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Today’s Events
- Men's Basketball, vs USC, 6:45 PM
- Baseball, vs West Virginia, 11:05 AM
- Softball, at UCF, 12:00 PM
- Men's Golf, vs Linger Longer Invitational, All Day
- Men's Tennis, vs BNP Paribas Challenge by Oracle, All Day
Men’s Basketball
Both Baylor coach Scott Drew and USC coach Andy Enfield see a lot of similarities in the seasons of the two teams. WacoTrib’s John Werner has this story at BearsExtra.
The Bears won their first 15 games and reached No. 1 for the first time in school history before losing to West Virginia. The Trojans won their first 14 games before losing to Oregon.
“They’re a lot like us,” Enfield said. “They started out the year undefeated and they had some injuries like we did, and then they finished strong. I think it’s two very good basketball teams that have similar strengths, and I think it’s going to come down to who can execute what they do better.”
- Bears know no lead is safe against rising Southern Cal - WacoTrib.com: Baylor Men's Basketball, TULSA, Okla. – USC is one of the most renowned football schools in the country with 11 national championships on its resume.
- Baylor-USC Preview and Prediction - Our Daily Bears, Baylor seeks a fourth Sweet 16 this decade. We’ll take a look at USC’s offense, defense and offer a prediction.
- USC vs. Baylor: How the teams match up - LA Times, Here is how the No. 11-seeded USC Trojans and No. 3-seeded Baylor Bears match up for a second-round game in the NCAA tournament's East Regional.
- No. 3 seed Baylor faces test against hot USC (Mar 19, 2017) | FOX Sports, TULSA, Okla. -- The seeding seems irrelevant as Baylor and USC prepare to face off in the second round of the East Region.
- OSU Sports Extra - Guerin Emig: Relentlessly cheery Scott Drew coaches Baylor through scandalous haze, "A lot of people say my dad is the nicest, most positive person they’ve ever been around," Drew said. "I’m nowhere near my dad, but I am a positive guy by nature. Life’s too short to think the worst or be negative. You might look at that is being gullible. I look at it as everyone’s got good and bad, and I’m gonna focus on the good."
- March Madness: Baylor basketball up against more than NCAA Tournament field - CBSSports.com, This team has nothing to do with Baylor's bad name, but it wears it on its chest all the same
- Baylor Bears hope NCAA tournament run can help school's reputation amid scandal, Baylor's players are hoping that a deep NCAA tournament run can improve the school's reputation amid a sexual assault scandal that sparked a federal lawsuit.
Lady Bears Basketball
- By doing the things that coach Kim Mulkey had been emphasizing since a rare Big 12 Tournament loss, the Baylor Lady Bears opened the women' NCAA Tournament with an overwhelming record-setting performance. Story by AP Basketball Writer Stephen Hawkins from US News.
It also helped that the Lady Bears, with three post players at least 6-foot-4, were much bigger than NCAA first-timer Texas Southern.
Beatrice Mompremier had 22 points with 11 rebounds, Kalani Brown scored 21 points and freshman post Lauren Cox had 17 as the Lady Bears defeated Texas Southern 119-30 on Saturday night in the most lopsided women's NCAA Tournament game ever. Baylor's 119 points were the most ever in regulation of a tournament game.
"That work we've put in since the tournament championship game, I think you saw it today," said Mulkey, whose team lost in the Big 12 championship for the first time in seven years.
Continue Reading . . .
- Baylor's women's basketball team routed No. 16 seed Texas Southern 119-30 on Saturday in the most lopsided NCAA women's tournament game in history. Story by Matt Ellentuck from Sporting News.
The Bears' 119 points were also the most in regulation during an NCAA women's tournament game.
Baylor shattered the record for victory margin set by Tennessee in 1994. The Lady Vols defeated North Carolina A&T by 74 points, 111-37.
- Baylor Lady Bears Advance to Round 2 of NCAA Ladies’ Basketball Tournament With Win Over Texas Southern, 119-30 - Our Daily Bears, Lady Bears dominate from start to finish, steam rolling the Lady Tigers with historic 89 point margin of victory.
- Baylor women open with most-lopsided NCAA win | SavannahNow, WACO, TEXAS — Kalani Brown scored 21 points and top-seeded Baylor overwhelmed much smaller Texas Southern in the most lopsided women’s NCAA Tournament game ever.
- Brice Cherry: Baylor's incomparable length is why Lady Bears have shot at deep tourney run - WacoTrib.com: Lady Bears Basketball, How’s the weather up there? For the Baylor Lady Bears, who boast more than a few high-altitude Doppler radar towers, it’s looking awfully sunny.
- Baylor women set an NCAA tournament record with an 89-point blowout win - SBNation.com, And it blew the previous record out of the water
- Texas Southern vs. Baylor - Game Summary - March 18, 2017 - ESPN, Get a summary of the Texas Southern Lady Tigers vs. Baylor Lady Bears basketball game.
Softball
- No. 14/15 Baylor softball (25-4) took its first series win of the 2017 season, working a 5-0 shutout over UCF (14-12) on Saturday afternoon at UCF Softball Complex. From Baylor Bears Dot com.
Gia Rodoni (8-0) went the distance for the Lady Bears in the circle, working a complete game, 7.0 inning shutout, allowing just three hits with seven strikeouts.
The Baylor offense kept the bats hot, striking first in the top of the second.
Golf
Baylor’s No. 4-ranked men’s golf team is headed to Greensboro, Ga., to compete in the Linger Longer Invitational, which runs Sunday through Tuesday at Great Waters Golf Course. From Baylor Bears dot com.
The Bears are No. 4 in the latest GolfStat rankings, which is the best ranking in program history. The 12th-annual event features a 15-team field with Alabama, Augusta, No. 4 Baylor, Charlotte, No. 20 Georgia, No. 43 Kennesaw State, Maryland, Mercer, No. 37 Michigan, No. 45 Middle Tennessee, Ohio State, Troy, No. 8 Virginia, VCU and UNC Greensboro.
Tennis
In the second match of the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge Presented by Oracle, the sixth-ranked Baylor men’s tennis produced a 4-0 victory over No. 13 California Saturday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. From Baylor Bears dot com.
The Bears avenged their 4-2 defeat to the Golden Bears that took place on Feb. 17 at the ITA National Team Indoor Tennis Championships.
“I think the last match was one we were heartbroken about. Max was getting close to finishing and we thought we had a really good chance to win but they did a better job closing out the matches, so we were really excited to get another chance to play them because we have a lot of respect for them and how good they are. We were really excited to see how we’d come out and the guys had a great mindset going into the match. We felt we’d have to be at our very best to do well, and we came out and really competed well today.” – Baylor Head Coack Matt Knoll on early season defeat to Cal.
“It’s always great to be in a final, it’s always a great experience. We’re really excited about it. If we’re going to play, it’s fun to win. To have a chance to win this really prestigious college event is a big deal and we really appreciate the opportunity. Hopefully we come out and play well and build on what we’ve done so far.” – Knoll on playing in final tomorrow.
Track and Field
Baylor's men's track and field team produced three event wins Saturday at the TCU Invitational at Lowdon Track and Field Stadium. From Baylor Bears dot com.
After not competing during the indoor season, Matt League made his 2017 debut by capturing the 1,500-meter crown in 3:56.81.
Baylor swept the hurdle races on the men's side as Rhys Phillips opened his outdoor season by winning the 110-meter hurdle crown in 14.10 and Antwuan Musgrove produced a win in the hurdles at the 400-meter distance in 51.83. Musgrove's mark was a personal-best, after running a season-best of 52.83 in 2016 during his freshman campaign.
Baylor had five runner-up finishes on the day, including Victoria Powell (400m), the men's 4x400 relay of Niko Harrell, Wil London, Musgrove and Brandon Moore, Blaine Listach (high jump), Megan SaxvanderWeyden (javelin) and Chase Hood (javelin).
SaxvanderWeyden's javelin toss was the second-longest in school history at 149-10 [45.66m]. It was just over two feet off the 1995 Baylor record of Tammy Wilkerson (151-11).
Baylor will now head south to San Antonio for the Roadrunners Invitational, which is hosted by UT San Antonio March 23-25.
Baseball
No. 10/20 Baylor baseball lost a 6-5 game to West Virginia on Saturday afternoon at Baylor Ballpark. From Baylor Bears dot com.
The Bears (15-4, 0-2) erased a three-run deficit late but the Mountaineers (10-7, 2-0) had an answer to take the series.
Similar to Friday night's loss, WVU jumped on top of BU early with three runs in the second inning. The Bears answered with two runs with help from an error and RBI single by Josh Bissonette in the fourth.
Football
- After a couple months of offseason workouts, where "guys made huge, huge gains in a lot of areas," Saturday's first spring practice gave the Baylor football players a chance to "go out and show what you've done." Story by Baylor Bear Foundation’s Jerry Hill from Baylor Bears dot com.
First-year head coach Matt Rhule said he loves practice. "It's the single-most important thing we do, football-wise."
"It's where you learn how to compete," Rhule said Saturday morning. "People say, `Do your job.' You have to learn how to do your job. So, you have to do it under stress. Practice is where we learn how to do our job under stress. Those techniques, those details we teach them in the meetings, we perfect them on the practice field. I love the process."
Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon says spring football is a good evaluation time to "see what our players can do."
"We think we have a lot of talent here at Baylor University on the offensive side of the ball," Nixon said. "There's going to be a lot of competition at every position -- offensive line, wide receivers, running backs, tight ends. So, it's just going to be good to get them out there, evaluate them, have them compete. Everyone's jockeying for a starting position or backup position. And like I said, it's just going to be great to finally get them out there and see what they can do."
See video and continue reading feature story by clicking here. . .
- Baylor football grabs 2018 offensive lineman commit - WacoTrib.com: Baylor Bears Football Franklin offensive tackle Casey Phillips made a verbal commitment to Baylor on Saturday afternoon, giving the Bears three offensive line commitments in their 2018 class.
- With Puff Daddy bumping on the speakers and coaches referring to actual paper playbooks, Baylor’s opening spring football practice featured a more old-school vibe than in recent years. Story by WacoTrib’s Brice Cherry from BearsExtra.
Matt Rhule isn’t necessarily anti-progress. The first-year Baylor head coach isn’t afraid to try some cutting-edge technologies. It’s just that Baylor’s new staff has a certain way of going about things, likely different in a lot of ways than what players experienced before.
Changes may come in subtle ways at times, more drastic at others. But the players face an ongoing education throughout the spring.
“For us, it’s probably not X’s and O’s, it’s just the way we coach it,” said Rhule, prior to Baylor’s initial spring workout Saturday. “I’m not saying it’s different or better than anybody else. But we kind of have our way. Usually it kind of takes players a while to figure out our way. But these kids are doing a nice job. They’ve worked really, really hard at it.”