Team Of The Week: Baylor

Baylor needed a big week to avoid slipping into a tough spot regarding seeding for the NCAA Tournament. Coming into last week, the Bears had dropped three of their last four and had a rough outlook considering five of their final six games would be against tournament-caliber opponents. Quite simply, the Bears were in danger of dropping out of the top 25 into the mess of teams just beneath.
The first key game Baylor had this past week was a home game against Iowa State. Baylor already defeated Iowa State in Ames earlier this year, but this one gave another opportunity for the Bears to notch a quality win. In this one, forward Jonathan Motley took over the game for Baylor, scoring a game-high 27 points on 10-17 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. The game went into overtime, but Baylor pounded Iowa State down low without their toughest interior presence, Rico Gathers, who sat out of the match-up. Baylor matches up well with Iowa State because the Cyclones lack the big men to cover all the tough forwards that Baylor throws at their opponents. In the end, Baylor notched a 100-91 victory over Iowa State, sweeping the season series.
Next up came a road test against a rising Texas team under first year head coach Shaka Smart. Texas actually won the first meeting between these two teams in Waco, where Baylor received minimal bench production en route to a 67-59 loss. This time, the game script was flipped. Baylor took the
lead early, extended it and kept their foot on the pedal, eventually winning by 14. Jonathan Motley was terrific again, scoring 24 points on 12-13 shooting. At one point, Baylor's lead extended up to 27, which allowed the Bears to comfortably put Rico Gathers in to get him acclimated after missing the past couple of games. Taurean Prince also chipped in 17 points and guard Lester Medford had 13.
So what does this mean for Baylor now? Every couple of years, the Bears are able to take advantage of a relatively weak field and make a run to the Sweet 16/Elite 8. (Elite 8 in 2010, 2012, Sweet 16 in 2014). If the trend continues, look for Baylor to make a run to the second weekend. This team fits the mold of what Scott Drew tries to do. They have physical forwards in Motley, Gathers, Prince and Terry Maston. Lester Medford and Al Freeman can hang with any guards in the country. The issue will come if Baylor faces a team that can both compete from a physical standpoint and runs efficient offense (Virginia, Kansas, Xavier). While the Iowa State win may have just been a match-up fluke, the Texas win proves Baylor is on the rise.