Dec. 17, 2016 Recap | Box Score | Notes | USATSI Photo Gallery 
4/5 BAYLOR (10-0) 82, NR/NR JACKSON STATE (3-8) 57
Sat., Dec. 17, 2016
Abrams Gym (Fort Hood, Texas)
Attendance: 2,500 BAYLOR POSTGAME QUOTES
Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew
Opening Statementà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"It is a great opportunity to come down here and say thank you by playing in front of the Fort Hood families and soldiers. I think we all feel the same way when so many of us get to go home and see family and friends while there are many that do not get to because they are out protecting our freedom. I thought we came out a little excited and let's give Jackson State a lot of credit for the first half. They made shots and controlled the tempo. I thought we did much better in the last five minutes of the half and the first 10 minutes of the second half of getting back to what we do."
On Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and his impactà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"Jo is somebody that you like being with every day because he wants to get better, he has a positive attitude, and he's coachable. He's an energy giver and you like having a guy like that on the team."
On the second-to-last game before starting Big 12 Conference playà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"It is an opportunity before conference to give guys playing time and experience. When you have depth, you have opportunities for guys to step up. It helps with injuries and illnesses. We can give guys some experience now to step up in those situations. You never know who is going to step up."
On Baylor's strong second halfà ¢Ã¢' ¬ ¦
"To get to the bonus, you have to be the aggressor. I thought we did a much better job with that in the second half. Defensively, we got stops and we were able to get on breaks. That forced rotations and put them at a disadvantage instead of us coming down and missing, them going down and hitting a three, and controlling the tempo. The thing that is tough sometimes is when the other team is hitting some threes and you get into a three-point contest when your advantage is your front line."
Junior Al Freeman
On his hot shooting night ...
"We have some pretty good, dominant bigs, some of the best in the country. So, like any good team, they are going to pay attention to them. Any team that plays against us, especially a zone ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" they played a zone against us ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" they tried to take away our twos and just had to pick their poison. Manu (LeComte) is a good shooter, Jake (Lindsey) has been shooting the ball well, King (McClure) is a great shooter, Ish (Wainright) can really shoot the ball, and Nuni (Omot) and Chuck (Mitchell) can when they come in. They had to give up one thing and they chose to take away the lobs, the dunks and the twos."
On if his role on this team is to shoot threes...
"No, not really. I think before this game I was split 50-50 on twos and threes. Me personally, I like to get to the lane and finish and like to play in transition, but like I said, when you're playing with the talented group I play with, you're going to get open shots. Tonight, I just had a lot of confidence in my jumper."
On if he likes coming out to Fort Hood to play...
"Yeah, I like the gym. I was excited when I found out we were playing against a Division one opponent. I like the atmosphere. It reminds me of high school or AAU ball, with small gym and packed with a lot of people right there on the court. It's fun to play here."
On playing in front of the Fort Hood troops...
"It's a really cool experience to play in front of them. I know some of the soldiers haven't seen their families in 18 months or 24 months or however long. It's a really cool experience to be the center focus of why they come back and seeing their families again. To be entertaining them is really cool for us and we really appreciate the opportunity, this year and last year, to do it for them."
Junior Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.
On what the difference was in Baylor's strong second half...
"Our defensive intensity. We just concentrated more on defense and made an effort to contest all the shots. We did everything we could to make them miss, and when they did miss, we grabbed the rebound and pushed it into transition."
On the Fort Hood experience...
"I thought it was really cool. I didn't get to play last year, but playing this year was really fun seeing what it meant to the people here. I really enjoyed playing."
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