clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Daily Bears Report 11/15 - Updated

Manu Lecomte named Big XII Newcomer of The Week. Baylor takes on Oregon this afternoon at 2:30 in the Ferrell Center.

By Ohio Baylor Fan
NCAA Basketball: Oral Roberts at Baylor
Manu Lecomte
Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Today’s Events

Men's Basketball, vs Oregon, 2:30 PM, ESPN2, Listen

Baylor Athletics Update 11/15/16

Basketball

The middle of the afternoon is a really weird time to be tipping off on a week day. All employers should be giving paid time off work to those attending this. (That’s another famous OBF Quote.) Baylor will play No. 5 Oregon today at 2:30 p.m. in the Ferrell Center as part of ESPN's College Basketball Tip-Off Marathon.

  • Four days into the college basketball season, fourth-ranked Oregon faces a test that concerns coach Dana Altman. From Yahoo Sports.

After opening the season with an uninspiring 91-77 win over Army, the Ducks will head to Baylor on Tuesday afternoon.

Oregon beat Baylor 74-67 last season in Eugene, Ore.

"I don't think we will be that excited like we were last year when we were licking our chops because we knew we were the underdog," Bell said. "This year people are saying we are good so I think we need to take the mentality last year like we were underdogs. We will get everyone's best game so we have to come out with energy and go for it."

Last year, Baylor was in the Top 25 when it lost to Oregon, but now the Ducks are the ranked team in the matchup.

"They were ranked and we weren't and it was a big ballgame for us," Altman said. "It is a big one for us to go down there, it will be tough on the road. We are not playing very well and we will be the underdogs going down there. Whether they think they are the favorites or not, we are going down there and it will be a tough game."

Baylor opened the season with a 76-61 win at home over Oral Roberts.

Junior guard Al Freeman led the Bears with 16 points against Oral Roberts, including three 3-pointers. Baylor shot 10 of 26 from behind the 3-point line.

"That's something when you play guards, you hope they make those threes," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I thought we had some good looks, and in the second half I thought we did a good job getting to the paint and getting to the 3-point line and mixing that up. I thought guys got a little more comfortable at the 3-point line in the second half, so that was good."

Chardonae Fuqua’ Interviews Jr. Guard Al Freeman

  • Although they’ve played only one game, it’s fair to say these aren’t quite the same Bears we’ve seen the last few seasons. From Our Daily Bears.

The Bears played without Johnathan Motley against Oral Roberts. Once he returns, the Bears may look wildly different. Motley was the only big man to make the All-Big 12 team. Motley is talented enough that the team will change many facets of its offense when he returns.

  • Baylor men's basketball junior point guard Manu Lecomte has been named Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Co-Newcomer of the Week, as voted on by a panel of media members and announced Monday by the conference office. From Baylor Bears dot com.

Lecomte is a Brussels, Belgium, native, who transferred to Baylor after playing his first two collegiate seasons at Miami (Fla.). He sat out last season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules and made his Baylor debut in Friday's season-opening 76-61 win over Oral Roberts.

Lecomte posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists, while committing zero turnovers in 35 minutes. He added a team-high three steals and contributed to 53 percent of Baylor's points through either his own scoring or assists that led to field goals for teammates. All 11 of Lecomte's assists can be seen in this video: https://t.co/O1VnwSCyF4.

Kansas' Frank Mason was named Big 12 Player of the Week after scoring 30 points in Kansas' loss to Indiana, and TCU's Jaylen Fisher shared co-Newcomer of the Week honors with Lecomte after posting 13 points and seven assists in TCU's win over Saint Thomas.

This marks the first time a Baylor player has earned the honor since Johnathan Motley on Dec. 29, 2014. Lecomte is the 20th different Baylor player to be recognized as the league's Newcomer of the Week in the conference's 21-year history. Those players have won the award a combined 30 times, with 24 of those coming in the last 13 years under Scott Drew. BU players won the award six times in the league's first eight years.

The Bears' last four starting point guards have earned the award, first with Pierre Jackson (2012), followed by Kenny Chery (2014), Lester Medford (2015) and now Lecomte (2017).

Baylor hosts No. 4 Oregon at 2:30 p.m. CT Tuesday as part of the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on ESPN2. The Ducks are the highest AP-ranked non-conference opponent to ever visit Waco, and BU has an opportunity to record a win over its highest-ranked opponent in Ferrell Center history. For tickets, call the Baylor Athletics Ticket Office at 254-710-1000 or visit www.BaylorBears.com/tickets.

Lady Bears Basketball

  • The Baylor Lady Bears downed the No. 9 UCLA Bruins last night in the Ferrell Center 84-70. Kalani Brown, the current Big XII Player of the Week had a monster double double. Our Daily Bears has that story here.

Acrobatics and Tumbling

Third-year head coach Felecia Mulkey’s first two signing classes helped produce national championships in 2015 and 2016, and the hope is to continue the excellence that Mulkey has brought to the program so quickly.

“I am thrilled to welcome these new Bears and their families into our Baylor family,” said Mulkey. “This is the most well-rounded group that I have signed as a head coach. This signing class brings a specific set of skills to the table from different training disciplines. We were able to create some depth in certain areas that will allow us to remain competitive in the years to come. We took a quality over quantity approach to this signing class and we believe they will make an immediate impact. These student-athletes will not only excel in our sport, but could possibly change the game.”

Among the country-wide nine signees, five are from Texas, one from California, one from Florida, one from Illinois and one from Maryland.

Football

Interview with Ryan Reid

  • The Big 12 Conference and ESPN announced Sunday morning Kansas State’s game at Baylor this Saturday will kick off at 11 a.m., and be televised by ESPN2. From K-State Sports dot com.

Kansas State will be playing on ESPN2 for the second time this year following a 24-21 home victory over Texas on Oct. 22.

The Wildcats are looking to snap a four-game Baylor winning streak in the series as K-State’s last victory came in a 36-35 triumph at home in 2011. Kansas State is also in search of its first win in Waco since a 44-10 victory in 2002. Despite the Baylor win streak, each of the last two games have come down to the wire with the Bears claiming a 38-27 win in Waco in 2014 and a 31-24 victory last season in Manhattan.

Meet The Press: #SicKSU

After all, Russell is Smith’s mentor and friend.

But Smith has prepared all season as if he’ll be a starter. The 18-year-old from Grandview will get his chance when the Bears face Kansas State at 11 a.m. Saturday in the final home game at McLane Stadium.

“I’m real excited, I’ve been looking forward to it my whole life,” Smith said. “It was really heartbreaking what happened to Seth, but I’ve just got to honor him and go in there and do what I know I can.”

Freshman walk-on Preston Heard from Houston Episcopal High School will back up Smith while receiver Tony Nicholson could be an option at quarterback in the wildcat formation.

“Preston spent most of his time running our scout team,” Grobe said. “So he’ll get a week of running our offense, making our calls, reads, and decisions. He’s a very talented kid. He doesn’t have the size Zach has, but he’s got good athleticism. He runs pretty well, throws the ball pretty well.”

Bryce Petty

  • Former Baylor Bear Bryce Petty made his first career start Sunday for the New York Jets against the Los Angeles Rams. From Texas HS Football.

Petty wasn’t great in his first start, but will likely be the starter for the rest of the season as the Jets look to see if they have a future with Petty running the show.

The Jets fell to 3-7 with the last second loss to the Rams. Petty and the Jets were driving down for a potential game winning or tying score with under two minutes left when Alec Ogletree intercepted Petty around midfield to seal the win for the Rams.

Petty finished the game 19 of 32 with 163 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Petty played about the same as fellow Texan and ex-Houston Cougar Case Keenum. Neither played great, as the teams combined for 15 punts and neither team broke the 300 total yard mark.

The Jets have a Bye Week next week, so they have extra time to think about committing to Petty as their starter for the rest of the season.

You Might Like

More From Our Daily Bears