Monday Shootaround: The Big 12 is a Meat Grinder

Week In Review

Baylor 74 Iowa State 73

73 IOWA STATE (12-3, 2-1)

1ST 2ND F 34 39 73 46 28 74 Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery Waco, Texas • Attendance: 6,576

74 BAYLOR (13-3, 2-2)

The Bears got off to a roaring 16-1 start to get the Ferrell Center crowd behind them and were able to do just enough to hang on to a 74-73 win over #11 Iowa State. This is the closest thing to a signature win that Baylor has so far this season as the Cyclones look to have the makings of a Big 12 championship caliber team. Iowa State climbed back into the game after the Bears' torrid start but Baylor was able to make a late 1st half run to go into halftime with a 12 point lead. In the 2nd half, Baylor had as much as a 14 point lead before the Cyclones got hot from 3 point range and came all the way back to take a late lead. It looked grim for the Bears when Bryce Dejean-Jones hit a corner 3 to give Iowa State a 1 point lead with 30 seconds to go but with no timeouts left, Scott Drew put the ball in the hands of his senior point guard and Kenny Chery delivered the game winning bucket with just over 4 seconds to play. Georges Niang had a decent look at the buzzer for ISU but it clanged off the rim, giving Baylor a hard fought home court win. Royce O'Neale led the Bears with 15 points but 3 other players pitched in at least 13 of their own, led by Rico Gathers' 14 point, 15 rebound effort. A big shout out is due to the Baylor students that showed up and were loud throughout the game.

Kansas State 63 Baylor 61

61 BAYLOR (13-4, 2-3)

1ST 2ND F 33 28 61 24 39 63 Box Score | Notes | Photo Gallery Manhattan, Kan. • Attendance: 12,528

63 KANSAS STATE (11-7, 4-1)

And then this game happened. Baylor jumped out to another big early lead, 24-10 on the road in Manhattan, but this time they were unable to hold off a late charge from the Wildcats as K-State pulled out a 63-61 win at Bramlage Coliseum. Baylor was led by Kenny Chery with 21 points and Taurean Prince added 20, but the offense had one too many long scoring droughts to overcome a hot shooting 2nd half from Kansas State. The Bears were able to slow down K-State's main playmaker Marcus Foster. The Wildcats had big contributions from Nino Williams and Wesley Iwundu to make up for the off game from Foster. Baylor again had issues finishing at the rim as Johnathan Motley and Rico Gathers shot a combined 3-11 from the field. The Bears had a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds but Chery missed a contested layup at the buzzer. Baylor now sits at 2-3 in Big 12 conference play and 13-4 overall.

Looking Ahead

Huston-Tillotson (?) at Baylor
Ferrell Center (Waco, TX)
Jan. 21, 7:00 PM CT
Fox Sports SW

I have no idea why we're playing an NAIA opponent in the middle of conference play but this is what is going to happen:

Oklahoma at Baylor
Ferrell Center (Waco, TX)
Jan. 24, 5:00 PM CT
ESPN2

Potentially the biggest game of the season to date goes down on Saturday evening at the Ferrell Center as Oklahoma comes to Waco. This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams as the Sooners won in Norman back on January 3rd. Baylor will need to do a better job against OU big man TaShawn Thomas if they want to come away with the win this time around. Thomas controlled offensively inside of 15 feet, scoring 24 points to complement noted-Baylor killer Buddy Hield's 20 in the first matchup. Johnathan Motley had a huge game for Baylor but the guards were completely absent from the Bears' offensive attack. Expect a better game from Kenny Chery and Royce O'Neale, especially in the friendly confines of the Ferrell Center. This is Baylor's first Saturday home game in conference play so a loud, enthusiastic crowd in the Ferrell could be a big difference maker in this game. We haven't had a sellout of a men's basketball game since February 18, 2012 so let's make it happen on Saturday.

Big 12 Update