Dunk contest fuels unbeaten Baylor men’s basketball



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At 1:30 p.m. until No.2 Baylor’s 84-72 home win over Auburn on Saturday ended, Matthew Mayer – the team’s soft-haired, reserved popular – flew into the lane for a tip-dunk that makes ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla yell, “Oh my God!”

The Baylor bench also erupted.

For Mayer, however, the dunk also helped him gain the advantage over teammate and All-America contender Jared Butler – who missed the 3 points that led to Mayer’s flush – in their racing competition to see who can get the most dunks. year.

“They really weren’t boxing and I just walked in and got the handover dunk,” Mayer, who scored 13 points, said on the post-game conference call. “Me and [Butler] has a contest to see who can get the most dunks, and he thinks he’s going to get more than me. I mean, he plays more minutes than I do, but come on. [After that dunk], he’s like, ‘OK, you beat me now, you beat me now.’ I was like, ‘I’m already beating you.’ It was [our] conversation running in the field. “

For a 16-0 Baylor side who are now 41-3 in their last 44 games stretching back to last season, the celebration also showed the bond that helped this group enter the home stretch of the 2020 season. -21 as a serious contender to win the national title.

“It was crazy,” Baylor’s Adam Flagler said of the frenzy that followed Mayer’s dunk in the second half of Saturday’s win. “We were all super excited for him. He’s a great talent, and he showed it a bit tonight.”

Mayer is also an example of the depth that Baylor possesses. He’s played more than 20 minutes just once this season due to the talent ahead of him on the roster – but he’s still left his mark.

“I know they only count for two points, a dunk, but the momentum of the dunk, the energy … it permeates the whole team,” said Baylor head coach Scott Drew. “It helps you build on a run. It just changes the momentum of a game.”



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