Kegler, Bears improve NCAA resume with 73-68 victory over Alabama
WACO, Texas — With a tremendous amount of tournament implications on the line Saturday, Scott Drew’s club needed a victory to show their progress against a non-conference after ugly losses to Texas Southern and SFA early in the season. The Bears did just that and secured yet another resume-building victory against the Alabama Crimson Tide inside the Ferrell Center on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to Saturday, Baylor was projected by several analysts to be one of the first four teams left out of the tournament field. The Crimson Tide were feeling confident about their chances after a close 71-68 loss to the number one team in the country in Tennessee and a 74-53 win against 20th ranked Ole Miss.
As has been the case for Baylor in their recent surge, Saturday was a hard-fought game that went back and forth throughout before the Bears ultimately pulled away in the final minutes to win 73-68.
The Bears were masters at preventing opponent opportunities and creating them for themselves. They led on the offensive boards 16-9, allowing for more looks at the rim. They also forced 13 turnovers while only giving up eight of their own. The recipe for success worked again as Baylor put 10 more shots in the air than their opponent, 67 attempts to 57.
Senior Makai Mason put together another great game by adding 13 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds while hitting on 5-of-10 shots. Mason’s play to close the game on the offensive end helped the team hold onto their slim lead.
Freshman Jared Butler continued to show promise with 9 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds and helped the Bears get a rhythm at the beginning of the game with a couple of threes to start the game.
Fellow freshman Matthew Mayer provided a spark off of the bench with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists and showed just how dynamic he can be in the open court on a fast break.
The game was a evidently an all-around a great performance from the Bears, but there was clearly a specific player that helped propel the Bears to another key victory: Mario Kegler.
To put it bluntly, Kegler had a shaky start to the season. Heading into their previous game against West Virginia, Kegler was shooting just 36% from the field and averaging just 7.7 points. He seemed like a player that did not feel 100% confident when the ball left his hands. His work on the glass and on the defensive side of the ball were still there, but he clearly struggled offensively.
With 18 points and 7 rebounds against West Virginia and 17 points and 7 rebounds against Alabama, Kegler has shown that he can be a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball. His jump-shot looks much better and he evokes confidence with his body language on the court. The Bears have fed off of his energy in the past two games that have been essential victories for the Bears and their quest for a tournament bid.
Since Tristan Clark’s knee surgery the only loss came against Kansas, the first outing without the start sophomore. The bears now won four consectutive games against Oklahoma State, No. 8 Texas Tech, West Virginia and Alabama.
With this win, the Bears just might have pushed themselves over the hump and should be regarded as a tournament team after showing their victories over two top 25 opponents wins were not just blips on the radar.
The Bears travel to face Oklahoma in Norman on Monday and look to secure their third road victory in Big 12 play and extend their current winning streak to five.
