MSU breaks Baylor's heart with 3 at the horn; Bears fall 78-77
NIT Round of 16
No. 4 Mississippi State (23-11) at No. 1 Baylor (19-14)
Time/Location: 11:00 am Sunday/Ferrell Center
Radio/TV: ESPN Central Texas/ESPN
You can term No. 1 Baylor’s NIT Round of 16 matchup with No. 4 Mississippi State a couple of different ways:
“Breakfast with Baylor”
“The Mario Kegler reunion without Mario Kegler”Baylor is in search of its seventh consecutive 20-win season as it meets the Bulldogs at 11:00 a.m. Sunday at the Ferrell Center. The early start time is to accommodate the women’s NCAA second round game with Michigan at 7:30 p.m.
Should the Bears win, they would get the winner of No. 2 Louisville-No. 3 Middle Tennessee. That game begins at 5:30 p.m. in Louisville.Baylor defeated No. 8 Wagner, 80-59, in the first round this past Tuesday.
This is the first meeting ever between the Bears and Bulldogs. Kegler, who transferred from Mississippi State in the summer, cannot play in this game because he is sitting out via his transfer season.
In 2016-17 with Mississippi State, Kegler averaged 9.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in a 16-16 no postseason campaign.
About the Bulldogs: Mississippi State defeated Nebraska in the NIT opener, 66-59, this past Wednesday. Ben Howland is in his third season in Starkville and trying to turn this program around like he did at Pittsburgh and UCLA. The Bulldogs didn’t play the most challenging non-conference schedule as the only name opponents were Cincinnati and Dayton. But they are also a very young team with one senior, and he barely sees the floor. They can go about eight deep and are led by the Weatherspoon brothers, junior Quinndary (14.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.4 apg) and freshman Nick (11.1, 2.9, 2.0). They are the best shooters on the team at 48 and 47 percent. Sophomore point guard Lamar Peters is a solid facilitator at 4.3 helpers per game. He’s just not a good shooter at less than 38 percent. Like Baylor, the Bulldogs have had turnover problems with more miscues (449) than assists (446). They’re a decent shooting team at 46 percent but not from 3-point range at 31 percent. This is going to be a far greater test for the Bears in the front court because Mississippi State can run three in the down low between 6-10 junior Aric Holman (10.7, 6.7), 6-11 freshman Abdul Ado (7.8, 6.5) and 6-10 sophomore E.J. Datcher (2.4, 1.8).
Keys to the Game: Baylor is going to need stronger and steadier guard play between Manu Lecomte, Jake Lindsey and King McClure. Baylor was pretty sloppy in spots and gave up an alarming 20 offensive rebounds against Wagner. Lindsey is probably going to get Peters. Lecomte probably loves the new 3-point line from the NIT experimental rules because he was 5-8 from deep and had 24 points in the win over Wagner. But the Bears won’t be able to get away with sloppiness against a better and far more physical team. There’s a pretty solid chance that the Bears will try to stick with the 1-3-1 zone to attempt to limit the effectiveness of the MSU big men. Since the Bulldogs are not a good 3-point shooting team, Baylor will try to make the zone swarm to where possessions run deep into the shot clock that wind up with poor selections. This team also needs a wakeup call from senior 7-0 center Jo Lual-Acuil. He’s averaged just six points in the last three games against Kansas State, West Virginia and Wagner and gotten to the foul line four times. With the size he’s about to encounter, this should have his attention. And although he still may be dealing with the freshman wall, 6-9 Tristan Clark needs to provide some support.
ORY LINES
• No. 1 seed Baylor hosts No. 4 Mississippi State in an NIT second round game at 11 a.m. CT Sunday.
• Baylor is making its school-record 7th consecutive postseason appearance (5 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• Baylor is 1 of 16 teams nationally to appear in every postseason since 2012. • Baylor has advanced to postseason play in 10 of 11 seasons since 2008 and is 19-8 in those games.
• Baylor needs a win to reach the 20-win mark for a 7th straight season and 10th time in 11 years.
• BU is making its 6th NIT appearance. The Bears are 10-4 all-time in the NIT, including 5-0 in home games.
• Baylor is 10-1 in NIT appearances under Scott Drew (2009 runner-up, 2013 champion).
• Baylor is 31-17 in Big 12, NCAA and NIT postseason tournaments over 10 seasons since 2009.
• BU has won 49 consecutive non-conference home games against unranked opponents.
• Baylor’s last non-conference home loss to an unranked team was Dec. 4, 2012, 74-70 to Northwestern.
• Baylor is 52-1 in its last 53 non-conference home games (loss to No. 8 Wichita State on Dec. 2, 2017).
• Baylor is 26-2 in home games against unranked opponents over the last 2 seasons (both losses vs. K-State).
• Baylor is 117-13 in non-conference home games in the Drew era, including 91-5 since 2007-08.
• Baylor is 9-3 against Southeastern Conference teams since the 2012-13 season.
• Baylor is 26-4 in games against non-Big 12 teams over the last two seasons – the only losses were in the 2017 Sweet 16 vs. South Carolina, at No. 21 Xavier, vs. No. 8 Wichita State and at No. 20 Florida.
• Baylor is facing Mississippi State for the 4th time. BU won 54-52 in Dallas when the teams last met on Dec. 28, 2011. MSU won the only previous postseason meeting, 84-75, in Starkville in the 1990 NIT.
• Baylor went 2-7 in the first half of Big 12 play and recovered to go 6-3 in the second half. The Bears’ 8-10 record snapped a 6-season streak of finishing .500 or better in league play.
• BU was alone in 10th place in the Big 12 at 2-7 on Feb. 2, but the Bears finished in 6th place.
• Baylor has posted more bench points than its opponent in 14 of its last 15 games. BU’s bench has out-scored opponents 396-163 (26.4 ppg to 10.9 ppg) in that 15-game span. • Big 12 Sixth Man Award winner Terry Maston has out-scored opposing benches 182-142 since Jan. 22.
• Manu Lecomte was named All-Big 12 Second Team, the 13th time in 14 seasons that a Baylor point guard has earned All-Big 12 recognition. Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. was selected to the All-Big 12 Third Team.
• Baylor has posted more points in the paint than its opponent in 29 of 33 games this season.
• Baylor ranks 10th nationally in offensive rebound percentage (35.2), BU’s 5th straight season in the top-10.
• Baylor ranks 13th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (94.6), the 3rd time BU has ranked top-25 in the last 4 seasons. BU’s best adj. defensive efficiency ranking in Drew’s first 11 seasons was 34th in 2011-12.
• BU is 15-0 this season when leading at halftime. The Bears have led at the half in 6 of the last 10 games (6-4) after snapping a streak of 11 straight games without a halftime lead (3-8).
• BU is 18-1 this season when trailing by 3 or fewer at half and 1-13 when facing a 4+-point halftime deficit.
• Drew is coaching his 491st game at Baylor (296-194). His .604 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 40+ games, and his teams have a .678 winning percentage since 2007-08 (262-125).