Defense Is Optional For Baylor Bears Right Now
Even with a 2-10 record against Scott Drew going into Tuesday night's game, Shaka Smart showed the ultimate respect for the Baylor Bears, not by laying down and conceding a victory against the No. 6 team in the country, but by calling off the dogs with a minute to go so his teams didn't score 100 points on the hapless visitors.
Baylor held a 7-6 lead at the first media timeout of the game and never led again, as the Marquette Golden Eagles blitzed them with a 21-2 run in the first half and never looked back, winning 96-70. The loss is the most lopsided one for the Bears program in 15 years and is one of the most disappointing in terms of where both teams are in the last decade.
It's easy to look at Baylor's 16 first-half turnovers and the fact that Marquette outscored them 24-0 off those turnovers, but that's too easy to pick out. You're never going to win a game with those numbers and it should be the easiest problem to fix right now.
What is more frightening, and it has shown in other games this season unlike the ball security issues, is the major step back the Bears have taken on defense. Tuesday's debacle is not what a Scott Drew defense should look like.
Baylor dropped from the dizzying heights of 297th in the nation in three-point defense to the distant lows of 334th after Marquette went 12-25 from three Tuesday. Teams are now shooting almost 40% from beyond the arc against the Bears.
Even with the horrid numbers defending the outside shot, Baylor's perimeter starts with what they do in the middle. Drew's "no middle" defense has become famous the last few seasons as Baylor has gone from tournament also-rans to national power. With big men doing the dirty work in the low post and sealing off the paint, teams are forced to play on the perimeter, meaning they have to make longer, tougher passes that allow for defenders to close down quickly.
Marquette had no issue getting to the middle of the floor Tuesday. Baylor was bullied in the first half, where the Golden Eagles outscored them in the paint, 28-12. Flo Thamba looked like a shell of himself. He is a guy who I thought was one of the best interior defenders in the Big 12 the last two seasons, but he was getting pushed around Tuesday.
Based on the no-middle defense, not protecting the low post doesn't just manifest itself in lopsided points in the paint numbers. No, it makes for much worse outcomes. When Thamba can't guard a guy one-on-one in the paint, whether it be from his own ability or lack of help defense because of good spacing, the driver has good looks at the basket and even better looks for kick outs to his teammates.
Marquette moved up 62 spots in nationally in three-point percentage and 32 spots in offensive efficiency after Tuesday's game. It's the second time this season the Bears have given up more than 80 points and their defensive rating is now 159th in the country, tied with North Carolina.
Bears fans thought their team got a wake-up call when the Virginia Cavaliers lit up the scoreboard and knocked off Baylor a week and a half ago, but if the Marquette game doesn't send a message, I don't know what will. Even 36 minutes into the game and has led by double digits for virtually all of it, Smart's Golden Eagles were still beating the Bears to every loose ball, still defending and outworking Baylor.
The Bears should be able to correct the turnover mishaps because most of it is a lack of focus. They will certainly need to, as the Big 12 gauntlet will have everyone playing with the effort and intensity Marquette played with. The defense, though, seems more complex and looks like a bigger issue.
Who is up next? Only Gonzaga.
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Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.