Baylor Battles Back, Takes Down Arkansas in SEC/Big 12 Challenge
After trailing by six at halftime, No. 17 Baylor battled back to knock off Arkansas in the final SEC/Big 12 Challenge, 67-64.
The Bears started the game out with two quick buckets, but didn't make another shot for three minutes. Then came the LJ Cryer show. Cryer continued his insane hot streak from Monday night, scoring 10 of the team's first 14 points.
Arkansas, meanwhile, struggled to consistently create offense. They entered the game averaging 75.0 points per game (No. 107 nationally); on Saturday, it took over 10 minutes to score double-digit points.
The main culprit was the Razorbacks' lack of shooting. They entered the game shooting 30.2 percent from outside, and the Bears simply refused to sell out to stop the three-ball. That no-middle strategy – made possible by Flo Thamba's length and defensive activity – worked winders early on.
But eventually, cracks in Baylor's defensive armor began to form, and Arkansas took full advantage. Between backdoor cuts and more aggressive drives off screens, the Razorbacks went on a 12-1 run to cut the lead from 19-8 to 20-20.
Meanwhile, the Bears' lack of frontcourt explosiveness was thrust into view, as their star guards struggled to create room against the Razorbacks' defensive length. Baylor made just one field goal in the final 10:34 of the half, as what had been an 11-point lead evaporated and rained back onto them.
Perhaps the most striking part of the half came when Arkansas went on a 7-0 run – in just 40 seconds. A steal turned into a score, a block turned into an and-one and another steal turned into an emphatic dunk. What had been a 27-26 lead was nowhere to be found.
At halftime, Arkansas was vastly out-shooting Baylor from the field (60.9 percent to 24.2%) and had made just one fewer three-pointer on six fewer attempts.
Then came the second half.
It began with a barrage of scoring: 17 combined points in the first 4:30, as the Bears scored nearly as many field goals (five) as they did in the entire first half (eight).
In general, though, Baylor's shots just weren't falling. It was as if there was a lid on the rim; previously the No. 2 team in KenPom's adjusted offense ratings, the Bears shot just 33.9 percent from the field and 6/18 from three.
At 11:52, the Bears took their first lead of the half on a Keyonte George free throw. George struggled early, but scored nine points in the final 3:03 to finish with a team-high 24.
The dagger came not on a pull-up three or fast break layup, but instead at the free throw line. Cryer and George combined to hit four shots from the stripe in the final 11 seconds. Arkansas missed a free throw and wound up with an open shot from the right corner, but the Razorbacks' last-second three went wide left.
With the win, Baylor's win streak is up to six games entering a critical stretch of conference play: at Texas, vs Texas Tech and Oklahoma, at TCU and vs West Virginia. If the Bears can win four or five games during that run, they'll have a good chance at a regular season Big 12 title.
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