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Baylor found themselves in a much closer battle than most probably expected, however, this is not your typical mid-major. The Buccaneers returned four starters this year from a team that just barely missed the NCAA tournament and provided another test for the Bears.
Cory Jefferson and Isaiah Austin led the way with 16 points apiece, while Brady Heslip was the only other Bear in double figures with 11. The Bears out-rebounded the Buccaneers 42-31 and if it weren't for hot shooting from behind the arc by Will Saunders, Sheldon Strickland and Saah Nimley the game would not have been as close. Together they combined to go 11 of 19 at the three point line which was effectively over half of the Buccaneers' total points.
Most Baylor fans will look at this game and some sloppy play and think that this team is just not together. If I might add my commentary, when it comes to Baylor Basketball versus Baylor Football the fans skew pessimistic and optimistic, respectively. A couple of quick counterpoints to those of you already worrying about this team:
1) This is a legitimately good team we just played. The back court is one of the most talented out there regardless of conference and our back court is mostly new.
2) This team isn't built to win in a pretty fashion. We are going to see some ugly games that result in a win, and in college basketball, as cliche as it is - a win is a win.
We currently sit at 4-0 with arguably one of the most difficult schedules in all of college basketball. Every W in the column is going to matter for us. I'm hoping to get a film study up on this game some time later this week/next week as I feel that feature was a particular favorite.
This kind of basketball coverage is new to ODB, so please feel free to provide feedback (negative and positive) as we hope to bring you the best free coverage of Baylor sports out there!