Baylor flies past Iowa State 81-67 as Terry Maston has career-night

The path to the tournament is a new season for Baylor and the Bears have kicked it off with a win. After entering the second half trailing Iowa State, the Bears ran away with the win 81-67.

Dominating the paint

The inability to shoot to the long ball has been well-documented but with efficiency like Baylor showed inside tonight, that’s a secondary issue. Get that shot down, this team is going places.

After the game, Baylor’s work in the paint was one of the first things ISU coach Steve Prohm mentioned and circled back to later. Allowing Baylor to get in a cycle of drives starting with the second half opening layup then post-feeds was the key.

To put it in numbers: Baylor won the paint battle 52-28, more than enough to offset the difference from the perimeter. Coach Scott Drew said it was a tremendous effort considering the Beas “couldn’t throw it in the ocean from three” (Baylor was 2-of-14 from range.)

Prohm said Baylor was just “tougher and more physical,” making Baylor’s second-half performance difficult to slow down. Add in Baylor’s edge rebounding 43-35, the Bears controlled the tempo with players like Tristan Clark and Jo Lual-Acuil owning the glass. Lual-Acuil had his own issues finishing in the paint but was a major factor with four blocks, contributing to the Cyclones’ 34 percent shooting rate- “A tremendous defensive effort,” Drew said.

Drew’s analysis wasn’t all positive though. He said the first half’s shooting performance and too many turnovers — getting caught up with Iowa State’s pace — was concerning but was good to see the team calm down to end the game. Baylor had a 41 percent scoring rate and 25 percent turnover rate in the first half compared to 57 and 17 respectively.

Terry Maston looks like a new player

Since returning from his breaking his hand, Maston hasn’t been quite the same. He’s slimmed down, looking visually different but his performance tonight was a truly new Maston.

The senior forward not only scored a career-high 23 points but was as efficient as they come and was the driving force causing havoc inside. He put up just four points in the first half but something clicked with him during the halftime talk, posting 19 points the next 20 minutes.

“Went into halftime and they told us to be very aggressive,” Maston said. “They just told me to get int there and basically force my will into the paint.”

Though the team couldn’t make the deep shots, Maston said he felt because of how many shooters Baylor had on the outside allowed him to take over in the paint.

“It’s really clicking and flowing great,” Maston adding, that it will be tough to beat this team when operating at this level. But don’t take that for desperation. After the game, he said a team meeting to discuss its direction “made the desperation lower a little bit.”

Shutting down the playmaker

After getting trounced in Ames, there was one specific goal for Baylor, stop Lindell Wigginton.

The freshman phenom leading the Cyclones in scoring put up 30 points with killer three-point ability in the first meeting. Scoring 14 points out of the gate in the first half, Wigginton looked the part. A repeat of that performance would have sent the game to overtime. Instead, Baylor held him to zero points.

“Up [in Ames], he’s a really streaky guy,” Drew said. “I thought second half we had a more concerted effort. He became a passer rather than a scorer.”

Wigginton did have four assists in the last half but taking away his ability to shoot across the floor was devastating. Prohm said that Baylor’s zone scheme was a lot more active than he anticipated and had the great effect on the offensive performance, to which Drew agreed saying that it really helped force ISU’s attempts.