 |
10/11 BAYLOR BEARS (17-5, 7-3)
Location: Waco,Texas
Conference/Affiliation: Big 12
Head Coach: Nicki Collen (Marquette, 1998)
Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (17-5, 7-3) vs. KANSAS STATE (17-6, 7-4)
February 9, 2022 • 7 p.m. CT
Waco, Texas • Ferrell Center
LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast
WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
Talent: Lincoln Rose (pxp), Jim Haller (analyst), Brooke Bednarz (reporter)
LISTEN: ESPN Central Texas, BaylorBears.com
Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Sophia Young-Malcolm (Analyst)
Baylor Social Media:    |
|
 |
RV/RV KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (17-6, 7-4)
Location: Manhattan, Kan.
Conference/Affiliation: Big 12
Head Coach: Jeff Mittie (Missouri Western, 1989)
Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
The 10th-ranked Baylor team that plays Kansas State in Wednesday's 7 p.m. matchup at the Ferrell Center won't look very much like the one the Wildcats beat 68-59 in the Jan. 2 conference opener in Manhattan.
Already playing shorthanded with three players out due to COVID health and safety protocols, the Bears (17-5, 7-3) had Queen Egbo foul out and Sarah Andrews sit out the fourth quarter. When they returned the next day, five of the seven players that made the trip all tested positive, putting Baylor on a nine-day COVID pause.
"It hurt having Queen I foul trouble in that game, just because her size and length against (Ayoka) Lee," first-year Baylor head coach said of the 6-6 Lee, who scored 28 of her 32 points in that game in the second half. "Ironically, Lee had four points at the half. We didn't do a great job against their guards in the first half, and then it was the Ayoka Lee Show in the third quarter. But, I think we'll be better this time."
Baylor bounced back from a 78-77 loss to Oklahoma with a sweep of 13th-ranked Texas, winning 75-63 Friday in Waco and rallying from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat the Longhorns, 63-55, Sunday afternoon in Austin. Trying to win their 12th-straight Big 12 title, the Bears are 1 ½ games behind ninth-ranked Iowa State (20-3, 9-2) and No. 12 OU (20-3, 9-2).
"Every game is important for us. We haven't changed our goals," Collen said. "We certainly need some help, especially with Oklahoma at this point. But, we've got to take it one game at a time. And we can't stay in the race if we don't win this one. Is this game big? Yes, because it's the next one. Hopefully, we play well (Wednesday night), and then the most important game on our schedule is the one that's next up on our schedule."
Ja'Mee Asberry (10.1 ppg), who hit three second-half 3-pointers and scored 13 points, said she doesn't pay a lot of attention to the conference standings.
"Once you get wrapped up in those types of things, that's when bad things start happening," she said. "You've really got to focus on yourself, take it a game at a time and not sleep on people like, 'Oh, we'll beat them.' You've got to focus on you and your team and not overlook anyone."
This game features a matchup of arguably the two leading candidates for Big 12 Player of the Year. Ayoka (24.7 ppg, 10.4 rebounds) and Baylor senior All-American NaLyssa Smith (20.8 ppg, 11.4 rebounds) are 1-2 in the league in scoring and rebounding. Smith recorded her 15th double-double of the year with 28 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday's win over Texas.
"Zones, it's hard to run plays to her," Collen said of Smith. "It's about finding space, cutting into open space. I think the more we can play in transition against them, the less we have to worry about where those spaces are at. That was one of the best things she did on Sunday was she ran the floor. She got a lot of transition baskets and put pressure on them. It's hard to load up on her when she's out in front or she's in a singled-up situation."
Smith struggled in the first game against K-State, hitting just 4-of-12 from the floor and finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds. Lee hit 11-of-16 from the field and 10-of-13 from the line, grabbing 10 rebounds to go with 32 points, three steals and two blocks.
"I remember telling the team before we played them the last time that (Lee) could get 30 and we could still win the basketball game," Collen said. "And I still feel that way. We didn't play well, we didn't shoot the basketball well. And I think a lot of that when you look back, we weren't healthy. But, Ayoka Lee is a problem when you're healthy or you're not healthy."
Understanding "who they are," Lee will "get the first look, maybe the second and sometimes the third look," Collen said.
"You have to understand what she's good at," she said. "When you do grab a defensive rebound, you've got to make her run. You've got to make her work as hard as she makes you work on defense. And guarding her isn't a one-person job, it's a team job. How good is our ball pressure? How good is our help side? How engaged are we? Do we know where she's at on the floor? Are we too high, are we too low? So, for us, she's a problem."
Wednesday's game will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Lincoln Rose, former men's basketball coach Jim Haller and Brooke Shields calling the action.
TEXAS TWO STEP
• Baylor became the first team since 1999 to defeat a ranked opponent twice in three days as the Bears took down then-ranked No. 13 Texas, 75-63 (2/4) and 63-55 (2/6).
• NaLyssa Smith combined to put up 53 points off 21-of-30 (70%) shooting from the floor and a perfect 10-for-10 mark from the free-throw line as well as pull down 21 rebounds.
• BU never trailed in the first contest between the rivals on 2/4. The Bears started fast with an eight-point advantage after the first quarter and never looked back. Baylor scored 25 points off 20 Texas turnovers.
• It was a different beginning but the same result in the second game as the Bears got off to a sluggish start, only making seven field goals in the first half for 18 points. Baylor came out of the half and made their first 10 shots of the third quarter to come from as many as 10 points down in the third to secure the eight-point victory.
• Another key to Baylor's victory on Sunday in Austin was its 11-of-12 showing from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter alone. For the series, BU combined for a 38-43 (88.4%).
WALKING DOUBLE-DOUBLE
• NaLyssa Smith is fifth in the country with 15 double-doubles on the season.
• Smith is fourth in program history with 43 career double-doubles. She's six away from tying Maggie Davis-Stinnett (1986-89, 1990-91)
• The senior is averaging 20.8 points and 11.4 rebounds per game which ranks No. 11 and No. 14 in the country, respectively.
• Smith was recently named to the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List as well as the Naismith Award Midseason Watch List.
LET IT FLY
• Baylor's program record for triples made came on Dec. 18, 2019 against Arkansas State when Juicy Landrum caught fire and set an NCAA record with 14 triples. Besides that record-setting performance, BU hadn't drained more than a dozen shots from deep since 2011.
• BU's record for 3-point attempts in a season came in 2013-14 when the Bears attempted 596 3s.
• From that season to 2020-21, Baylor made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game only five times across a total of 281 games (1.78 percent). BU has done so four times this season.
• At Kansas, Baylor nearly set a record with a 14-for-29 display from the perimeter. BU's 14 treys marked the second most in program history.
• Prior to this year, only 14 Bears had made six or more 3s in a game. Two of them had done it multiple times (Makenzie Robertson, 2012, 2014) and Jennifer King (1990, 1991, 1993).
• Sarah Andrews and Ja'Mee Asberry have already joined that elite club this season. Andrews went 6-for-8 against Morehead State and from deep and Asberry fired off 6-of-8 against Alcorn State. Asberry then went 6-for-11 at Kansas, and Andrews set a career-high with a 7-for-10 mark.
• Andrews' seven 3s tied for third in program history. She is now one of six Bears in program history to hit a minimum of seven triples in a game.
• Andrews is currently No. 6 in the nation in 3-point percentage at 47 percent.
• Jordan Lewis joined the club with her 6-of-7 performance against Iowa State.
