Monday, February 3
Manhattan, Kan.
8 p.m.
Baylor
20-1,9-0Big 12
73
at
67
Kansas State
9-13,2-7Big 12
1
2
F
Baylor
33
40
73
Kansas St.
28
39
67
Photo by: USA Today Sports Images
No. 1 MBB Secures Hard-Fought Road Win at Kansas State
2/3/2020 10:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Baylor snaps six-game losing streak to the Wildcats
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Two days after watching MaCio Teague break out of a monthlong shooting slump, Baylor sophomore guard Jared Butler followed suit to help top-ranked Baylor extend its school-record 19-game winning streak by holding off Kansas State, 73-67, Monday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
Butler, just 3-of-18 from 3-point range in the previous four games, drained 4-of-8 from outside the arc and scored 20 points as the Bears (20-1, 9-0) also snapped a six-game losing skid in the series with Kansas State (9-13, 2-7) and won at Bramlage for the first time since 2017.
"I've been struggling a lot," Butler said. "What basketball has done for me is it's humbled me, it keeps me level-headed. Thank God for allowing me to get out of that slump and allowing me to clear my head. And you saw what my teammates did, they found me a lot of times. It's just a good feeling."
Teague added 15 points and Mitchell 13 points and seven assists for Baylor, which is off to its best start in conference since the 1947-48 team won its first 10 games in the Southwest Conference. The Bears are also the first Big 12 team to get out to a 9-0 start since Texas went 11-0 in 2011.
"It was good to have Jared Butler back in the house," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I know he's not happy with his assist-to-turnover ratio (1-to-5), but I thought did a lot of good things."
Butler scored 10 of his points in the first 8 ½ minutes, hitting four of his first six shots, to spark an early run that saw the Bears jump out to a 22-6 lead. Devonte Bandoo capped the run with a steal and assist to Butler for a layup.
"We just made a lot of good reads, and they were missing some wide-open shots," Butler said. "And we got in transition a lot. It was a really good feeling, but it's a game of runs, it's going to be a grind."
Kansas State missed its first seven shots and didn't hit its first bucket until almost 7 ½ minutes into the game. But fueled by Xavier Need, who scored 10 of his game- and season-high 23 points in the first half, the Wildcats battled back to make it a one-score game before Mitchell drove inside for a bucket that gave Baylor a 33-28 lead at the break.
"Davion made that layup at the end of the half, and I thought that was huge," Drew said. "I thought we got out to a great start. Foul trouble kind of slowed the run down and made us change rotations. Credit K-State, they came back. They're not going to give you the game, they're not going to die. You have to beat them, it's a 40-minute game."
With K-State struggling out of the gate at the start of the second half as well, Baylor had a 12-2 run that stretched the lead back out to 56-41 on a Mitchell layup.
In a pattern similar to the first half, the Wildcats closed in a flurry, scoring 26 points in the last 8 ½ minutes to pull within six in the final seconds. Baylor didn't help itself, missing 13-of-29 from the free throw line for the game and turning it over four times in the last four minutes.
Ending a scoreless stretch from the field of 86 minutes, stretching back to Wednesday's game at Iowa State, junior forward/guard Mark Vital had a three-point play with 2:36 left and then sealed it with a dunk in the closing minute. Freddie Gillespie added nine points and five rebounds for the Bears.
K-State had four double-figure scorers, with Carter Diarra adding 11 points and Makol Mawien and Montavious Murphy each scoring 10.
After surviving a difficult stretch of three games in six days, Baylor will be off until hosting Oklahoma State (10-11, 0-8) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Cowboys, who have dropped eight of their last nine, go for their first conference win on Wednesday with a home game against TCU.
"They earned two days off," Drew said. "And if (my wife) Kelly is listening, we might even get a date night in."
Butler, just 3-of-18 from 3-point range in the previous four games, drained 4-of-8 from outside the arc and scored 20 points as the Bears (20-1, 9-0) also snapped a six-game losing skid in the series with Kansas State (9-13, 2-7) and won at Bramlage for the first time since 2017.
"I've been struggling a lot," Butler said. "What basketball has done for me is it's humbled me, it keeps me level-headed. Thank God for allowing me to get out of that slump and allowing me to clear my head. And you saw what my teammates did, they found me a lot of times. It's just a good feeling."
Teague added 15 points and Mitchell 13 points and seven assists for Baylor, which is off to its best start in conference since the 1947-48 team won its first 10 games in the Southwest Conference. The Bears are also the first Big 12 team to get out to a 9-0 start since Texas went 11-0 in 2011.
"It was good to have Jared Butler back in the house," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I know he's not happy with his assist-to-turnover ratio (1-to-5), but I thought did a lot of good things."
Butler scored 10 of his points in the first 8 ½ minutes, hitting four of his first six shots, to spark an early run that saw the Bears jump out to a 22-6 lead. Devonte Bandoo capped the run with a steal and assist to Butler for a layup.
"We just made a lot of good reads, and they were missing some wide-open shots," Butler said. "And we got in transition a lot. It was a really good feeling, but it's a game of runs, it's going to be a grind."
Kansas State missed its first seven shots and didn't hit its first bucket until almost 7 ½ minutes into the game. But fueled by Xavier Need, who scored 10 of his game- and season-high 23 points in the first half, the Wildcats battled back to make it a one-score game before Mitchell drove inside for a bucket that gave Baylor a 33-28 lead at the break.
"Davion made that layup at the end of the half, and I thought that was huge," Drew said. "I thought we got out to a great start. Foul trouble kind of slowed the run down and made us change rotations. Credit K-State, they came back. They're not going to give you the game, they're not going to die. You have to beat them, it's a 40-minute game."
With K-State struggling out of the gate at the start of the second half as well, Baylor had a 12-2 run that stretched the lead back out to 56-41 on a Mitchell layup.
In a pattern similar to the first half, the Wildcats closed in a flurry, scoring 26 points in the last 8 ½ minutes to pull within six in the final seconds. Baylor didn't help itself, missing 13-of-29 from the free throw line for the game and turning it over four times in the last four minutes.
Ending a scoreless stretch from the field of 86 minutes, stretching back to Wednesday's game at Iowa State, junior forward/guard Mark Vital had a three-point play with 2:36 left and then sealed it with a dunk in the closing minute. Freddie Gillespie added nine points and five rebounds for the Bears.
K-State had four double-figure scorers, with Carter Diarra adding 11 points and Makol Mawien and Montavious Murphy each scoring 10.
After surviving a difficult stretch of three games in six days, Baylor will be off until hosting Oklahoma State (10-11, 0-8) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Cowboys, who have dropped eight of their last nine, go for their first conference win on Wednesday with a home game against TCU.
"They earned two days off," Drew said. "And if (my wife) Kelly is listening, we might even get a date night in."
Team Stats
Baylor
KState
FG%
.500
.458
3FG%
.409
.381
FT%
.552
.789
RB
31
31
TO
14
16
STL
11
5
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
7
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
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