Baylor comeback stopped short 90-83 against Kansas State

This team is starting to take years off lives. These past two games are especially exhausting. Against Kansas, the Bears came back with a win in sight in the Phog and tonight, again flirted within single digits of a win after a 19-point deficit to Kansas State. Baylor left the Ferrell with a 90-83 loss, unable to complete the comeback.

But it’s another that will make it tough to sneak into the NCAA Tournament.

Top scorers can’t score early or often enough

It took over five minutes for Manu Lecomte to even shoot, let alone score. His first shot was forced in the lane as the shot clock ticked near zero.

Jo Lual-Acuil took the first shot of the night but didn’t score until four minutes went by, at that point, Baylor had just four points on the board.

The two went on to score 18 and 15 points respectively, and Tristan Clark’s 14 were vital contributions as well. But the delay in getting those points was detrimental on the whole. It took Baylor five shots to get on the board on a dunk from Clark. Remove those first shots, Baylor shot 52 percent the rest of the way.

Tonight’s game wasn’t a matter of how many missed shots, it was how early they were missed that dug a hole. On the whole, it was an effective shooting performance and until three-pointers were thrown in the closing minutes, Baylor was shooting near 50 percent from the arc. 

It took too long to shake the Wildcats’ man defense.

Turnovers ending runs

It goes without saying turning the ball over ends scoring opportunities and Baylor did just that at the most inopportune moments. Turning the ball over 15 times isn’t the worst total, far from it this season but at a 20 percent of possession, it is a major liability.

After storming back within five points to enter the second half, three turnovers in four minutes helped the Wildcats climb back to a double-digit lead. Halfway through as they held a 19-point lead, Baylor clawed back within 10 points in three minutes on Terry Maston’s back but that run came to a halt on a Clark turnover.

Freshmen follies

It’s been a good run for the redshirt Mark Vital in the starting five. He’s made a solid impact as scorer, rebounder, and has even occasionally run the offense. But he was a large part of the problem in the early running, missing two shots, a turnover and a foul that led to Dean Wade’s early scoring run. His foul minutes later was his last but also marked his lessened court time, seeing just 16 minutes.

At the same rate, Tristan Clark left the game with the team’s second-best ___ points and came close to a double-double. But with a foul and turnover as Baylor was climbing back into the game under two minutes left leaves a sour taste. That was all the more highlighted by Tyson Jolly’s personal foul. And Jolly’s impact on the offense has been negligible, scoring only from the foul line- he’s shooting just 1-of-9 the past four games.

Mistakes were made across the whole roster but the freshmen stood out for the wrong reasons this round.