Three years ago, Wisconsin mopped the floor with the Bears with Frank Kaminsky leading the way. Big Frank put up one of his most memorable performances that night, taking the Badgers to the Elite Eight. Tonight, it was all about Baylor’s Big Jo as Baylor took its fourth W of the season and claimed a seat in the Hall of Fame Classic final with a 70-65 revenge win over Wisconsin.
Living in Jo Lual-Acuil’s world
With the Badgers looking to take away the perimeter game early on, Lual-Acuil was free to put in work. In turn, he opened the game with Baylor’s first eight points, already halfway to his season-high. His rebounding work wasn’t far behind, either, grabbing six within the first quarter to put him on pace for a 40-10 game.
Wisconsin went to work on him the rest of the evening holding him to just 11 points and four more rebounds in the final 30 minutes to orchestrate a rally. But Lual-Acuil wasn’t without his shining moments even while being silenced, most notably blocking a Khalil Iverson jumper to stop Wisconsin’s 12-3 run.
With 1:30 remaining, he was at the front end of a missed dunk from Iverson as well, preventing Wisconsin from coming within one possession.
This was a new game from Lual-Acuil as he was perfect from three-point range, hitting both his shots and was 7-of-14 from the field. The only other time he matched those efficiencies was against Oral Roberts and Oklahoma last season. Producing like he did against an otherwise feared defense speaks volumes.
Manu Lecomte and Jake Lindsey making case as best Big 12 guard duo
If Lual-Acuil was the star to start the game, Lecomte was the MVP in the closing minutes.
Baylor had a rough night the second game of the season shooting free throws but that seems to be temporary, especially if Lecomte is the one sent to the line. As Wisconsin mounted its second-half comeback, finding new success from beyond the arc, Lecomte was the epitome of consistency. He sunk 10-of-11 FTs in the final two minutes to keep the game just out of Wisconsin’s reach.
After a horrid night shooting the last game, Lecomte found his stride again shooting 3-of-5 from downtown to lead the team in scoring in as many games so far. Every step Lecomte took, Lindsey could be found too. Lecomte’s first two three-pointers came from Lindsey assists. But Lindsey’s assists went beyond just Lecomte. He was responsible for an incredible four-straight three-pointers, getting the bigs Lual-Acuil and Terry Maston involved too.
Every one of Baylor’s six treys were dishes from Lindsey. He finished with seven total assists. Lecomte had the team’s only other five assists, making for quite the dynamic duo. On a less positive note, Lindsey had his first turnover of the season but Baylor’s nine TOs remains an accomplishment itself.
A Launchpad Win
Reactionary takes for every win are inevitable. That’s especially true in the first few games the season when there’s little else to work with, and even single portions of games act as a litmus test. Baylor’s 78-61 win over Alcorn State was the smallest margin of loss for the Braves, putting Baylor on the proverbial ropes and initiate some fear.
This five-point win over Wisconsin treads the same story in the opposite direction. It was originally looking like a win more in line with the first two wins of the season but a second-half collapse forced the Bears to rally to hold their ground. It’s one thing to hold strong against a team with no chance at a tourney invite, it’s another to stave off a national power like UW.
Perhaps most importantly, it was at a neutral location virtually halfway between both teams' campus. Baylor's had help from fan support in other close wins in the past, so this win is more in line with the comebacks during last year's Battle 4 Atlantis that helped catapult the team to No. 1 later on in the season.
