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16 Thoughts On Baylor

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I tested a “Baylor is favored by seven, how do we feel about that?” tweet before the game started to which I got a number of “bet the house you lost against Missouri on them to cover this thing” snarky remarks (that I deserved) back.

And who wouldn’t have? The #6 team in the country coming off a scare in College Station to face a dwindling OSU squad (Cezar – out, Jurick – out) fresh off its easiest Big 12 win of the year? Sounded like a recipe for disaster for Ford’s squad.

They hung around though and every time you thought “okay, here’s where Baylor shows why it’s an elite team” OSU would hit a pair of threes, AJ Walton would hoist an errant shot, Scott Drew would do something dumb, Brian Williams would get to the line, something would happen to reel OSU back in the game.

After Le’Bryan hit a layup with 14 minutes left in the second half and the game tied at 39. He then picked up his 4th foul and Baylor went on a 13-4 run capped off by a Perry Jones tip dunk with just 7:13 left to play.

But Brian Williams and Le’Bryan led a 14-4 counter-run and a three-pointer by Keiton with 1:47 left gave the Pokes their first and only lead of the game (it lasted 0:16).

Quincy Acy answered with, what else, a dunk and Keiton missed two threes, the second of which involved a pump fake and more contact than you’ll see in half the Super Bowl plays tomorrow night…but no call.

Side note here: I didn’t have a huge problem with him not getting the call there, but it was almost the exact same play he got a call on earlier in the game. So either don’t call it either time (probably my preference) or call it both times (would have helped OSU) but don’t call it once and not the other.

Brady Heslip and Anthony Jones (who’s shooting 53% from the line) iced Baylor’s season sweep of the Cowboys from the line and put them back on the incorrect side of .500

Here are 15 more thoughts from the game:

1. I was in love with Nash playing the high post in the middle of Baylor’s “zone.” He can do so many things from that area of the court and had all of them on display today. Not that Baylor’s defensive set is something to be reckoned with but I thought Ford did a great job showcasing Nash’s skills.

2. Brian Williams, friends. Brian Williams was 9-15 while the rest of the team was 11-35 combined (thanks to Slater for that stat). He might not ever be an all out star, but his ceiling is going to be re-raised numerous times over the last third of this season. Think a more athletic Obi. That’ll play as the second or third best guy on a tournament team.

3. Speaking of Obi, Nolo and I were wondering who had a higher three-point for their careers between him and Keiton. The results: Obi – 38.6%, Keiton – 35.6%, and for reference, Desmond (who wasn’t a great shooter) – 37.2%. At what point do we stop thinking of Keiton as a great shooter, or is that low % just the result of the fact that he’s been on bad teams and carried the load for 2+ years?

4. Three of the charge calls – Miller on Nash, Nash on Heslip, and Acy on Nash – were ridiculous. And the officiating overall, not really for one side or another, was just horrendous, and has been all season. It makes Big 12 games not very fun to watch.

5. Unfortunate for Keiton, but these games stopped being about this year a while back. OSU is playing for next year and even the year after right now, I Ford realizes that and coaches accordingly (see: at the one, Markel).

6. Commercial note: is Papa Murphy Papa John’s brother?

7. Scott Drew is like a little bit better looking Sean Sutton with fewer personal issues. I found myself wondering during the game if he yells and waves his hands everywhere like a maniac he has no idea what the crap to do with this embarrassment of riches and he’s just trying to cover that fact up. That’s probably not what you want me wondering if you’re a Baylor fan.

8. I realized today that there’s nothing that makes me feel more white and unathletic than a tip dunk in a basketball game.

9. I really enjoyed our the in-game chat we had going on for this one. If you missed it, you can read the recap here. We’ll definitely do it again for some basketball and football games. Maybe even randomly for the NCAA tournament.

10. Why was the 4th or 5th best defender on the team (Keiton) guarding the only guy OSU didn’t want getting the ball and shooting free throws (Heslip) with six seconds left?

11. Bryndon Manzer and Dave Armstrong mentioned multiple times that Scott Drew puts his team in a different hotel every time they come to Stillwater because he’s never won here. I was waiting for Manzer’s dad (who keeps score for OSU) to walk over, grab the mic, and say “it ain’t the hotel, son…it ain’t the hotel.”

12. As Micahel Lane pointed out on Twitter, LaMichael James and Pierre Jackson may or may not be brothers…

13. One of my friends texted me before the game regarding Cezar’s suspension, “what would Keiton have to do for Ford to suspend him?” We both agreed something in the range of first-degree manslaughter would get it done but nothing less than that.

14. Reid Gettys actually said these words during halftime as they showed highlights of the first half: “it’s not a foul to go over the back, only if you go on the back.”

15. Was Soucek on Acy a mismatch, or no?

16. Thought both of these were funny…

On Scott Drew’s coaching job…

On Bob Griffin’s Heisman…

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