[ad_1]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Minutes after being beaten for just the second time this season, Baylor has had a fight.
“I don’t mean it like that, but we needed that loss in a way,” said senior Mark Vital after an 83-74 loss to Oklahoma State in a semifinal. of the Big 12 Tournament which should resonate in the range by Sunday. afternoon. “Everyone says that but we do it [need it]. We came here with the mindset that we were already the Big 12 champions. We have to change our mindset to go back to being hungry. ”
Can you feel it Nationwide outlook is changing everywhere, from what you’ve done this season to what you can do. The NCAA tournament begins next week. Suitors do not need to apply.
Start a Support Pool to compete against friends or fill your Support for a chance to win an all-new Nissan Rogue and a college basketball dream trip. Get in on the action today!
The second-ranked Bears (22-2) continue to be one of those teams with a chance to win it all. The loss will have no impact on their expected No.1 seed. CBS Sports Bracketology expert Jerry Palm kept Baylor on the No.1 starting line and did not move them from their domestic No.2 seed after the loss. But the upheaval was not only the biggest of this week, but one of the biggest of the season. The Bears aren’t playing badly, but not their best.
In Vital, Jared Butler and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Davion Mitchell, they have one of the best lines in the country. But the state of Oklahoma showed unusual depth and better effort on the stretch. Backup goalie Isaac Likekele was over-15 in 37 minutes. Forward Kalib Boone was a plus-17 with six blocks and 10 points.
That’s before mentioning Big 12 player of the year, Cade Cunningham, with his 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a different feeling this year,” Likekele said.
It has certainly been a different feeling lately. The Cowboys won for the eighth time in nine games. (The only loss is against Baylor.) The last three wins have been over the top 10 opponents. Saturday marked Pokes Quad 1’s 10th victory. On the 85th birthday of legendary coach Eddie Sutton, they qualified for the Big 12 Tournament championship game for the first time since 2005. Sutton died in last May.
Baylor, however, was the focus of concern thereafter. The Bears started 18-0 before COVID-19 ravaged the team and caused the Bears to take a three-week break in February. They lost to Kansas at the end of that break and are now a 4-2 in the pre-tournament stretch in the NCAA. That’s why Vital hasn’t finished.
“I want them to feel it. I went through it. I lost in the tournament,” he said. “I want my guys to feel that defeat, to have that advantage for the next game.
“We are still one of the best teams in the country. We got licked. We will get up. Muhammad Ali has done it a lot.”
Friday was kind of a punch. Baylor had beaten the Cowboys 11 of 12 in 2016. The Bears had won both regular season games by a total of 26 points.
Oklahoma State (20-7) came out and ran on every chance appearing to surprise the Bears. Cunningham, the Big 12 player of the year, scored 11 of his 25 points in the final five and a half minutes. Avery Anderson, the Cowboys’ third option, fell by 20 points, giving him 68 points in the last three games.
“I hope we continue to dispel this idea that we are Cade and this group of puppets,” said Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton.
It was Anderson’s fearless and basket practice that resulted in a three-point game with 2:09 remaining that gave the Cowboys a one-point lead they would never give up.
“There is never a good time to waste,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “But better to lose now than in the NCAA tournament so I’m okay with that. We’ll have an extra day off.
“It’s like putting your hand on a stove and it burns you, for a while you don’t put your hand back on that hot stove.” When you have a loss, you don’t like that feeling.
Oklahoma State deserved it, which their Championship game opponent Texas can’t say. The Longhorns were treated to their first Big 12 Tournament championship game since 2011 after Kansas was forced to drop out of Friday’s other semi due to COVID-19 protocols.
KU joined Virginia and Duke in being knocked out of their conference tournaments by the coronavirus. Hope floats among game stewards may push the NCAA tournament to its conclusion next month without a break.
“The whole season has given us a break,” Boynton said. “But there’s not much you can do. It’s not like the virus is just going to go away.
Five months after cutting the nets, the Cowboys are closer than ever to… cutting the nets. Boynton has a tradition of having his players grab a ladder and hew the hoop every preseason.
“He told us, ‘That’s what the goal is. It will be a long road, a lot of ups and downs, “Cunningham said.” He said we should see how far we go. ”
They wore it at the end of the Big 12 season, at least.
“I believe in the law of attraction. You have to see yourself doing it before you can put it into action,” Boynton said. “I wanted to set the tone for this team with what we were able to do. We haven’t talked about it since but we’re there.”
[ad_2]
Source link