Ranked No. 4 and No. 9, the Baylor basketball programs are thriving

Baylor MBB climbs to No. 9/11 in polls after Battle 4 Atlantis

Any team that loses consecutive games by eight, 10 and 22 points would certainly be unranked. But an undefeated team that comes back from such deficits is worthy of more attention.

That’s what Baylor (6-0) had to overcome this past week to win the Battle 4 Atlantis, capping off the tournament with a 22-point comeback over then 10th-ranked Louisville. The Bears jumped 11 spots to No. 9 in the country and even earned a first-place vote in the AP Poll released on Monday. They checked in at No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Considering the only other first-place votes went to the top three ranked teams, that lone vote is a bit of an outlier. However, beating perennial tournament sweethearts VCU, Michigan State and Louisville puts the rest of the nation on the lookout for the Bears.

If there’s one big takeaway from all three games, this team is all about depth. Sure, Johnathan Motley hung 45 points in the opening two matchups, but he was slowed against Louisville until late in the game, along with guards Al Freeman and Manu Lecomte, who were each vital in the comeback over VCU.

Baylor’s 42-point second half against Louisville couldn’t have happened without sophomore guard King McClure stepping up with two pivotal triples finishing the day with 15 points while senior Ish Wainright made a name for himself dishing out a team-leading five assists and grabbing eight rebounds, seven of which came in the second half.

Baylor returns this week beginning Wednesday evening with a matchup against Sam Houston State at 8 p.m. CT. The Bears then will take on No. 7 Xavier on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.

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Lady Bears win Gulf Coast Showcase, jump to No. 4 in AP Poll

The men’s team isn’t the only one bringing hardware to the Ferrell Center, either. Kim Mulkey’s Lady Bears hopped to No. 4 in the AP Poll after taking the Gulf Coast Showcase.

Unlike Scott Drew’s crew, they did it rather convincingly from start to finish. Not as thrilling as the double-digit comebacks led by Motley and crew but nonetheless, a welcomed outcome for a team that lost to UCONN a couple weeks back.

In the tournament, upended two ranked opponents in 18th ranked DePaul and 8th ranked Ohio State. But first on the checklist was a 42-point victory over Kent State led by Kalani Brown’s 17 points who was one of six players to hit double digits.

That was the largest win of the entire tournament. Baylor’s subsequent 32-point win over DePaul and 17-point victory over the Buckeyes were the next highest margins of victory in the tournament.

Despite Nina Davis’ billing as a preseason All-American, Baylor has not needed to lean on her abilities as much with players like Alexis Jones and Alexis Prince finding their zone. The former had 20 points in the championship hitting 4-of-5 three pointers while the latter had a leading 19 points against DePaul.

Baylor returns home this week to face Abilene Christian at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday.