By Kevin Lonnquist
Publisher
Baylor’ defensive approach has been the storyline to this program ascending to the nation’s top spot for the second time in program and history and rattling off a second-best 16-game winning streak.
College basketball’s No. 1 team has a chance to equal the school-record winning streak Wednesday night at the Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State (8:00 P.M., ESPNU). The Bears haven’t lost on the road this year. Remember, the only loss was the neutral site game in Anchorage, AK against Washington.
The attention to detail at which Scott Drew’s team has emphasized that on the court has been more than impressive. Defense is about effort. Either a team wants to do it, or it doesn’t. Baylor wants to. It starts with its guards. Redshirt sophomore guard Davion Mitchell is one of the best on-ball defenders in the country. Redshirt junior Mark Vital can guard all five positions. The positioning on the floor has been precise far more than not.
“We’ve got older guards,’’ sophomore guard Jared Butler said. “We’ve got some guys who are built to last and we’ve got some qualities to us that can travel whether we’re hitting shots or not. We’re always going to play defense and hit the right guy and things like that, and I think that’s why we can win on the road.”
Followers already know the Bears are holding teams to the nation’s fifth lowest total (58.6 ppg), eighth nationally in two-point field goal defense (42.8 percent) and one of the best overall field goal defenses in the country at 38.3.
But let’s take a further dive into these defensive numbers and what a vice this has become.
>Only two teams (Coastal Carolina 51.1 and Villanova 51.9) have shot better than 50 percent against the Bears. Since those two games in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, the best shooting percentage was 44.2 percent by Florida this past Saturday.
>Just six players have scored 20 or more points against the Bears. Only 13 have scored between 15-19 points.
>Baylor’s team defense has never surpassed 64.5 points per game. It dropped below 60 points following the win over Jackson State on Dec. 30 and remained there since.
>Baylor is also playing smart basketball on defense. It’s committing just 16.1 fouls per game. Generally speaking, that means teams are only getting one plus the bonus in each half and not getting into the two-shot bonus (10 fouls). Only twice has a player fouled out, Butler vs Coastal Carolina and Mark Vital vs. Arizona.
That translates to the foul line. Baylor has attempted 275 free throws. Opponents have made just 236.
Then look what it has done to its opponents and some program lows:
>BU has held 5 high-major opponents to season-low scoring totals. BU held Arizona (58), Butler (52), Texas (44), Tech Tech (52) and Kansas (55) to season-low scores. The Bears also held Iowa State (55) to its 2nd-fewest points.
>The 55 points Baylor limited Kansas to were KU’s fewest at Allen Fieldhouse since 2000.
>The 52 points BU limited Texas Tech to were Tech’s fewest in a home game during the 4-year Chris Beard era.
>The 44 points Baylor held Texas to were its fewest in any game during the 5-year Shaka Smart era.
>Iowa State’s 55 points were its second-fewest this season and the fewest by ISU away from home since 2013.
“Definitely the poise, the leadership, the toughness, the character. You put all that together,’’ Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “And then, you’ve got to take care of the ball, and we’ve done that. You’ve got to rebound, we’ve done that. And then you’ve got to defend well, because all those are things that if you’re not doing lead to easy buckets and the crowd getting into it, and then the home team really getting that momentum.”
That’s where Baylor’s rebounding edge (38.8-32.8) comes into play. Baylor dominates in second-chance points (335-210) and has the identical numbers and margin in points off turnovers.
The Bears have needed all of this because they have been a decent but not great shooting team (42.8 overall, 35.1 3-point). It proves the theory that offense wins games but defense wins championships.
Publisher
Baylor’ defensive approach has been the storyline to this program ascending to the nation’s top spot for the second time in program and history and rattling off a second-best 16-game winning streak.
College basketball’s No. 1 team has a chance to equal the school-record winning streak Wednesday night at the Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State (8:00 P.M., ESPNU). The Bears haven’t lost on the road this year. Remember, the only loss was the neutral site game in Anchorage, AK against Washington.
The attention to detail at which Scott Drew’s team has emphasized that on the court has been more than impressive. Defense is about effort. Either a team wants to do it, or it doesn’t. Baylor wants to. It starts with its guards. Redshirt sophomore guard Davion Mitchell is one of the best on-ball defenders in the country. Redshirt junior Mark Vital can guard all five positions. The positioning on the floor has been precise far more than not.
“We’ve got older guards,’’ sophomore guard Jared Butler said. “We’ve got some guys who are built to last and we’ve got some qualities to us that can travel whether we’re hitting shots or not. We’re always going to play defense and hit the right guy and things like that, and I think that’s why we can win on the road.”
Followers already know the Bears are holding teams to the nation’s fifth lowest total (58.6 ppg), eighth nationally in two-point field goal defense (42.8 percent) and one of the best overall field goal defenses in the country at 38.3.
But let’s take a further dive into these defensive numbers and what a vice this has become.
>Only two teams (Coastal Carolina 51.1 and Villanova 51.9) have shot better than 50 percent against the Bears. Since those two games in the Myrtle Beach Invitational, the best shooting percentage was 44.2 percent by Florida this past Saturday.
>Just six players have scored 20 or more points against the Bears. Only 13 have scored between 15-19 points.
>Baylor’s team defense has never surpassed 64.5 points per game. It dropped below 60 points following the win over Jackson State on Dec. 30 and remained there since.
>Baylor is also playing smart basketball on defense. It’s committing just 16.1 fouls per game. Generally speaking, that means teams are only getting one plus the bonus in each half and not getting into the two-shot bonus (10 fouls). Only twice has a player fouled out, Butler vs Coastal Carolina and Mark Vital vs. Arizona.
That translates to the foul line. Baylor has attempted 275 free throws. Opponents have made just 236.
Then look what it has done to its opponents and some program lows:
>BU has held 5 high-major opponents to season-low scoring totals. BU held Arizona (58), Butler (52), Texas (44), Tech Tech (52) and Kansas (55) to season-low scores. The Bears also held Iowa State (55) to its 2nd-fewest points.
>The 55 points Baylor limited Kansas to were KU’s fewest at Allen Fieldhouse since 2000.
>The 52 points BU limited Texas Tech to were Tech’s fewest in a home game during the 4-year Chris Beard era.
>The 44 points Baylor held Texas to were its fewest in any game during the 5-year Shaka Smart era.
>Iowa State’s 55 points were its second-fewest this season and the fewest by ISU away from home since 2013.
“Definitely the poise, the leadership, the toughness, the character. You put all that together,’’ Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “And then, you’ve got to take care of the ball, and we’ve done that. You’ve got to rebound, we’ve done that. And then you’ve got to defend well, because all those are things that if you’re not doing lead to easy buckets and the crowd getting into it, and then the home team really getting that momentum.”
That’s where Baylor’s rebounding edge (38.8-32.8) comes into play. Baylor dominates in second-chance points (335-210) and has the identical numbers and margin in points off turnovers.
The Bears have needed all of this because they have been a decent but not great shooting team (42.8 overall, 35.1 3-point). It proves the theory that offense wins games but defense wins championships.
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