By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
The sum is greater than the parts. A program doesn’t make history game after game because one or two things keep happening every time out on the court.
Why Baylor earned its Big 12-record 23rd consecutive win Tuesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK was because every time the opponent made a run, the Bears had an answer. Every time, the Bears had to make a play on defense, they made it. Every time, the Bears needed to get a big rebound they grabbed it.
When the clocked drifted under the 2:00 mark of the second, Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger had seen enough. He didn’t ask his team to foul to extend the game. He wasn’t trying to speed up the Bears to increase possession possibilities. He knew his team had been beat.
The Bears walked out of the gym with a 65-54 victory North of the Red River and now the talk of the most anticipated matchup against No. 3 Kansas on Saturday awaits. Oh, and Kansas has its own winning streak going. The Jayhawks have won their last 11.
If you look at that final score, it’s pretty close to what the Bears final scores have looked like throughout this run. At Iowa State was like that. At home to TCU was like that. At home to Texas was like that. At Florida was like that.
You don’t want to be brazen enough to say that the Bears were teasing their opponents. That’s not fair to the opponents. But when a team can dial it up and find that extra lift at about the same time – that 12-8-minute stretch in the second half – it becomes pythonesque. The defense creates the turnovers. The offense either finishes with transition points or creates exceptional looks that it balloons into a lead that the opponent can’t withstand.
At Oklahoma followed this trend. At the 12:44 mark, Oklahoma forward Kristian Doolittle made a jumper that narrowed Baylor’s lead to 39-38. Baylor led this game 28-15 in the first half. Do the math and the Bears were outscored, 23-11.
Then it came. In waves. Tristan Clark made a little tip shot to push it 41-38. The Bears forced a turnover and finished when Clark made an exceptional feed to Freddie Gillespie who finished it to make it 43-38.
Jared Butler made the two big plays of the game that put the Bears in control. He came up with a steal near half court and finished with a layup high off the window. He missed the free throw but it was 45-38. A pair of Doolittle free throws cut Baylor’s lead to 45-40. Clark answer with a soft jumper and it 47-40. Following a miss, Butler drilled a 3-pointer and then it was followed by another Clark basket. Baylor led 52-40. Kruger called timeout.
Time on the clock: 8:21.
Oklahoma had a couple of plays to make it interesting but not enough. Some teams just struggle to come up with runs. Baylor doesn’t because it put in the work in the summertime to get to these moments. Besides this being a really good team with the best guards in college basketball, the Bears come up with these moments because they are the mentally tougher team. They have the will and the want to do it.
For the past two games, they’ve done it without guard MaCio Teague who it out with right wrist (shooting hand) injury.
There are no more records that Baylor is chasing from a school or conference perspective. All that’s left to follow is if the Bears can sweep Kansas for the first time ever, can go undefeated in the Big 12 and win their first regular season title, win the conference tournament title and then pursue a trip to the Final Four.
Is it Saturday yet?
Publisher
The sum is greater than the parts. A program doesn’t make history game after game because one or two things keep happening every time out on the court.
Why Baylor earned its Big 12-record 23rd consecutive win Tuesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, OK was because every time the opponent made a run, the Bears had an answer. Every time, the Bears had to make a play on defense, they made it. Every time, the Bears needed to get a big rebound they grabbed it.
When the clocked drifted under the 2:00 mark of the second, Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger had seen enough. He didn’t ask his team to foul to extend the game. He wasn’t trying to speed up the Bears to increase possession possibilities. He knew his team had been beat.
The Bears walked out of the gym with a 65-54 victory North of the Red River and now the talk of the most anticipated matchup against No. 3 Kansas on Saturday awaits. Oh, and Kansas has its own winning streak going. The Jayhawks have won their last 11.
If you look at that final score, it’s pretty close to what the Bears final scores have looked like throughout this run. At Iowa State was like that. At home to TCU was like that. At home to Texas was like that. At Florida was like that.
You don’t want to be brazen enough to say that the Bears were teasing their opponents. That’s not fair to the opponents. But when a team can dial it up and find that extra lift at about the same time – that 12-8-minute stretch in the second half – it becomes pythonesque. The defense creates the turnovers. The offense either finishes with transition points or creates exceptional looks that it balloons into a lead that the opponent can’t withstand.
At Oklahoma followed this trend. At the 12:44 mark, Oklahoma forward Kristian Doolittle made a jumper that narrowed Baylor’s lead to 39-38. Baylor led this game 28-15 in the first half. Do the math and the Bears were outscored, 23-11.
Then it came. In waves. Tristan Clark made a little tip shot to push it 41-38. The Bears forced a turnover and finished when Clark made an exceptional feed to Freddie Gillespie who finished it to make it 43-38.
Jared Butler made the two big plays of the game that put the Bears in control. He came up with a steal near half court and finished with a layup high off the window. He missed the free throw but it was 45-38. A pair of Doolittle free throws cut Baylor’s lead to 45-40. Clark answer with a soft jumper and it 47-40. Following a miss, Butler drilled a 3-pointer and then it was followed by another Clark basket. Baylor led 52-40. Kruger called timeout.
Time on the clock: 8:21.
Oklahoma had a couple of plays to make it interesting but not enough. Some teams just struggle to come up with runs. Baylor doesn’t because it put in the work in the summertime to get to these moments. Besides this being a really good team with the best guards in college basketball, the Bears come up with these moments because they are the mentally tougher team. They have the will and the want to do it.
For the past two games, they’ve done it without guard MaCio Teague who it out with right wrist (shooting hand) injury.
There are no more records that Baylor is chasing from a school or conference perspective. All that’s left to follow is if the Bears can sweep Kansas for the first time ever, can go undefeated in the Big 12 and win their first regular season title, win the conference tournament title and then pursue a trip to the Final Four.
Is it Saturday yet?
