:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/45566960/usa-today-8349557.0.jpg)
"But still, if down deep some prophecy makes you balk, some doom your noble mother revealed to you from Zeus, well and good. at least send me into battle, quickly." -Patroclus, Iliad Bk 16.
Baylor has, historically, struggled in Stillwater, OK. Last year, Bryce Petty was overcome by the turf monster, and the battle was decided thereafter. The time before, even the epic hero Robert Griffin III failed to topple the walls defended by the Cowboys. Today, Baylor mens basketball went in Baylor football's stead, a Patroclus for football's mighty Achilles. It went as well for the basketball team as for Patroclus (SPOILER: PATROCLUS DIED).
Baylor never really founds its rhythm against Oklahoma State. They shot a mere 34.5% from the floor and 30% from three.
Lester Medford was efficient, but not nearly as assertive as the Bears needed him to be. In opposite fashion, Prince was very assertive, attempting a team leading 14 shots, and not nearly as efficient as his team needed him to be. Kenny Chery? Well, let's just say that he never landed a significant blow to the Cowboys, despite hurling many, many spears.
Here are the stats for the game, per ESPN:
| Baylor Bears | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STARTERS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Royce O'Neale, F | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Rico Gathers, F | 3-5 | 0-0 | 5-8 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 | ||
| Johnathan Motley, F | 1-7 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Kenny Chery, G | 3-13 | 0-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | ||
| Lester Medford, G | 5-8 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13 | ||
| BENCH | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Taurean Prince, F | 5-14 | 2-7 | 0-1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
| Deng Deng, F | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Al Freeman, G | 2-4 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Ishmail Wainright, G | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| 19-55 | 6-20 | 9-15 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 53 | |||
| 34.5% | 30.0% | 60.0% | ||||||||||||
| Oklahoma St Cowboys | ||||||||||||||
| STARTERS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Michael Cobbins, C | 3-6 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| Le'Bryan Nash, F | 5-13 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 | ||
| Anthony Hickey Jr., G | 3-8 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Phil Forte III, G | 5-10 | 4-7 | 2-2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 | ||
| Jeff Newberry, G | 4-10 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| BENCH | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| Anthony Allen Jr., C | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Mitchell Solomon, C | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Leyton Hammonds, F | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Tavarius Shine, F | 4-5 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 11 | ||
| Tyree Griffin, G | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| 24-54 | 9-18 | 7-9 | 9 | 25 | 34 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 64 | |||
| 44.4% | 50.0% | 77.8% |
||||||||||||
The offense never really got flowing. Oklahoma State prides itself on defense, and tonight they were quite proud. Some familiar issues surfaced. Baylor was content to settle for isolation plays and post-ups without any sort of movement beyond them. The Cowboys' goal is to force long jump shots and to hope that the opponent misses. Tonight, Baylor missed what seemed to be every jump shot it attempted.
Defensively, Baylor did its job. Oklahoma State scored only 64 points. But Phil Forte got loose for an occasional open 28 footer (which wouldn't matter except for the fact that Phil Forte is Hector, Breaker of Men), and Baylor had so little of an offensive answer that they might have actually scored points against themselves (my internet feed dropped in and out, so this might have actually happened for all I know).
"Idomeneus -- he hurled and speared Oenomaus through the belly, smashing his corselt just where the plates join and the bronze spearhead spilled his entrails out and down the Trojan crashed, grasping, clawing the dust." -Iliad 13
There's not much more to say than that. Baylor hung around for a while, kept the game within reach, and then took a spear to the gut and all was lost as it saw its own spirit scatter into the air, its body loose and unfeeling.
The positive take: Baylor only needs to win its home games in order to go .500 in the Big 12, and it still has to play Texas Tech on the road, a prime opportunity to grab a win on the road to compensate for a mishap at home. If the goal of this season is simply to make the NCAA Tournament for a consecutive season, this loss does little to dash that dream.
#DreamBig #DreamBaylor #SicUT on Saturday.