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Baylor Basketball

MBB: Bears open 2016-2017 season against Oral Roberts

November 11, 2016
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The Baylor men's basketball team will open the 2016-2017 season against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. ORU finished last season with a 14-17 record while the Bears finished 22-12.

  • Friday is the 6th series meeting. Baylor has won the five previous meetings by an average of 14.4 points.
  • BU has won 10 consecutive season openers by an average of 30.5 points. Drew is 12-1 in openers.
  • BU did not receive any preseason poll votes for the first time since 2009-10.
  • Baylor returns six letterwinners from last season's 22-12 NCAA Tournament team.
  • Seven Bears have not yet played at Baylor, but four of those practiced with the team last season.
  • Baylor has just one senior on the roster, but BU has five players in their fourth years of college basketball.
  • Baylor is one of 13 teams to be nationally ranked in each of the last nine seasons entering 2016-17.
  • The Bears are coming off a school-record third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
  • Head coach Scott Drew enters his 14th season at Baylor as the school's all-time wins leader (250).

Key Returners

Al Freeman - Junior - Guard
Last Season: 11.3 ppg, 3.4 rebounds, 85.3% FTs

Johnathan Motley - Junior - Forward
Last Season: 11.2 ppg, 5.1 rebounds, 1.1 blocks

Ishmail Wainright - Senior - Forward

Last Season: 5.9 ppg, 4.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 40.6% 3FG

Newcomers to Watch

Manu Lecomte - Junior - Guard
Background: Miami transfer who averaged 7.9 ppg and 1.8 assist while shooting 45.6% from 3-point range

Jo Lual-Acuil - Junior - Forward

Background: The 7-foot-0 Australian sat out the 2015-2016 season after transferring from Neosho College where he averaged 20.1 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.7 blocks in 30 games

MBB: Bears open 2016-2017 season against Oral Roberts

18,303 Views | 47 Replies | Last: 8 yr ago by bularry
Hambone
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Bears up 7-4 at the first break. Manu hit a 3, Acuil and Freeman with layups

ORU getting the ball down low pretty easily. both teams missing a lot of shots, we've had open looks
nein51
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Yeehaw!
Hambone
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Freeman with an ugly turnover on a drive and "dish" and it leads to an ORU layup, cuts BU lead to 14-12

Al quickly atones with a 3 ball!

Manu has 8 points, BU leads 17-12 @ 10:45 media timeout
bularry
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Are we guarding and contesting?
Hambone
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Chuck Mitchell off the bench and instantly jacks a 3 and nails it! awesome

Lindsey with a layup in transition, then Maston gets a put back after Mitchell airballs his 2nd career attempt (oh boy)

lot of energy from the bench! 24-14 BU, timeout ORU
Hambone
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bularry said:

Are we guarding and contesting?
BUnityBears
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What is up with McClure and motley? Are they not playing? Sorry if I missed somewhere....
Hambone
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Maston with the backside block (Biancardi saying it was Acuil, but it was Maston)

Acuil drills a long 3! just trailed behind and nobody picked him up, hit it in rhythm from top of the key... interesting

another 3 for Chucky! wow, he's dangerous.
Hambone
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BUnityBears said:

What is up with McClure and motley? Are they not playing? Sorry if I missed somewhere....
Motley is serving a 1 game suspension for playing in a summer league game too far away from his home.

King is playing, hasn't done anything tonight tho

31-17 BU @ 6:45
Colt B.
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Staff
This team reminds me of Oklahoma from last season a bit on the offensive end.
Hambone
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ORU makes 2 FTs, Manu misses a 3, ORU hits a short J over Ish, then Acuil turns it over down on the block... 31-21

Acuil with some nice D down low on the next possession, but King jacks an early 3 and misses.

loose ball fall against Acuil, ORU shooting bonus... hits 1/2

Maston with a pretty stroke from about 17 on the pick and pop from Manu. nice
nein51
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Colt B. said:

This team reminds me of Oklahoma from last season a bit on the offensive end.

We have one of the best players in the country? Sweet!!
Hambone
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ORU hits a 3, but Al scores + the foul. 35-25 @ 3:35, shooting 1 when we return
Hambone
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Mitchell with an out-of-control turnover, leads to an ORU bucket. that's 3 scores in a row for them. ugly stretch for the Baylor offense.

but the Bears get the crowd back into it with a nice lob and dunk, Manu to Acuil. 38-31 BU

ORU misses a 3 and then the follow up, then Lindsey misses a 3 near the buzzer. 38-31 @ half
BeachedBear
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Lots of positives offensively from the first half. We will score a lot of points this season especially when we add in JMot. I also liked the look of a 3/4 court press that we can trap out of. With the guards we have we can play fast all game long. Hopefully when JMot returns our interior defense will get more aggressive and physical.
Dubbicans
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We have more shooters on this team than we did last year. That's nice to see. I'm interested to see how we play when Motley is back
"merry xmas dick head"

--BealBear
Hambone
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ORU had cut the lead to start the half, but Freeman and Acuil hit b2b 3's, BU back up 9

now Ish with a nice bucket, 47-36 BU 16:20
goldtexan
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I like Lecomte and Acuil.

Add Motley and this team might be very good.
Hambone
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goldtexan said:

I like Lecomte and Acuil.

Add Motley and this team might be very good.
we're versatile and we have a lot of offensive weapons. how the zone holds up down low in Big 12 play will likely be the key. need all we can get from Motley/Acuil/Maston/Ish, and that's not the best defensive group.

we will score on everybody, but the D will decide the ceiling of this team...
Dubbicans
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I had been in my room watching the game, but now I'm back up at work and don't have access to the tv. The updates are appreciated Hambone.
"merry xmas dick head"

--BealBear
Hambone
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been stuck in lull here at 49-40, but Lecomte drives and creates contact, will shoot 2 at 13:00 mark

hits both. 51-40 BU
Hambone
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wut

riflebear
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Manu with 7 assts 0 TOS so far.
CTbruin
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Lindsey is underrated.

Mitchell can play.
Hambone
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guys, Acuil and Lecomte might be our 2 best players. only Acuil is the real surprise, and it will be interesting to see how he looks in Big 12 play, but, WOW

another sweet bucket at the rim by Manu

another Acuil block... these 2 are dominating this game

56-42 BU
Hambone
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CTbruin said:

Lindsey is underrated.

Mitchell can play.
we have a lot of pieces.

this is the most legit depth we have had in the Drew era, we can play 10 guys on any given night.

testament to low attrition rate, guys buying in to the system, and our coaches developing their talents.
Brian Ethridge
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Staff
Loving Acuil's contributions on both ends. Maston needs to find a motor on the defensive end.
Hambone
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Brian Ethridge said:

Loving Acuil's contributions on both ends. Maston needs to find a motor on the defensive end.
I don't think he's wired with it. Ashley has talked about how he's kinda lazy.

he's a great offensive spark off the bench, not sure we can ever expect him to be something he's not, or refuses to become.

if he ever does the flip the switch, he will be all-Big 12 his senior year.
Dubbicans
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I love Maston's offensive contributions. He makes some clutch shots when we need buckets. He's a gamer. At least on the offensive end.
"merry xmas dick head"

--BealBear
Hambone
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Acuil picks up his first foul with 8 mins left in the game. not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. something to keep an eye on for sure...

57-46 @ 7:54 media timeout
goldtexan
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Acuil has talent. With a juco, you never know. Great find.
Hambone
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Freeman drills another 3, BU up 62-48 nearing 6:00 mark

he's had some bad turnovers tonight but he's scoring the ball...

King gets into the mix with a couple of FTs, 64-48
Hambone
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goldtexan said:

Acuil has talent. With a juco, you never know. Great find.
that extra year was great for him, our staff has shown what they can do when they redshirt a big man.

his JUCO numbers were very good against good competition.
Hambone
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Ish joins the mix from deep, our 10th of the night. then Manu gets a steal and finds Freeman for a bucket. timeout ORU

and just as OR U closed it back to 12, the Bears have officially opened this one up, leading 69-52 with 3:49 left
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