth and Philadelphia didn’t punch back.
Toughness won this game in the second half. Here’s the breakdown:
>Baylor scored 28 of its 39 points on points in the paint.
>Baylor held Villanova to just 37.5 shooting and 0-9 from the arc.
>Baylor forced nine turnovers and converted them into 13 points.
>Baylor won a game where it was just 3-19 from the 3-point line and just 1-7 in final 20 minutes.
>Baylor held Villanova’s best player, sophomore forward Jonathan Robinson-Earl, to just eight points and just two in the second half.
>Baylor won a game where it’s alpha Jared Butler scored only nine points and its leading scorer was coming off the bench in Adam Flagler who had a team-high 16.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew made the bold move after the first half that they were going to bypass the 3-point ball and go attack the glass. This is a Baylor team that leads the nation in 3-point shooting at 41.2 percent. The Bears embrace that shot. They live for it. They want it. They need it.
And yet they understood that they had to get out of that comfort zone. Rather than try to shoot their way out of it, it was almost like they re-invented themselves in the middle of this game.
I’ll admit that when the Bears scored a couple of baskets to start the second half from the block, I thought well this is going to force Villanova to collapse the defense so the Bears can kick it out and free up shooters.
Not. A. Chance.
They stuck with the game plan to keep going to the glass and making the Wildcats defend. They trust themselves. They understand each other. They know they can find other ways to win. Simply put, Villanova could not.
But defensively, they were so locked in that Wildcats just couldn’t run their offense. Consider that Villanova committed the fewest turnovers per game in the country at 8.8. The Bears induced 16 and wound up scoring 22 points overall off of them.
That’s the game.
You really appreciate a team’s ability to play defense the deeper it goes into the tournament. It’s not an accident that you can lock people down when you have the ability to harass like Baylor can. This is something that has been in the making since the summer of 2020.
Baylor won a NCAA tournament game when it scored only 62 points. Think of that.
As much as we have watched this team go bombs away from the line and get everybody excited with the long ball, we’re reminded that it doesn’t matter if you are a football team, baseball team or basketball team, when you stop the other guy, you’re going to win.
And that’s why Baylor has a chance to advance to its first Final Four for the first time since 1950.
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