Texas Tech uses hot second half to upend Baylor, 84-66
When the story of the Baylor 2015-16 men's basketball season is written, it should include how difficult of a time this team had in defending the 3-point field goal.
For whatever reason, solid teams from the arc are really good and poor shooting teams have season-best performance. Texas Tech, which came into Saturday's game at the Ferrell Center shooting a pretty ordinary 32 percent for the year, went 9-of-16 from long distance and shot 64 percent in the second half to stun the Bears, 84-66.
Why does Baylor (18-7, 7-5) have this problem? If Scott Drew knew the answer, it would have already been fixed. Baylor didn't do a bad job guarding the Red Raiders from there. They just knocked them down. And it wasn't just one shooter. Texas Tech had five different players with a made 3-pointer. Keenan Evans led with three.
Obviously, the last four minutes of the game were a nightmare when Drew gets a technical (he said he deserved it), Ish Wainwright gets called for an intentional foul and Rico Gathers is thrown out with 1:46 to play for a Flagrant 2. Baylor's lack of poise was really surprising. But it also showed the frustration. It's not an excuse because you can't do that, especially if you're hoping to make a rally. Contributes to Texas Tech shooting 28 free throws and Baylor shooting 11.
That isn't why Baylor lost, of course. I'm just going to say this was a situation where Texas Tech played really hard, shot the ball incredibly well and won. That's sports. That happens.
Look at No. 2 Maryland. The Terps are about to go to No. 1 and very average Wisconsin comes to College Park and wins, 70-57. Why? Teams shoot well, don't turn over and play smart. When you play more than 30 games in a season, you'll just run into this. Sometimes, you lose. Sometimes, you get beat. I just think Baylor got beat. We do not have an elite team in college basketball. We have about 15-20 solid teams.
Now, I'm not trying to minimize this. Baylor is in a funk. Since starting 6-1 in the Big 12, the Bears have lost four of their last five and really struggled to shut people down. Oklahoma, West Virginia and Texas Tech all scored at least 80 points. Texas didn't but the Longhorns were pretty efficient offensively at the end of that Big Monday win.
You can't fault Baylor's offense too much. The Bears shot nearly 45 percent, Taurean Prince had a solid offensive game (17 points, 7-11 shooting) and on-again, off-again Johnathan Motley was pretty important with 10 points. Lester Medford was fine but he I think he was a little tentative because he was battling fouls. Coming off his illness, Rico Gathers was ok but he hasn't very good offensively lately either.
But it still comes down to getting stops and making teams work for shots. When Tech started the second half quickly, it was a sign that the Red Raiders were feeling it.
It's a time to be concerned. It's not a time to panic. I can't see where Baylor stays in the polls next week. But that's the last of this team's concerns. It has to find a way to play well Tuesday night against Iowa State. That game may be coming at the right time since the Bears have a good matchup against the Cyclones.
Baylor better have a short memory.
STORYLINES
• Saturday is the 132nd series meeting. Baylor is 55-76 in the all-time series, including 16-9 under Scott Drew.
• Baylor is 14-4 against Texas Tech since 2008, including an 8-1 record since 2012.
• Baylor has won 4 straight against Texas Tech, tying the Bears’ longest winning streak in series history.
• Baylor won 63-60 on Lester Medford’s buzzer-beater 3-pointer when the teams played in Lubbock on Jan. 16.
• Baylor is 18-0 this season when it has taken the lead at any point in the 2nd half of a game.
• Baylor is 13-0 this season when winning the turnover battle and 12-1 when getting more points off turnovers.
• Baylor is 18-1 this season when shooting 40% or better from the field and 0-5 when shooting less than 40%.
• Baylor’s 7-4 Big 12 record trails only the 8-3 start of 2012 for BU’s best-ever record through 11 Big 12 games.
• All of Baylor’s losses are against current top-25 RPI teams (at Oregon, at TAMU, at Kansas, vs. OU, vs. UT, at WVU).
• Baylor’s losses have all been against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 – at No. 11 Oregon, at No. 15 Texas A&M, at No. 6 Kansas, vs. No. 3 Oklahoma, vs. No. 24 Texas and at No. 10 West Virginia.
• Baylor is 96-11 when leading at the half since 2011-12, including 14-0 this season.
• Baylor has won 27 of its last 28 home games against unranked opponents — lone loss vs. Texas on Feb. 1.
• Baylor has won 18+ games in 9 straight seasons, more than the program’s previous 101 seasons combined (8).
• Baylor is 9-10 against top-25 ranked teams since the start of the 2014-15 season, including a 5-3 home record.
• Baylor is No. 21 in the AP Top 25 and No. 19 in the coaches poll, and has been ranked for 26 consecutive weeks.
• Baylor ranks top-15 nationally in assists per game (2nd), offensive rebound percentage (5th), assist-to-turnover ratio (12th), steal percentage (10th) and rebound margin (14th).
• Five BU players are averaging 10+ ppg in Big 12 play, tying Iowa State for most in the league.
• Baylor is 1 of 3 schools nationally ranked by the AP in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball (Mich. St., OU).
• Baylor has won 121 games since 2011-12, which ranks 2nd in the Big 12 behind Kansas (135).
• Baylor is 80-67 in Big 12 play since 2007-08 after going 45-131 in the league’s first 11 years.
• Baylor has won 39% of its games (25-39) when tied or trailing at half since 2011-12, including 4-6 this season.
• Baylor ranks 5th nationally in offensive rebound percentage, grabbing 40.2% of its missed shots.
• Baylor is 12-12 in Big 12 road games over the last 3 seasons, the league’s best road record in that span.
• Baylor is 21-21 in Big 12 road games over the last 5 seasons, trailing only Kansas at 24-17.
INDIVIDUAL QUICK HITS
• Scott Drew is coaching his 413th game at Baylor (246-166). His .597 winning percentage is best in BU history among coaches with 60+ games, and his teams have a .686 winning percentage (212-97) since 2007-08.
• Taurean Prince is the only player in the Big 12’s top-10 in scoring (5th), rebounding (10th) and steals (10th).
• Prince ranks 20th on Baylor’s all-time scoring list (1,142) and trails Cory Jefferson by 17 points for 19th place.
• Rico Gathers ranks 21st on Baylor’s all-time scoring list (1,140) and has a school record 1,083 career rebounds.
• Gathers is tied with Missouri’s Arthur Johnson (1,083) for 3rd on the Big 12’s all-time rebounding list. Gathers trails only Kansas’ Nick Collison (1,143) and Texas’ Damion James (1,318)
• Al Freeman has 15 double-figure scoring games this season. BU is 20-2 in Freeman’s 20 career games with 10+ points.
• Lester Medford has 30 career starts at point guard and has 204 assists and 58 turnovers in those games (3.5 A-T ratio).
• Medford joins Iowa State’s Monte Morris as the nation’s only players ranked in the NCAA top 40 in assists (6th), assist-to-turnover ratio (17th) and steals (39th). Morris ranks 5th in assists, 2nd in A-T ratio and 31st in steals.
• Medford ranks 2nd in the Big 12 in assists (7.0), steals (1.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4).
• Ishmail Wainright has 129 points this season after scoring 103 points over his first two seasons combined.
• King McClure is averaging 6.6 ppg in the last 9 games, up from 3.4 ppg in his 15 previous collegiate games.
• McClure has made 12-of-24 from 3-point range in his last 9 games, scoring 59 points in 128 minutes.
• Jake Lindsey has 57 assists and 14 turnovers, and his 4.1 assist-to-turnover ratio trails only Iowa State’s Monte Morris (5.4) among all Big 12 Conference players.
• Sophomores Johnathan Motley and Terry Maston combine to average 17.2 points per game off the bench. They’ve accounted for 69 percent of Baylor’s bench scoring (404 of 589 points).
• Drew is tied with Kansas’ Bill Self as the longest tenured head coach in the Big 12 Conference (13th seasons).
TEAM QUICK HITS
• Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPNU, Baylor’s 162nd straight televised game.
• Baylor has a .708 winning percentage over the last five seasons (121-50).
• Baylor is 41-22 in games decided by 5 or fewer points and 11-2 in overtime games since 2008-09.
• BU’s bench is averaging 26.2 ppg in the last 10 games, led by Motley (99 pts), Maston (79 pts) and McClure (59 pts).
• Baylor is 54-19 in its last 73 games dating back to Feb. 12, 2014. Fifteen of the 19 losses have been away from home (10 road, 5 neutral) and 13 of the losses have been against ranked teams.
• Baylor is 334-76 in football and men’s and women’s basketball since 2011-12, the nation’s best record in that span.
• Baylor is 212-97 (24 wins per season) over the last 9 seasons and has made 7 postseason appearances (NCAA Tournament — 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015; NIT — 2009, 2013).
• Baylor’s 17-5 postseason record since 2009 is the nation’s 4th-best among teams with 3+ NCAA appearances.
• Baylor is one of only 14 schools nationally to play in the Sweet 16 in 3 of the last 6 seasons.
• Baylor made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in program history in 2014 and 2015.
• Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons.
• Baylor was picked 5th in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll, behind Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas.
• Baylor is 28-12 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last seven seasons.
• Baylor’s 5 NBA Draft picks in the last 4 years ranks 8th nationally behind Kentucky, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Arizona, North Carolina and UCLA.
• Baylor has the Big 12’s 2nd-longest active streak (16th-longest nationally) with at least one 3-point FG made in 790 consecutive games. The last time BU didn’t make a 3-pointer was Feb. 21, 1990, a win vs. Texas Tech.
LINEUP NOTES
• Baylor has used the same starting lineup in 23 of 24 games this season – the lone exception was Feb. 10 at Kansas State, when Rico Gathers was sick.
• Baylor’s projected starting lineup has 455 games of combined experience, including 206 starts.
• Lester Medford has started all 58 games at Baylor since joining the team prior to the 2014-15 season.
• Rico Gathers played a school-record 132 straight games before missing the Feb. 10 game at K-State due to illness. He ranks 4th on Baylor’s games played list (132) and needs 10 more to break A.J. Walton’s record (141).
• Johnathan Motley, who typically comes off the Baylor bench, has 35 career starts.
KEYS TO VICTORY
• Baylor is 14-0 this season when leading at the half and 96-11 when leading at the break since 2011-12.
• Baylor is 16-1 this season when posting 16+ assists and 2-5 when recording 15 or fewer assists.
• Baylor is 16-3 this season when holding opponents below 35 rebounds and 1-4 when allowing 35+ boards.
• Baylor is 18-1 this season when shooting 40% or better from the field and 0-5 when shooting less than 40%.
• Baylor is 12-1 when holding opponents below 70 points and 17-2 when holding teams below 80 points.
• BU is 13-0 when committing fewer turnovers than its opponent and 13-1 when getting more points off turnovers.
• Baylor is 20-2 when Al Freeman scores 10+ points, including a 13-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 16-3 when Johnathan Motley scores 10+ points, including a 9-2 mark this season.
• Baylor is 26-4 when Lester Medford records 5+ assists, including a 16-3 mark this season.
• Baylor is 10-0 when Ishmail Wainright records 5+ assists, including a 6-0 mark this season.
A WIN WOULD ...
• Make Baylor 8-4 in Big 12 play, tying the program’s best 12-game start in the league’s 20-year history (2012).
• Improve Baylor’s record to 56-76 against Tech, including a 15-3 mark since 2008 and a 17-9 mark in the Drew era.
• Give Baylor its longest winning streak in series history at 5 straight.
• Make Baylor a 9-1 record in its last 10 games against Texas Tech.
• Give BU a season sweep against Tech for the 6th time in the last 9 seasons (2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015).
• Give Baylor a 54-19 record over its last 73 games, including a 12-13 record against AP-ranked teams in that span.
• Make Baylor 91-42 during Rico Gathers’ and Taurean Prince’s 4-year careers.
• Give Baylor a 121-42 record since the start of the 2011-12 season and 212-97 since 2007-08.
SERIES HISTORY
• Baylor is 55-76 in the all-time series against Texas Tech, including a 16-9 mark in the Scott Drew era.
• Baylor is 34-26 all-time against Texas Tech in Waco, including a 9-1 mark since 2006 (lone loss in 2011).
• Baylor is 14-3 against Texas Tech since 2008 and 8-1 against the Red Raiders since 2012.
LAST SEASON VS. TEXAS TECH
• Baylor beat Texas Tech twice last season, but the wins were by five and three points, respectively.
• BU won 54-49 in Lubbock on Feb. 17 and 77-74 in Waco on March 6.
• Free throws were the difference, as Baylor shot 76% (28-of-37) to Tech’s 51% (18-of-25) over the two games.
• Texas Tech built a 15-9 lead in Lubbock, but the Bears went on a 13-0 run and led the rest of the way. Taurean Prince scored 18 first-half points off the bench and made half of Baylor’s 18 field goals in the game.
• In the return trip to Waco, Texas Tech led 51-39 with 13 minutes remaining, but Baylor finished on a 38-23 run.
• Prince came off the bench just 1:42 into the game and played the rest of the way, scoring 24 points.
• Prince averaged 23.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in 35.0 minutes per game last season vs. Texas Tech.
THIS SEASON VS. TEXAS TECH
• Lester Medford hit a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to give BU a 63-60 win in Lubbock on Jan. 16.
• Baylor controlled most the game, leading for 32:19 and trailing for just 6:51 of game time.
• Baylor built an 11-point first half lead at 36-25, but Tech used a 14-3 run to take a 39-38 lead with 12:26 left in the 2nd half. The Bears used an 8-0 run to build a 58-51 lead with 2:34 remaining, but Tech fought back to tie the game at 60-60 on Zach Smith’s jumper with 24 seconds left.
• Al Freeman led Baylor with 14 points, while Terry Maston added 12 points in 26 minutes off the bench.
• Rico Gathers had 13 of Baylor’s 27 rebounds, and the Bears were out-rebounded for just the 3rd time in 17 games played. For the season, Baylor has been outrebound in just 4 of 24 games.
18+ WINS IN 9 STRAIGHT SEASONS
• Baylor has won 18+ games in 9 consecutive seasons, surprassing the total number of 18-win seasons in the program’s prior 101 seasons combined (8; 1946, 1948, 1969, 1971, 1987, 1988, 1997, 2001).
• Baylor’s 9-season streak of 18+ wins trails only Kansas among Big 12 teams. The next closest is Iowa State (5).
SECOND-MOST WINS IN BIG 12 SINCE 2011-12
• Baylor is 121-50 since 2011-12, which trails only Kansas (135-36) among Big 12 teams (thru 2/12/16).
• Iowa State (117-47) is 3rd, Oklahoma (103-52) is 4th, Oklahoma State (99-67) is 5th, Kansas State (98-59) is 6th, Texas (96-65) is 7th, West Virginia (93-64) is 8th, TCU (67-86) is 9th and Texas Tech (60-89) is 10th.
ONE OF THREE RANKED IN FB, MBB AND WBB
• Baylor joins Michigan State and Oklahoma as the only schools ranked in the AP Top 25 in football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball.
• Baylor men’s basketball is ranked No. 21, football is No. 13 and women’s basketball is No. 4.
• Michigan State is ranked No. 6 in football, No. 8 in men’s basketball and No. 17 in women’s basketball. Oklahoma is No. 5 in football, No. 3 in men’s basketball and No. 21 in women’s basketball.
• Baylor, Louisville and Michigan State were the only teams to finish the 2014-15 academic year ranked in the final AP Polls for all three sports.
TOP-15 NATIONALLY IN ASSISTS, REBOUNDING AND STEALS
• Baylor ranks top-15 nationally in assists per game (2nd, 19.3), offensive rebound percentage (5th, 40.2), assist-to-turnover ratio (12th, 1.55), steal percentage (10th, 11.9) and rebound margin (14th, +8.7).
• Individually, Rico Gathers leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage (19.4) and ranks 33rd in defensive rebound percentage (26.3), while Lester Medford ranks 14th in assist rate (36.9) and 57th in steal percentage (3.5).
STRONG START TO BIG 12 PLAY
• Baylor’s 7-4 start to Big 12 play ties its second-best record through 11 games in the league’s 20-year history, trailing only the 8-3 start in 2012. Baylor also started 7-4 in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
• A win vs. Texas Tech would tie Baylor’s best-ever record through 12 games in Big 12 play (8-4 in 2012).
• Baylor is 4-2 in Big 12 road games, tying the program’s second-most Big 12 road wins in a season. The Bears won 6 Big 12 road games in 2012 and 4 in 2008, 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
MEDFORD RUNNING EFFICIENT OFFENSE
• Lester Medford joins ISU’s Monte Morris at the nation’s only players ranked in the NCAA top-40 in assists/game (6th, 7.0), steals/game (39th, 1.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (17th, 3.4).
• Medford’s current 7.04 assists per game ranks 5th in Baylor single-season history, and his 4.74 career assists per game ranks 5th on Baylor’s all-time list. His 169 assists this year are tied for 9th on BU’s single-season list.
• Medford has two game-winning shots this season. He hit a 3-pointer in the final minute to give Baylor a 69-67 win against No. 13 Vanderbilt on Dec. 6, then made a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to win 63-60 at Texas Tech on Jan. 16.
• In 22 games since the loss at Oregon, Medford has posted 159 assists and 40 turnovers (4.0 A-T ratio).
• Medford has five double-digit assist games this season, including a pair of games with 11+ assists and 0 turnovers.
• In 30 career starts as point guard, Medford has 204 assists and 58 turnovers, posting a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio.
PRINCE DOING IT ALL
• Taurean Prince is the only player ranked in the Big 12’s top 10 in points, rebounds and steals. Prince ranks 5th in scoring (15.0), 10th in rebounding (5.8) and 10th in steals (1.5).
• Prince was 1 of 10 players named a Karl Malone Award finalist on Feb. 4.
• Prince has made 31-of-34 free throws in Big 12 play, good for 2nd in the league at .912. He ranks 4th in the league with a .846 free-throw percentage in all games.
• Prince has scored in double figures in 36 of the last 42 games dating back to Jan. 17, 2015.
• Prince has 10 games with 20+ points in that stretch, including a pair of 30-point efforts.
• Prince earned his first career Big 12 Player of the Week award after a career-high 30 points in the Dec. 6 win over No. 13 Vanderbilt. Prince scored 16 of 18 Baylor points in a 6-minute span during the first half.
• Prince joined Rico Gathers (Nov. 16) to give Baylor multiple Big 12 Players of the Week for a 5th straight season.
GATHERS SETS ANOTHER REBOUNDING RECORD
• Rico Gathers broke Brian Skinner’s school record with his 916th career board in the Dec. 6 win vs. No. 13 Vandy.
• Gathers already held Baylor’s single-season (394) and single-game (28) rebounding records, both set last season.
• Gathers has 1,083 career rebounds, which ranks tied for 3rd on the Big 12’s career list. He’s tied with MU’s Arthur Johnson (1,083) and trails KU’s Nick Collison (1,143) and UT’s Damion James (1,318).
• Gathers has 31 career double-doubles, 2nd-most in Baylor history and 3 back of Skinner’s school record of 34.