In Review: Baylor 73, Iowa State 70 Podcast & Thoughts

Baylor was used a 24-9 run to close out the first half to gain momentum en route to a 73-70 victory over the Iowa State Cyclones in Waco, TX Tuesday night.  The Bears are now 9-5 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.  Here are my post game observations.  

Positives

• Outstanding clutch shooting performances from Makai Mason (25 points); Tristan Clark (16 points) and Devonte Bandoo (13 points in 11 minutes).  
• Huge rebounds/hustle plays from Mario Kegler (10 rebounds) and King McClure (6 rebounds) down the stretch.  King was able to convert a big 3 point play off an offensive rebound on one possession.  And then keep a possession alive with a rebound and timeout on another possession.  The Bears outrebounded the Cyclones 33-26 on a night that Mark Vital only had 2 rebounds.  
• 17-20 from the free throw line including 2-2 from Mark Vital.  
• Only 10 turnovers.  No turnovers from Tristan Clark who handled double teams well.  
• Scott Drew has now won 39 games against top 25 teams in his tenure at Baylor.  26 of those wins have come since 2013-14.  Five of those top 25 wins have come against the Cyclones.  

Needs Work

• Tough to find many faults in this game.  The freshmen (Thamba, Butler, Mayer) collectively had a rough shooting and ball handling night.
• End of the game foul execution.   Makai Mason could have been called for a reach in foul on a desperation three point attempt like he was at the end of the first half against TCU.  That would have proved to be potentially disastrous if Iowa State was able to force OT.