Baylor Bears
Big 12 (18-14, 8-10)
There was a stretch from December 29th to January 30th where Baylor won just two games. That was a tough start to Big 12 play. But after that Coach Scott Drew rallied his team and the Bears impressively ended up with a 8-10 conference mark after that 2-7 start.
Big Wins: 2/10 Kansas (80-64), 2/17 Texas Tech (59-57), 2/27 Oklahoma (87-64)
Bad Losses: 1/13 at Iowa State (65-75), 1/22 Kansas State (83-90), 1/27 at Florida (60-81)
Coach: Scott Drew
Why They Can Surprise:
The Bears are not rebounding quite as well as they did last year, but this is still one of the best teams in the country on the glass. Jo Lual-Acuil averages 8.8 rebounds per game and adds 14.0 points and 1.9 blocks. The seven-foot senior is a monster on the defensive end, but has also turned into a very productive interior scoring threat. Fellow forwards Tristan Clark, Nuni Omot and Terry Maston help out in the rebounding department. All three can score too, but Maston has come on strong late in the year and had some very good scoring outputs. With freshman wing Mark Vital adding even more options when it comes to rebounding, Baylor is tough to beat on the glass.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Manu Lecomte is the team’s top scorer, averaging 16.0 points per game. He is also by far the team’s top outside shooting threat. On the year he has connected on 37.7 percent of his 228 attempts from beyond the arc. King McClure can add a shooting option off the bench and Omot will knock down some shots too, but overall this is not a great outside shooting team. Finding a complimentary scorer for Lecomte and Lual-Acuil has been key all season long and will be again in the tournament. If the opposition only has to worry about those two, Baylor becomes much easier to defend.
Probable Starters:
Manu Lecomte, Senior, Guard, 16.0 ppg, 3.5 apg
Jake Lindsey, Junior, Guard, 4.7 ppg, 3.3 apg
Mark Vital, Freshman, Forward, 7.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Tristan Clark, Freshman, Forward, 6.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg
Jo Lual-Acuil, Senior, Forward, 14.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 1.9 bpg
Key Role Players:
Nuni Omot, Senior, Forward, 9.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg
Terry Maston, Senior, Forward, 10.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg
King McClure, Junior, Guard, 8.2 ppg, 1.6 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 75.7 (123rd in nation, 6th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 69.5 (102, 5)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.7 (77, 4)
Field-Goal Defense: 41.5 (50, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.4 (290, 10)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 35.6 (143, 6)
Free-Throw Percentage: 74.1 (73, 5)
Rebound Margin: 6.4 (20, 2)
Assists Per Game: 15.0 (89, 5)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.2 (195, 8)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2017 NCAA Round of 64 win over New Mexico State
2017 NCAA Round of 32 win over USC
2017 NCAA Regional Semifinal loss to South Carolina
2016 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Yale
2015 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Georgia State
2014 NCAA Round of 64 win over Nebraska
2014 NCAA Round of 32 win over Creighton
2014 NCAA Regional Semifinal loss to Wisconsin
2013 NIT First Round win over Long Beach State
2013 NIT Second Round win over Arizona State
2013 NIT Quarterfinal win over Providence
2013 NIT Semifinal win over BYU
2013 NIT Final win over Iowa
2012 NCAA Round of 64 win over South Dakota State
2012 NCAA Round of 32 win over Colorado
2012 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over Xavier
2012 NCAA Regional Final loss to Kentucky
2010 NCAA Round of 64 win over Sam Houston State
2010 NCAA Round of 32 win over Old Dominion
2010 NCAA Regional Semifinal win over St. Mary's
2010 NCAA Regional Final loss to Duke
2009 NIT First Round win over Georgetown
2009 NIT Second Round win over Virginia Tech
2009 NIT Quarterfinal win over Auburn
2009 NIT Semifinal win over San Diego State
2009 NIT Final loss to Penn State
2008 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Purdue
*all team stats through 3/4
