Baylor Bears Are Putting the College Basketball World (Back) On Notice
When the capacity crowd at the Ferrell Center erupted as the big clock hit double zero, the Baylor Bears had earned their fifth straight win, their third home victory in a row over the Kansas Jayhawks, and another statement to the college basketball world: they might not have gone anywhere, but the Bears are back.
Not bad for a team whose Big 12 season was on life support less than two weeks ago.
There are still issues for the Bears to work out. They had another nearly seven-minute stretch in the second half where they didn't score a field goal and it is deeply concerning that a team with as many shot-creating guards as they have can not shorten a game with their half-court offense to see out a win. Yet, almost nobody outside of their own facility cares, which is perfect. Sports is about enjoying the good while the good is still good, and the Baylor Bears are, well, good.
The Bears are so good, in fact, that they have tied a Division I record by winning 12 of its last 13 games against AP Top 10 opponents. By any metric, that will give fans some confidence in the Big 12 gauntlet and the NCAA Tournament.
The wins are the most important measurement, but how Baylor is winning these games is more affirming. These Bears are finally starting to win games the way their fans thought they would. They are still a high-volume three-point shooting team, but one that also plays a dogged defense that gets their hands in the passing lanes, muscles teams off the boards, and pushes the opponent to the bonus.
Shoot, there hadn't even been two media timeouts before Kansas coach Bill Self had admitted his team was second-best Monday.
All year, the Bears have lacked complementary basketball against stiff competition. In their first three conference games, the Bears gave up more than 75 points (two games over 85) in each and fell to a shocking 0-3 record in Big 12 play.
In the five games since, Baylor is holding teams under 68 points a game. In the same stretch, they have not lost the rebounding battle in any game, held each opponent below 48% shooting and have forced more turnovers than they have surrendered in the last three games.
Their elite guard play is manifesting over the winning streak as well, as there seems to be a new backcourt hero every night. Keyonte George started the streak with a career-high 32 points against West Virginia, Adam Flagler hit the fadeaway three to seal Saturday's win over Oklahoma, and LJ Cryer poured in 19 first-half points against Kansas before Langston Love provided 11 points of his own in the second half and helped mark the victory as one of the many Bears with vicious on-ball defense.
Baylor is still living by the three-point shot more than most recent Final Four teams have had to, but they are doing everything else exponentially better than they were two weeks ago.
While they have switched mostly to a matchup zone, their on-ball defense has vastly improved, they are winning the turnover battle and, most importantly when it comes to NCAA Tournament time, they suddenly look like one of the best rebounding teams in the conference.
George's defense looks better every game, Cryer has matured as a shot creator, and Jalen Bridges and Flo Thamba are becoming masters of their domain, the paint.
Yes, the Bears still do have parts of their game they need to improve, but Monday's win was the closest Baylor has looked to a Scott Drew defense all year long, and they are beginning to look like a team that can compete to play in April again.
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