ANALYSIS: Looking for Answers
The Baylor Bears (23-6, 10-6) have to learn how to play under pressure. They started off the second half great, going on a 6-0 run and started to look like they were pulling away. But you know with Big 12 basketball, anything can happen.
But it gets tougher when your floor general Manu Lecomte is unavailable because of a recurring ankle injury that has been bothering him for a week. Baylor could have used him in its 72-69 loss Saturday at Iowa State (19-9, 11-5).
In the first half the Bears looked amazing on the offensive side of the ball. They were limiting turnovers and making shots, something we have not seen much of in Big 12 play. The second half was a completely different story. They started making careless mistakes and starting giving the ball right back to Iowa State, which gave the Cyclones the opportunity to do what they do best, shoot the basketball.
It seemed like every shot the Cyclones put up in the last 10 minutes went in. They made 8-15 from three and shot 58% from the field. After the Bears got down by seven, they were unable to catch up because every time they made a shot, they would give Iowa State a wide open look and they would go right back to square one.
Statistically, this was a weird game. The Bears won the rebounding battle, 37-17, and had 20 offensive boards. But was a little misleading because there wasn't too many to collect against the Cyclones who shot 57.8 percent.
I believe the Bears have Top 5 talent on their team. But I don’t know if they have Top 5 mentality. They always seem to crumble in the last five minutes of the game. To win games, you have to play 40 whole minutes and work hard until the final buzzer. Ish Wainright and Johnathan Motley (27 points, 11 rebounds) seem to have that mentality, but they are going to have to teach the younger ones how to keep playing until it’s over. Motley was much better down the stretch in this one than he has in other games.
The Bears had all the opportunities in the world to win this game. Yet they were unable to capitalize. They had 20+ second chance points. They should have had more. When the game comes down to two or three point games, you have to look back at the missed opportunities underneath the rim. I can recall two huge moments in the game that led to this outcome. The first one is when the Bears had three missed jump shots in one possession, then got ANOTHER offensive rebound and Jake Lindsey had the ball taken away from him. That was four opportunities to score in one possession, but nothing came out of it. The second time was right underneath the rim, I don’t remember the exact amount of tips, but Motley and Jo Lual-Acuil went back and forth trying to tip the ball back in the basket but missed every single time. If the Bears would have made one of those many opportunities, Wainright would have not had to throw a Seth Russell like pass down the court, Motley would not have had to make an amazing play to tip the ball to McClure, and King McClure would not have had to take that shot.
Lecomte had to leave the game in the second half due to an ankle injury he suffered last week against Kansas. The Bears really missed his shooting ability in the second half, and if he would have been healthy, they probably could have been in position. I take back everything I said over the past few weeks about the McClure-Freeman debate. Al Freeman has proven over the last two games he is the better choice. Freeman stepped up in the place of Lecomte and made 5-5 three pointers with 17 points. If he keeps shooting like that, and Lecomte gets healthy, the Bears can be a very deadly team from deep. McClure has had is moments, but the junior has redeemed himself as a starter.
So now Baylor finishes the home portion of its schedule Monday against West Virginia. The Bears are now in fourth place in the conference. Hopes of claiming the No. 2 seed appear remote. But this team has to find the resolve. After starting 20-1, the Bears have dropped five of their last eight.