No. 6 Baylor Bears Basketball Blown Out at Unranked Marquette
No. 6 Baylor Bears basketball was embarrassed at Marquette, losing 96-70 in the Bears' first true road game.
Well, they do not get much worse than that. In what was easily the Bears' worst defensive performance of the season, Marquette used disciplined ball movement and deadeye shooting to stomp Baylor.
What's worse, the Bears turned the ball over 20 times. Marquette scored 26 off of those turnovers. When both your offense AND defense do not perform, it's tough to win games. That's the story.
Unpacking the first half, it's hard to imagine things going worse for the Bears. Baylor led 7-6 at the first media timeout, and then fecal matter hit the rotational air distributor.
Scott Drew's squad shot 50% from the field... on 10-20. Baylor turned the ball over 16 times. Marquette shot 37 shots.
It's like nothing this guard-heavy Bears squad has seen. The Golden Eagles led the points off of turnovers battle 24-0. Marquette also led steals 9-1, points in the paint 28-10 and fastbreak points 10-3.
That led to an eye-popping 51-25 score at the break.
Nothing changed in the final 20 minutes of the game. Marquette stomped on the neck and put Baylor out of its misery 96-70.
Maybe the most damning aspect of this game is the understanding that Baylor was not simply sunk by turnovers. The Bears' defense allowed Marquette to shoot 48% from deep and 58% from the field overall. The Golden Eagles were only forced into nine turnovers.
This one will have to be erased from memory quickly. Baylor gets Gonzaga in South Dakota on Friday.
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