No. 11 MBB Knocks Off No. 18 Butler, 53-52

Tuesday, December 10

Waco, Texas

8 p.m.

Baylor

8-1,0-0Big 12

Butler

9-1,0-0Big East

Butler

Baylor

No. 11 MBB Knocks Off No. 18 Butler, 53-52

12/10/2019 11:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score PDF Box Postgame Notes Baylor Quotes Butler Quotes

Mark Vital blocked a driving shot by Kamar Baldwin with 1.5 seconds left.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            When the NCAA Tournament rolls around in March, Baylor can look back on Tuesday's Big 12/Big East Battle against Butler as a dress rehearsal for the big show.
            Just like the Bears' games against Villanova and Arizona, this felt like a second-round or maybe even a second-weekend game in the NCAA Tournament.
            And while they may not have advanced, they definitely survived,
            Junior forward Mark Vital blocked a driving shot by Kamar Baldwin with 1.5 seconds left as 11^th-ranked Baylor (8-1) held on to knock another team from the unbeaten ranks, defeating No. 18 Butler (9-1), 53-52, Tuesday night in a defensive battle at the Ferrell Center.
            "The great thing is playing early in the year like this, it really allows each team to see where they've got to get better to win their league and have a chance to be successful in March," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "This is a very quality opponent. Coming in, we knew how tough it was going to be. Fitting that we won on the defensive end."
            Much like Saturday's 63-58 win over then-No. 12 Arizona, when Baylor shot just 30 percent overall and 6-of-24 from 3-point range, the Bears had to do it on the defensive end. There was simply no other choice.
            Facing a Butler team that came in shooting 49.6 percent from the floor, Baylor held the Bulldogs to 39 percent shooting overall and 5-of-15 from outside the arc. The Bears scored just 19 points in the second half and went scoreless for the last 3 1/2 minutes.
            "The start of the game, I don't know what that was," said Butler coach LaVall Jordan, whose Bulldogs had already beaten five Power 5 teams this season, "but we didn't execute and compete the way that we have every practice and each time out. Talked about it halftime and I thought our guys responded well to start the second half. We've got to have that out of the locker room, from a leadership standpoint, from a tone-setting standpoint."
            Trailing by as many as 16 in the first half, the visiting Bulldogs pulled to within one when Baldwin drove by 6-9 senior forward Freddie Gillespie for a layup with 1:14 left to play and had a couple chances late in the game to win it or take the lead.
            But, Baylor point guard Jared Butler took a Baldwin charge and then Vital stuffed Baldwin on a drive as the ball went out of bounds off the senior guard's right hand. Baldwin finished with a game-high 19 points, while 6-5 senior wing Sean McDermott hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points.
            Vital, who had seven points, five rebounds and three blocks, said Baldwin "did exactly what I was watching" in his game-tape study.
            "He's going to study like this for (the semester final exams), too, by the way," Drew said.
            On top of barreling through a table for the second time this year, the 6-foot-5 Vital also hit the floor several times diving for loose balls.
            "That's how I play. I try to give it my all," he said. "If I watched the video, I probably wouldn't have even noticed."
            Following Vital's block, junior guard MaCio Teague was fouled on the inbounds play and missed the front end of a one-and-one that gave the Bulldogs one last chance. But, Baldwin didn't even get off a half-court shot before the final buzzer as Baylor wrapped up its third ranked win of the season.
            With 6-10 junior center Tristan Clark sitting out his second game in the last three with a knee injury, Baylor had a "next-man-up mentality" with Gillespie, Vital and 6-10 sophomore Flo Thamba.
            "That started last year with all the injuries and illnesses we had," Drew said. "That started last year with all the injuries and illnesses we had. Credit the upperclassmen, because they do a great job. It doesn't who's there, they make sure everybody's focused, everybody's ready to go."
            Teague and Devonte Bandoo led Baylor's scoring with 10 points apiece, while Gillespie had eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks. The Bears shot just 24 percent in the second half (7-of-29) and were 5-of-11 from the free throw line.
            Baylor will take a break for final exams before returning to face UT Martin (3-5) in The Battleground 2K19 at 9 p.m. next Wednesday, Dec. 18, at the Toyota Center in Houston.
            NOTE: With Louisville and Maryland also losing Tuesday night, the only remaining undefeated teams remaining in Baylor are Liberty, San Diego State, Ohio State, Auburn and Duquesne.