MBB: Podcast & Reaction to Baylor's 76-53 Win Over Ohio

Baylor takes care of business in the opening round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.  The Bears face the winner of Utah/Coastal Carolina in the semi-final round November 22 at 4:00pm CST.  The other semi-final pits Mississippi State vs Villanova.  

Positives

• Elite defense.  The Bears are currently #13 in KenPom in defensive efficiency.  In each of their 4 games, the Bears have held their opponents under 0.90 points per possession which is terrific.  Davion Mitchell, Mark Vital and Freddie Gillespie have led the charge on the defensive side of the ball.  
• The Bears led 57-48 with 8 mintues left and proceeded to go on a 15-0 run to put this game away.  Good to see the Bears finish the game strong.  
• Freddie Gillespie continues to impress overall.  He is currently top 100 in the country (KenPom) in offensive rebounding efficiency (16th); offensive efficiency rating (99th); turnover rate (74th); block percentage (99th) and he’s knocking on the door in steal percentag as well (134th).  Gillespie has been invaluable so far this year.  
• Jared Butler continues to score at a high rate- averaging over 20 ppg.  
• Even though he missed all three of his three point attempts, it was good to see Davion Mitchell score inside the arc (9 points on 4-4 two point FGs and 1-1 FTs).  
• Macio Teague 3-5 from 3 and 17 points.  
• Forced 19 turnovers and only committed 10.  Outrebounded Ohio by 10 including 17 offensive rebounds which was 44% of their missed shot attempts.  

Needs Work

• Three point shooting has been rough the last two games. 10-38 (26%).  Need to be much better to beat teams like Villanova.  
• Defense was elite overall, but noticed a few transition 3s where Baylor players were slow to get back in transition defense.  Good teams will punish Baylor in that area if the Bears don’t improve.  
• Butler and Clark had some uncharacteristically bad turnovers.  Clark started strong but has a ways to go before he returns to form.  Same holds true for Matthew Mayer.  
• Shot selection from Macio Teague questionable on a couple of his attempts.  

Overall a great win.  Hopefully the Bears can leave South Carolina with three victories.