What Scott Drew has built at Baylor is remarkable. That’s true in large part because of the situation when he first took over, but many programs in America would be envious of his record there as a perennial postseason team (mostly the NCAA Tournament) and how it has happened even if he didn’t take over what at the time might have looked like an impossible situation.
And as the Bears went to Lubbock and grinded out their 11th straight win, a 57-52 win over Texas Tech, we got one more reminder of it.
We’ve talked plenty about the situation when Drew left Valparaiso to become the head coach in 2003. Why leave a situation where you can win every year? Why go to a school about to be hit hard by the NCAA, what may become a coaching graveyard? Well, Drew has made it work in spades.
Baylor is well on their way to a ninth straight postseason trip (seventh NCAA Tournament) and 12th in 13 years (nine NCAA Tournaments). Only twice in those postseason runs have they been one-and-done, winning the NIT in 2013 and being runner-up in 2009 in addition to twice reaching the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He’s consistently done it not only with the right players, but with players who have waited their turn and had a “next man up” mentality. In hindsight, you could look back at many of his teams and think they had a lot more depth than we thought at the time because there was a player or two not playing a big role who would then take that on later. It’s at the point where you can go into an off-season expecting that the Bears will be good the next season, that if they’re losing a couple of starters that might include their best players, there is probably someone waiting in the wings.
This year, that has shown up much like last year in the form of not having Tristan Clark. The junior forward was on his way to potentially being an All-American a year ago before getting hurt, and he hasn’t fully recovered yet, which has limited him to nine games and a clear drop in how he has played. In the midst of a breakout season a year ago, he has gone from averaging 4.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game on 73.7 percent shooting before getting injured to playing in just nine games this year and with averages of 4.6 points and 2.6 rebounds per game on 35 percent shooting.
You hope he eventually recovers and regains form, because his initial emergence was a nice story, but in the meantime the Bears are doing it first with their guard unit of Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, Davion Mitchell and Mark Vital (who had 13 rebounds from the guard spot on Tuesday night) on a team that really goes about nine deep. They went into Lubbock and were the better defensive team while overcoming 20 turnovers and just five points from Butler, their leading scorer, to beat a Red Raider team that started off slowly this season but came alive by the time they beat Louisville in New York, and they had just run away from Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Baylor has overcome Clark’s limitations to the point where if they keep this up, they will certainly be in the conversation for a top seed in March. They have only a loss to Washington against wins over Villanova, Arizona and Butler in non-conference, and now Texas and Texas Tech in early Big 12 play. They have not-bad wins over the likes of Ohio and Coastal Carolina as well.
No one other than perhaps Scott Drew could have imagined this back in 2003. Baylor is very much a Big 12 power now, and this season is highlighting what he has done as much as any of his 17 seasons in Waco.
Side Dishes
It was a big night of action in the Big Ten, especially early on. Ohio State at one time looked like the best team in the land, but Maryland turned back the Buckeyes 67-55 to hand them their third straight loss. In Piscataway, Rutgers beat Penn State 72-61, a win that is even bigger considering Geo Baker was out again with his injury. The Scarlet Knights are 3-1 in the Big Ten with another signature win added. Later, Nebraska beat Iowa 76-70 in Lincoln.
On most nights, Boston College beating Virginia would be headline news, but with the Cavs not being as good, the game being in Chestnut Hill and other action on the evening, the Eagles 60-53 win is certainly nice for the team but not a big national story. BC held Virginia below 33 percent from the field and shot almost 45 percent on the night. Also of note in the ACC, Virginia Tech kept Syracuse struggling as they beat the Orange 67-63 in the Carrier Dome to drop the Orange to 1-3 in ACC play.
Road teams largely ruled in the SEC last night as Florida went to South Carolina and beat the Gamecocks 81-68, Tennessee beat Missouri 69-59 in Columbia and Kentucky used a big second half to beat Georgia 78-69 in Athens. Texas A&M was the only home team to win as they beat Ole Miss 57-47 in College Station.
Markus Howard lit up Providence again for 39 points, but it was the Friars who left Milwaukee with a big 81-80 overtime win over Marquette to go to 3-0 in the Big East. The Friars are finding their stride at the right time, winning two on the road after winning their opener at home.
For the second week in a row, Utah State was on the wrong end of a surprising late game as Air Force dominated the Aggies in the second half for a 79-60 win. The host Falcons got 31 points and 11 rebounds from Ryan Swan and outscored the Aggies 48-26 in the second half to overcome a three-point halftime deficit.
Other results of note: Villanova went to Omaha and edged Creighton 64-59; Quinnipiac handled Rider 80-61; Houston went to Philadelphia and edged Temple 78-74; Missouri State edged Illinois State 67-63 in Normal; Northern Iowa beat Indiana State 68-60; TCU edged Kansas State 59-57; and New Mexico handled Fresno State 78-64 in a game that saw the return of Carlton Bragg to the court after a suspension for an off-court matter.
Miami announced that Keith Stone is out indefinitely with a left knee injury, which will hurt their depth up front. The former Florida forward played in the prior six games and gave them a nice lift up front, producing well in 18 minutes per game.
Tonight’s Menu
There are more games on tap than last night, but not as many big matchups. There are, however, a few important ones with teams that need to get some momentum going.
- One of those games early on is in the Big East, where St. John’s visits Georgetown in a matchup of teams that started 0-2 (6:30 p.m.), before Xavier hosts Seton Hall in what should be a good nightcap (8:30 p.m.)
- Indiana hosts Northwestern in a battle of teams below .500 in early Big Ten play (7 p.m.), with a good nightcap on tap as Wisconsin hosts Illinois (9 p.m.)
- In the ACC, Pittsburgh travels to North Carolina in a battle of 1-2 teams, while another such battle is on tap nearby as Notre Dame goes to NC State (7 p.m.) and Florida State goes to Wake Forest (7:30 p.m.)
- Mississippi State goes to Alabama in a matchup of teams that lost their SEC openers (7 p.m.), while Auburn tries to stay undefeated as they host Vanderbilt and LSU hosts Arkansas (9 p.m.)
- An early showdown is on tap in America East as Vermont hosts Stony Brook in the opener for the Catamounts (7 p.m.)
- Atlantic 10 action features Davidson at Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure at George Mason (7 p.m.)
- A dandy is on the slate in the Southern Conference as UNC Greensboro hosts East Tennessee State (7 p.m.)
- Iowa State has a tall order to get some momentum going on the night as they host Kansas (8 p.m.), while Texas hosts Oklahoma (9 p.m.)
- Out west, the best matchup might be in the WAC as CSU Bakersfield hosts California Baptist (10 p.m.)
