Baylor Beats Oklahoma State 76-60; Reaction to the Win!

After trailing 27-26 at halftime, Baylor came alive in the second half to win 76-60. The win moves the Bears to 2-4 in Big 12 play. They’ll take on Kansas at 5:00 on Saturday in Allen Filedhouse.

Here are my thoughts:

*Welcome back, Manu Lecomte: He made seven threes total in his first four Big 12 games. He came alive in the second half and was 7-of-10 from beyond the arc, as the Bears blew the game open. He moved well and shot when he had any space. His work also freed up his passing. He finished with a career high 30 points.

*Jake Lindsey’s charges were incredible: Coming off inbound passes, Lindsey would get set and had his body ready to take any charge. He did that three times. Twice the officials called a charge. I nearly got in a fight using that move in NBA 2K11 because the guy said, “That’s not real basketball.” It is now.

*Mark Vital’s energy is excellent: The Bear’s defense is significantly better because of how well he runs around and the effort he gives on steals. He also had a bunch of excellent passes to the post.

*King McClure’s shooting was off, but I liked his effort: He went 1-of-5 from the field in the first, but he did a nice job looking for his shot and taking open looks. As Lecomte showed, eventually good shots go in.

*Thank goodness the defensive effort remained, even when the offense was terrible in the first half: Baylor scored just .84 points per possession in the first half, which was way lower than their league worst .94 points per possession. And they went just 2-of-10 from deep. But as every corporate seminar reminds us: the process is more important than the product. Baylor has been getting good looks. They finally started going in.

The Bears need to beat some excellent teams to make the tournament. If they play like they did in the second half, they’ll do it.