Baylor Struggles To Stay In Top 25
Just a couple weeks into the Big 12 conference play, and the Baylor Bears record has taken a noticeable turn for the worse. Before the New Year began, the Bears only had one loss, a seven-point difference to current No. 2 Syracuse during the Maui Invitational. Recently, they have lost four of their last five conference games, only sealing a victory over TCU. From week 10 to week 12, Baylor has dropped seventeen spots to No. 24 on the AP Top 25 list. And after their loss to the Jayhawks on Monday, they will probably drop out of the Top 25 for week 13.
They were defeated by Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Kansas on the road and fell to Oklahoma on their home court by two. All three road-games were lost by double-digits. But, the loss in Waco against the Sooners was a game the Bears could have won. They led by six in the first half. Just 4 minutes into the second, Oklahoma took the lead and kept it for the majority of the half, by as many as eight points. The Sooners ended the game, shooting just under 60% from the field while the Bears shot about 45%. It was an embarrassing second half for Baylor to say the least.
The problem in Texas is hard to completely figure out. Their three leading scorers, Kenny Chery, Cory Jefferson, and Brady Heslip, are all upperclassmen, so leadership should not be an issue. But when teams go on a 16-0 run against you, someone needs to step up and get the team back on track. That did not happen against Oklahoma. The bears played semi-better basketball versus No. 8 Kansas on Monday, but it still was not good enough. They were held to shooting 39% from the field, but they shot 48% from behind the arch. Heslip hit six three-pointers finishing with 19 points; Jefferson added 16 points and Chery tacked 8 assists. Sophomore Isaiah Austin also added 16 points.
After the Jayhawks win over Baylor, they became the first team since the 1997 North Carolina team to beat four straight ranked opponents in the regular season. The win also gave them a five game winning streak start in conference play for the third season in a row. And if you missed freshman guard, Frank Mason’s alley-oop to Embiid, check it out below!
Back to Baylor- Luckily for the bears it’s still early enough for them to get things in order. Their schedule is still seemingly difficult with having to play Kansas and Oklahoma again, and No. 11 Oklahoma State in a couple weeks. But, they definitely have the talent to turn things back around.
