A look at the Bears Big 12 home opener against the Cowboys
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Game Recap
>I'm going to say it. This was a must win for the Bears. They're now 11-0 at home. But they put the Kansas disaster behind them and beat an Oklahoma State team that really isn't anything special. In fact, the Cowboys are really ordinary offensively without sharp shooter Phil Forte (out with an elbow injury). But that's not Baylor's problem.
>Definitely a game of runs. The Bears used a 24-11 run to jump out to a 33-16 advantage and held a 45-33 lead at the intermission. But Oklahoma State cut the deficit to 59-56 in the later stages of the second half before Baylor closed out the game on a 20-6 run to close out the win.
>The Bears were really good offensively in the first half. They pretty much could do anything they wanted. Rico Gathers had 13 and was 5-7 in the paint. Al Freeman had 14 of his 21 in the opening 20 minutes. By the way, that's the fourth time Freeman has surpassed 20 points. Baylor shot 55.7 percent in the first half.
>But they were flat to start the second half and wound up shooting only 36 percent. That's what allowed the Cowboys to get back into it.
>Gathers became the first player in Baylor history to reach 1,000 rebounds. He did so with his 31st career double double (17 points, 17 rebounds). In fact Gathers nearly outrebounded Oklahoma State, The Cowboys only had 18.
>Taurean Prince was a little better with 14 points because. He squeezed off 17 shots. The downside is he only made six and missed all three of hit 3-point attempts. There are times where he looks really comfortable and times where he's really fighting it.
>I really like the emergence of sophomore Terry Maston. Solid contributions off the bench in his first two Big 12 games. He had eight points against the Cowboys after scoring seven at Kansas. He and Johnathan Motley are the future in the front court. But there's something about Maston's game that seems to have a little more substance than Motley's.
>Lester Medford with seven dimes against four turnovers. You'll take that a lot in Big 12 games. He also had a 11. You can't leave him unguarded from 3-point range in the baseline on the corner. He's nearly automatic from that spot. In fact, the 3-pointer he nailed tonight was in the same spot on the floor that was the game-winner against Vanderbilt.
>Baylor finished outrebounding Oklahoma State, 44-18 and was excellent at the free throw line (21-24 87.5%). The listed attendance in the Ferrell Center was 5,665. Unfortunately, I found the energy in the building to be pretty disappointing. I'm really not going to talk about the attendance situation for this program. It's a circular argument.
>Bears now take some confidence to No. 13 Iowa State Saturday afternoon. Remember, they won at the Hilton Coliseum for the first time in school history last year, 79-70.
-Kevin Lonnquist
Story link
Game Recap
>I'm going to say it. This was a must win for the Bears. They're now 11-0 at home. But they put the Kansas disaster behind them and beat an Oklahoma State team that really isn't anything special. In fact, the Cowboys are really ordinary offensively without sharp shooter Phil Forte (out with an elbow injury). But that's not Baylor's problem.
>Definitely a game of runs. The Bears used a 24-11 run to jump out to a 33-16 advantage and held a 45-33 lead at the intermission. But Oklahoma State cut the deficit to 59-56 in the later stages of the second half before Baylor closed out the game on a 20-6 run to close out the win.
>The Bears were really good offensively in the first half. They pretty much could do anything they wanted. Rico Gathers had 13 and was 5-7 in the paint. Al Freeman had 14 of his 21 in the opening 20 minutes. By the way, that's the fourth time Freeman has surpassed 20 points. Baylor shot 55.7 percent in the first half.
>But they were flat to start the second half and wound up shooting only 36 percent. That's what allowed the Cowboys to get back into it.
>Gathers became the first player in Baylor history to reach 1,000 rebounds. He did so with his 31st career double double (17 points, 17 rebounds). In fact Gathers nearly outrebounded Oklahoma State, The Cowboys only had 18.
>Taurean Prince was a little better with 14 points because. He squeezed off 17 shots. The downside is he only made six and missed all three of hit 3-point attempts. There are times where he looks really comfortable and times where he's really fighting it.
>I really like the emergence of sophomore Terry Maston. Solid contributions off the bench in his first two Big 12 games. He had eight points against the Cowboys after scoring seven at Kansas. He and Johnathan Motley are the future in the front court. But there's something about Maston's game that seems to have a little more substance than Motley's.
>Lester Medford with seven dimes against four turnovers. You'll take that a lot in Big 12 games. He also had a 11. You can't leave him unguarded from 3-point range in the baseline on the corner. He's nearly automatic from that spot. In fact, the 3-pointer he nailed tonight was in the same spot on the floor that was the game-winner against Vanderbilt.
>Baylor finished outrebounding Oklahoma State, 44-18 and was excellent at the free throw line (21-24 87.5%). The listed attendance in the Ferrell Center was 5,665. Unfortunately, I found the energy in the building to be pretty disappointing. I'm really not going to talk about the attendance situation for this program. It's a circular argument.
>Bears now take some confidence to No. 13 Iowa State Saturday afternoon. Remember, they won at the Hilton Coliseum for the first time in school history last year, 79-70.
-Kevin Lonnquist
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