The Can't Miss Bears

Kinda bummed I wasn’t in Detroit yesterday. I really could’ve used some McDonald’s from its newest “employee.”

Guess I’ll settle for the start of conference tournaments.

1. Baylor shoots its way past Texas

On a night when Max Abmas seemingly couldn’t miss, Jalen Bridges was even better.

The Baylor senior forward scored a career-high 32 points (on Senior Night, no less), and helped the No. 11 Bears rally past Texas, 93-85.

Bridges, one of five seniors honored on Monday, hitting 8-of-11 from the field, and 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. Added bonus: he also had nine rebounds. Most importantly, when Baylor (22-8, 11-6 in Big 12) struggled to score in the first half, Bridges was the one who kept them in the game.

“I personally can’t say that I’ve ever been in a shooting match like that,” Bridges said. “It's just the best to be in this league, be able to lace it up with these guys like RayJ, and then on the other foot have to go up against guys like Max.”

Abmas led all scorers with 33 points and had 17 at halftime. His back-to-back 3s pushed Texas to a 14-point lead early in the first half while Baylor was sluggish. (Added milestone for Abmas: He’s now at 3,073 career points, 8th on the all-time scoring list.)

Abmas had to be aggressive. Texas (19-11, 8-9) only got 10 minutes from star forward Dylan Disu, who had a stomach bug before the game, and left with a left-knee sprain. He’ll be evaluated today, though Horns coach Rodney Terry told the media that Disu will “be fine”

His lack of inside scoring would’ve been big for Texas in the second half. Instead, Baylor turned up the defensive pressure — the Longhorns missed 11 straight shots in the second half — and watched double-digit lead turn into an 8-point Baylor advantage by the time they finally scored.

That mix of timely defense and a plethora of Baylor scoring options (RayJ Dennis had 16 points, Ja’Kobe Walter had 15) made it too much for the Horns. When a team can score like Baylor (it was 53% from the field, 69% from deep and scored 1.32 points per possession), it’s a tough team to beat, as Rob Dauster notes.

There’s a reason for that, Rob. Baylor coach Scott Drew says the close losses and growth of the freshmen is finally starting to show some dividends.

“Coming back against Houston and not winning, coming back against Texas and winning, we’re seeing some growth,” Drew said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Not many people are starting two freshmen. Not many people are starting four newcomers. They’re no longer freshmen, they’re sophomores. All the new guys in the Big 12, they’ve earned their stripes and know what it’s about and are making progress.”

Then again, maybe it was just something that beloved senior Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua said.

Whatever the secret sauce is, it’s working. Baylor will close its regular season at Texas Tech on Saturday, while Texas hosts Oklahoma.

2. Dusty May to the Big Ten — but not Indiana?

As noted last week, Indiana is unlikely to part ways with Mike Woodson this offseason — which means the Hoosiers may miss their window to hire former IU manager Dusty May.

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