While we only won this game because Creighton shot atrociously from 3 (can't remember the last time a Baylor opponent shot that poor % from 3 with that high volume), the fact McClure stepped up in the 2nd half was more than comforting. We saw against South Carolina last year the one dominant big, Lecomte combo doesn't work when the opposition has a great perimeter defender. And in the first half, I was starting to worry this year could be derailed because we didn't have a second guard/wing capable of creating offense, and teams were starting to figure out how to defend us. McClure playing like that is the difference between this team sneaking into the tournament and this team making noise into the second weekend and beyond. We HAVE to have another guard/wing capable of generating offense besides Lecomte, and what I saw from McClure that second half was more than huge. Here's hoping he keeps it up.
Baylor Basketball
McClure steps up with huge game to seal comeback win over Creighton
After Wisconsin put together a run to threaten Baylor last night, the Bears had to do a better impersonation of that performance to take down Creighton 65-59. It barely happened, but it happened all the same. Most importantly, it proved Baylor can win under duress and move away from the bread and butter to do it.
Take away Manu Lecomte, take away the game (almost)
With Khyri Thomas glued to Lecomte’s hip, Baylor’s leading scorer was held to a season-low nine points. Had he put together a performance in line with the first four games this season, Baylor walks away with an easy W.
With the Belgian struggling to get proper looks, shooting just 2-of-8 from the floor, Baylor had to correct course with someone else. Thomas was holding his ground against Lecomte in the first half, letting up just one shot and in the second half, Lecomte struggled more shooting just 1-of-6 (all three-point tries). His reliability was truly tested, shifting the focus to someone else to pull through.
That was King McClure who finished with a career-high 19 points, coming in the clutch in the last five minutes, tying the game up at 50 thanks to a three-point play and taking the lead with a layup for Baylor’s first lead of the game. Not only did he have a career-high score but 15 points came in the final 20 minutes, giving the team a lift with two three-pointers that Baylor could hardly the side of a barn with, in the first half.
Credit also lands on Jo Lual-Acuil and Terry Maston both putting up 15 points, the latter even showing some range with a three-pointer to seal the deal while Lual-Acuil strung together another double-double.
Shooting looked worse than it really was
Baylor may have walked away from the first half down 33-24 but it wasn’t due to poorer shooting, Creighton simply shot more and in combo with more free throws put Baylor against the wall in the second half.
The Jays weren’t terribly efficient in either half, just had the luxury of shooting 33 times to Baylor’s 25 shots made worse by Baylor’s personal foul trouble that Creighton avoided. There were embarrassing cold spells like a nine-miss streak in the second half but Creighton matched that and more, shooting under 30 percent in the second half while Baylor found its mojo shooting just under 50 percent with safer shots inside where Maston and Lual-Acuil made their mark.
There were strings of embarrassing moments like nine-straight missed shots from the field but Creighton had more and even had the exact same cold streak. Ultimately, even if Baylor could have put up better shots, free throws came throw again shooting 11-of-11 in the second half to bury the game.
Ball control controlled the game
After having a good handle on possessions the last few games, TOs veered its ugly head again. The Bears’ 16 turnovers marks the second time this season it's crossed 15. It took seven games last season to cross the mark twice. Creighton's man defense really did a number on the team.
Surprise, surprise, Jake Lindsey was the only player to avoid turning anything over (although, he played a team-low 13 minutes). Five of six players to turn the ball over had multiple TOs, with Lecomte and Jo Lual-Acuil among the biggest offenders. Lual-Acuil was particularly careless (or at least outplayed) allowing Marcus Foster to steal the rock twice from him in the first half alone.
Baylor had 11 turnovers in the first half, with Creighton turning them into 10 points. That was ultimately the difference in the first half. When Scott Drew’s team kept the ball close to the chest in the second half, the Jays were afforded just three points on five takeaways, liberating Baylor’s offense to run away with the second half 41-26.
Put in perspective, Baylor held a 31.4 percent turnover rate the first half compared to 14.7 percent during the comeback which in turn led to doubling the points per possession as well, allowing McClure and his surrounding cast to thrive.
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