The preview is in the blitz. This is the thread to talk about it.
You non basketball fans need to not be so non basketball. College basketball is a great game.
(POST GAME ANALYSIS)
Scott Drew will tell you that he believes he has a mentally tough team. Bill Self will tell you how frustrated he is at how his team struggled to finish.
In a game that looked out of reach in the latter stages of the second half, Baylor nearly erased a 16-point deficit. Baylor carved this gap to three points before a Devonte’ Graham free throw with 5.4 seconds to play iced it. Kansas won this Big 12 tournament semifinal, 70-66, to advance to Saturday’s championship game.
Baylor is now 0-16 lifetime against a No. 1 team and will wait for Sunday’s NCAA tournament announcement. Depending on your bracketology, the Bears are probably somewhere around a No. 6 seed. We’ll see what the tournament selection committee thinks.
This was a game of two halves. Baylor’s defense absolutely controlled the pace and got this thing into a half court set. The Bears used a Jake Lindsey 3-pointer at the horn to take a 23-21 into the half.
But the Bears’ biggest nemesis – well, the Big 12’s nemesis – Perry Ellis started the second half quickly with eight straight points to give Kansas the lead for good at 31-25. From there, it bounced around. The Jayhawks extended to double digits highlighted by Wayne Selden’s facial dunk over Ish Wainright (even though it went against Baylor, it was pretty jaw dropping).
This was a game where Baylor didn’t have a standout performance from anyone except for maybe Al Freeman (14 points). Taurean Prince went scoreless in the first half. He fouled out and finished with nine points but missed all six 3-point attempts. However, he played pretty good defense and had two impressive blocks. Rico Gathers had a stretch in the middle of the second half where he scored seven straight (13 points, nine rebounds). But there were other moments when he couldn’t be found. Johnathan Motley plagued himself with cheap fouls. He did have 11 points.
Finally, Lester Medford just wasn’t a difference maker. He had nine points, two assists and five…FIVE…turnovers. When you get to March, you just have to have your point guard be a difference maker. He has to get people involved. His presence needs to be felt. And Baylor’s just not getting it from him. The Bears really didn’t need him against Texas. But in games against teams like Kansas, the Bears need him. He’s been nowhere. It’s killing this team.
Actually, I think you have to give Scott Drew a lot of credit for squeezing out 22 wins, a likely third straight trip to the tournament with this kind of flaw. But this is the reality for however long the tournament run lasts. As I’ve said several times before, this is why the Baylor staff was pretty desperate to find a second quality ball handler this past summer.
The mental toughness of this team will not be questioned. This is essentially a home game for Kansas because the tournament is about 45 minutes away from Lawrence, KS. The Bears could have gone away. They didn’t do that.
I don’t know what to make of this team’s recent adventures at the free throw line. As good as they were against Texas (20-23), they were so poor against KU at 14-25. Kansas wasn’t much better at 18-28. Plus, the Jayhawks turned it over 18 times to Baylor’s 13.
A choppy game. A game where the Bears looked out of it before they were right back in it. Now, it’s time to get ready for The Dance next week. If they get the right draw, they are capable of getting to the second weekend.
There are worse things a program can experience.
You non basketball fans need to not be so non basketball. College basketball is a great game.
(POST GAME ANALYSIS)
Scott Drew will tell you that he believes he has a mentally tough team. Bill Self will tell you how frustrated he is at how his team struggled to finish.
In a game that looked out of reach in the latter stages of the second half, Baylor nearly erased a 16-point deficit. Baylor carved this gap to three points before a Devonte’ Graham free throw with 5.4 seconds to play iced it. Kansas won this Big 12 tournament semifinal, 70-66, to advance to Saturday’s championship game.
Baylor is now 0-16 lifetime against a No. 1 team and will wait for Sunday’s NCAA tournament announcement. Depending on your bracketology, the Bears are probably somewhere around a No. 6 seed. We’ll see what the tournament selection committee thinks.
This was a game of two halves. Baylor’s defense absolutely controlled the pace and got this thing into a half court set. The Bears used a Jake Lindsey 3-pointer at the horn to take a 23-21 into the half.
But the Bears’ biggest nemesis – well, the Big 12’s nemesis – Perry Ellis started the second half quickly with eight straight points to give Kansas the lead for good at 31-25. From there, it bounced around. The Jayhawks extended to double digits highlighted by Wayne Selden’s facial dunk over Ish Wainright (even though it went against Baylor, it was pretty jaw dropping).
This was a game where Baylor didn’t have a standout performance from anyone except for maybe Al Freeman (14 points). Taurean Prince went scoreless in the first half. He fouled out and finished with nine points but missed all six 3-point attempts. However, he played pretty good defense and had two impressive blocks. Rico Gathers had a stretch in the middle of the second half where he scored seven straight (13 points, nine rebounds). But there were other moments when he couldn’t be found. Johnathan Motley plagued himself with cheap fouls. He did have 11 points.
Finally, Lester Medford just wasn’t a difference maker. He had nine points, two assists and five…FIVE…turnovers. When you get to March, you just have to have your point guard be a difference maker. He has to get people involved. His presence needs to be felt. And Baylor’s just not getting it from him. The Bears really didn’t need him against Texas. But in games against teams like Kansas, the Bears need him. He’s been nowhere. It’s killing this team.
Actually, I think you have to give Scott Drew a lot of credit for squeezing out 22 wins, a likely third straight trip to the tournament with this kind of flaw. But this is the reality for however long the tournament run lasts. As I’ve said several times before, this is why the Baylor staff was pretty desperate to find a second quality ball handler this past summer.
The mental toughness of this team will not be questioned. This is essentially a home game for Kansas because the tournament is about 45 minutes away from Lawrence, KS. The Bears could have gone away. They didn’t do that.
I don’t know what to make of this team’s recent adventures at the free throw line. As good as they were against Texas (20-23), they were so poor against KU at 14-25. Kansas wasn’t much better at 18-28. Plus, the Jayhawks turned it over 18 times to Baylor’s 13.
A choppy game. A game where the Bears looked out of it before they were right back in it. Now, it’s time to get ready for The Dance next week. If they get the right draw, they are capable of getting to the second weekend.
There are worse things a program can experience.
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