In Review: Baylor 78, Syracuse 69

9th seed Baylor (20-13) defeats 8th seed Syracuse (20-14) 78-69 in the battle of the zones in Salt Lake City, Utah Thursday night.  The Bears face #1 seed Gonzaga (31-3) Saturday night at 6:30pm CST for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.  

Positives

• Tremendous 3 point shooting for Baylor all night long.  The Bears were 16-34 from 3 (47%) and 12-18 from inside the arc (67%) to dissect Syracuse’s zone which was top 25 in the nation in defensive efficiency.  The Bears scored 1.30 points per possession against the Orange.  
• Makai Mason showed tremendous heart in leading the Bears (22 points; 4 rebounds; 4 assists; 3 steals).  Jared Butler once again made key plays in the second half (14 points; 5 rebounds; 4 assists; 2 steals).  Freddie Gillespie also came up big in the second half (8 points) after dealing with foul trouble in the first half.  
• Great team effort- King McClure, Devonte Bandoo, Flo Thamba, Mark Vital, Mario Kegler all had huge roles in this win.  Kegler set the tone by knocking down his first two corner 3s.  
• Baylor won key metrics- field goal percentage; 3 point percentage; rebounds; assists; steals; turnovers.  Being -9 in free throw attempts and makes was the one area that Syracuse had an advantage.  

Needs Work

• Defensive lapses; defense will have to take it up a significant notch against the top offensive efficiency team in the country on Saturday (Gonzaga).  
• Sloppy turnovers.  There were 3 or 4 turnovers that were mind boggling.  All in all a great team performance.  
• Defensive rebounding.  Syracuse grabbed 11 of their 30 misses (37%).  Ideally, you want that number below 30%.