Just some tidbits for this game between the No. 16 Bears and No. 2 Jayhawks Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.
Game preview
>Expected visitors are noteworthy: That starts with signee Mark Vital and Alabama commit Terrance Ferguson. As we told you a couple of weeks ago this thing with Ferguson signing with the Crimson Tide is anyone's guess. We mentioned that Baylor and Kansas are heavily into this. Not sure if the winner of this game moves to the front but even basketball recruiting is weird. Still, it's a big move for Baylor because it shows, Ferguson is listening.
>Some of the younger players expected are Dallas Skyline 2017 guard Marcus Garrett, Houston Christian 2019 5-5 guard Sahvir Wheeler and 2019 twin brothers Jalyn and Jordan Turner. The guards are from the Satch Home School program in greater Houston.
>And the way we understand it is that everybody recruiting Findlay Prep (NV) guard Markus Howard is expecting him to be a 2016 recruit. He takes his official visit to Baylor March 5 in the regular season finale against West Virginia. Howard is taking his official visit to Marquette this weekend.
POST GAME THOUGHTS
When you get into games like the one Baylor just finished Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center, it simply comes down to the truism: you win when your point guard executes.
Kansas point guard combo Frank Mason III and Devonte' Graham did. Baylor's Lester Medford didn't.
The No. 2 Jayhawks (24-4, 12-3) are on the verge of winning or sharing their 12th consecutive Big 12 championship because of what the 8,259 (should have been filled but they were plenty loud) in the Ferrell Center watched in the final minutes.
Kansas finished this game on 13-5 run in the last 3:53 and by making plays in the half court, grabbed crucial offensive rebounds (how did Wayne Seldon get that one with about 1:45 to play surrounded by two Baylor jerserys?) and got a couple of stops. The Jayhawks executed to near perfection down the stretch.
Baylor (20-8, 9-6) has nothing to hang its head about. This team played really good defense for pretty much all 40 minutes. Obviously the breakdown on the Seldon alley oop coming out of the timeout with 1:29 to play was bad. There was another great feed to Seldon for the layup that sealed it.
Still, this team gave everything it had. It didn't shoot very well (22-61, 36.1 percent). But it took care of the ball until the final three minutes and outrebounded Kansas, 33-28. Baylor was aggressive. The little things just didn't go Baylor's way.
I don't want to lay this all at Medford's feet. However, look at what happened at the end. He commits two turnovers including one with about 3:30 to play where he dribbled way too much and didn't get the ball moving to run a set play. He also missed a shot with about one minute remaining that really could have helped. His line looks good with eight assists and three turnovers. It's just the last two that really stick out like a sore thumb.
That said, it's game like this that helps you understand why Baylor's staff was on the move this offseason trying to find another ball handler. Al Freeman is a shooting guard and can handle the ball. But he's not a facilitator. Kansas really has two between Mason and Graham. Those two combined for 30 points, 10 assists and only three turnovers.
Everything evens out, doesn't it? Look at the shots Johnathan Motley missed. He had two early baskets. If I'm right, I think he finished 1-for-8 from the floor (3-for-10 for the game). He had great looks all night. As good as he was against Texas, he just missed Tuesday. I thought he played Perry Ellis pretty decently. He held him to one point below his average (16.3).
Taurean Prince also got his share of looks. He went 4-0f-13 for 12 points. Al Freeman was really good. Despite the late miss, he went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and had a game-high 17.
Obviously, we can go into the whys and wherefores about Baylor not having a timeout for the last 5:26 of the game. They had to burn the last one because they got trapped in the corner. You can try and throw it off their leg and get a call. But the better play is to get the timeout.
They burned all three between the 11:59 and 5:26 mark. The one they burned with 10:09 remaining is pretty normal. Kansas just went on a 9-0 run to rally from down 47-39. Obviously, you'd like to have one in your back pocket for the end. However, I'm of the mindset that if you've worked on these late game situations in practice -- that's why you practice them right? -- your players should understand what's at stake and what they have to do.
It hurts because there was a real opportunity to win this game. Baylor is now 0-15 all-time against Nos. 1 and 2. And they're 4-26 all-time against Kansas.
But the Bears have to put it behind them when they go on the road for the next two at TCU and Oklahoma. The last week gives you a reason to believe that if they get the right draw in the NCAA tournament, they can reach the Sweet 16.
The Big 12 is really good conference. Lots of basketball to play. Lots of stories left to write. It's agonizing and fun at the same time.
Kansas players Landen Lucas and Wayne Selden Jr. post game
Kansas coach Bill Self postgame:
Scott Drew and players:
Game preview
>Expected visitors are noteworthy: That starts with signee Mark Vital and Alabama commit Terrance Ferguson. As we told you a couple of weeks ago this thing with Ferguson signing with the Crimson Tide is anyone's guess. We mentioned that Baylor and Kansas are heavily into this. Not sure if the winner of this game moves to the front but even basketball recruiting is weird. Still, it's a big move for Baylor because it shows, Ferguson is listening.
>Some of the younger players expected are Dallas Skyline 2017 guard Marcus Garrett, Houston Christian 2019 5-5 guard Sahvir Wheeler and 2019 twin brothers Jalyn and Jordan Turner. The guards are from the Satch Home School program in greater Houston.
>And the way we understand it is that everybody recruiting Findlay Prep (NV) guard Markus Howard is expecting him to be a 2016 recruit. He takes his official visit to Baylor March 5 in the regular season finale against West Virginia. Howard is taking his official visit to Marquette this weekend.
POST GAME THOUGHTS
When you get into games like the one Baylor just finished Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center, it simply comes down to the truism: you win when your point guard executes.
Kansas point guard combo Frank Mason III and Devonte' Graham did. Baylor's Lester Medford didn't.
The No. 2 Jayhawks (24-4, 12-3) are on the verge of winning or sharing their 12th consecutive Big 12 championship because of what the 8,259 (should have been filled but they were plenty loud) in the Ferrell Center watched in the final minutes.
Kansas finished this game on 13-5 run in the last 3:53 and by making plays in the half court, grabbed crucial offensive rebounds (how did Wayne Seldon get that one with about 1:45 to play surrounded by two Baylor jerserys?) and got a couple of stops. The Jayhawks executed to near perfection down the stretch.
Baylor (20-8, 9-6) has nothing to hang its head about. This team played really good defense for pretty much all 40 minutes. Obviously the breakdown on the Seldon alley oop coming out of the timeout with 1:29 to play was bad. There was another great feed to Seldon for the layup that sealed it.
Still, this team gave everything it had. It didn't shoot very well (22-61, 36.1 percent). But it took care of the ball until the final three minutes and outrebounded Kansas, 33-28. Baylor was aggressive. The little things just didn't go Baylor's way.
I don't want to lay this all at Medford's feet. However, look at what happened at the end. He commits two turnovers including one with about 3:30 to play where he dribbled way too much and didn't get the ball moving to run a set play. He also missed a shot with about one minute remaining that really could have helped. His line looks good with eight assists and three turnovers. It's just the last two that really stick out like a sore thumb.
That said, it's game like this that helps you understand why Baylor's staff was on the move this offseason trying to find another ball handler. Al Freeman is a shooting guard and can handle the ball. But he's not a facilitator. Kansas really has two between Mason and Graham. Those two combined for 30 points, 10 assists and only three turnovers.
Everything evens out, doesn't it? Look at the shots Johnathan Motley missed. He had two early baskets. If I'm right, I think he finished 1-for-8 from the floor (3-for-10 for the game). He had great looks all night. As good as he was against Texas, he just missed Tuesday. I thought he played Perry Ellis pretty decently. He held him to one point below his average (16.3).
Taurean Prince also got his share of looks. He went 4-0f-13 for 12 points. Al Freeman was really good. Despite the late miss, he went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc and had a game-high 17.
Obviously, we can go into the whys and wherefores about Baylor not having a timeout for the last 5:26 of the game. They had to burn the last one because they got trapped in the corner. You can try and throw it off their leg and get a call. But the better play is to get the timeout.
They burned all three between the 11:59 and 5:26 mark. The one they burned with 10:09 remaining is pretty normal. Kansas just went on a 9-0 run to rally from down 47-39. Obviously, you'd like to have one in your back pocket for the end. However, I'm of the mindset that if you've worked on these late game situations in practice -- that's why you practice them right? -- your players should understand what's at stake and what they have to do.
It hurts because there was a real opportunity to win this game. Baylor is now 0-15 all-time against Nos. 1 and 2. And they're 4-26 all-time against Kansas.
But the Bears have to put it behind them when they go on the road for the next two at TCU and Oklahoma. The last week gives you a reason to believe that if they get the right draw in the NCAA tournament, they can reach the Sweet 16.
The Big 12 is really good conference. Lots of basketball to play. Lots of stories left to write. It's agonizing and fun at the same time.
Kansas players Landen Lucas and Wayne Selden Jr. post game
Kansas coach Bill Self postgame:
Scott Drew and players:
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