No. 8 Baylor may have lost by 38 points in its season opener, but there’s no doubt the Bears will be ready when they take on the No. 16 Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday at American Dallas Airlines Center.
It’s worth pointing out that the team on the other end of this blowout loss for Baylor was the No. 6 Gonzaga Bulldogs, who shot 57.1 percent from the field as a team, totaled 25 assists and dominated the Bears, 45-32. .
As for the Razorbacks, they picked up a 76-60 victory over what will end up being a good mid-level Lipscomb team. The Hogs saw their 15-point lead dwindle to just four with less than eight minutes left in the game, then went on a 16-4 run to end the game.
VIDEO: Calipari, post-game players – Arkansas 76, Lipscomb 60
It’s safe to say that neither team put in the performance they wanted in their respective opening matches, but only one got the desired result. It will be much harder for Arkansas to be on the winning side next time around, as the Bears will be extremely hungry to play much better.
“We know they’re a better team than that,” Arkansas guard Johnell Davis said Wednesday. “We know they’re going to try to fight, so we have to stay on guard.”
Baylor had a 24-11 overall record last season and the Bears lost to Clemson in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This marked Baylor’s third straight second-round exit following its national championship season in 2020-21 that included an Elite Eight victory over Arkansas.
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Head coach Scott Drew is in his 22nd season with the Bears, who have been ranked in 96 of the last 97 AP polls. Drew is 3-1 as coach against Arkansas, and his team is 32-17 against ranked teams over the last four seasons, including a 16-8 away record.
Drew was considered a top candidate for the open Kentucky job when John Calipari left for Arkansas in the offseason.
“He never called me,” Calipari said Wednesday after the win over Lipscomb. “We haven’t talked. Again, seeing what Mark Pope is doing, good for him. Good for him. (Kentucky is) a program that deserves this. Scott has done an incredible job at Baylor and s probably felt comfortable there. Why does (he) go into this hornet’s nest?”
Calipari knows what it’s like to lose at Gonzaga, as his Kentucky team also made the trip to Spokane, Washington, during the 2022-23 season and the Wildcats suffered an 88-72 loss.
“We were down by half,” Calipari said. “We came back, we made a little play of it, but they just put us in the dirt. I didn’t watch that (Baylor-Gonzaga) game. Too late. I was in bed, but I’m going to watch and find out what. , Mark Few, he did it I think he was probably running it dead I got some easy baskets.
“So they’re probably in the same boat as us. We’re trying to figure out, collectively, how can we do this together? How do you really play for your teammate? How do you make the game easy for your other? What if you put up a really good screen? What if you posted it where he can catch it?
“How about a pick and roll? They go under it every time. Then tilt it. So they go down there, we shoot a two, not a stepback three. We’ll shoot both. That’s it is a high percentage for us. If you’re shooting two at 60%, that’s a high percentage. Then he’s sinking on a guy.
ALSO READ: Razorback Freshman Report – Fland leads all scorers against Lipscomb
Baylor is a team that has nine new faces this season, headlined by five-star freshman VJ Edgecombe, who is the Bears’ fourth straight preseason Big 12 freshman. Edgecombe scored just four points and recorded seven rebounds in the loss to Gonzaga.
Four-star freshman forward Jason Asemota of Glendale, Ariz., and fellow four-star freshman Robert Wright III join Edgecombe as freshmen players with plenty of potential. Wright had 12 points and six assists for Gonzaga in 30 minutes of action.
Notably missing from the lineup was redshirt junior guard Langston Love, who has shined at times but has been riddled with injuries throughout his career. Love was averaging 11.0 points per game before a leg injury last season, and that was the most among Big 12 players with zero starts.
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Miami transfer Norchad Omier, who began his career at Arkansas State, was a solid pickup during the offseason and he led the team with 15 points and nine rebounds against the Bulldogs. Duke transfer Jeremy Roach started at guard in the opener, as did former VCU transfer Jayden Nunn, who averaged 11.3 points per game last season in 13 games after Love was injured.
Roach was named Big 12 co-newcomer of the year, in addition to being voted to the preseason All-Big 12 second team, along with Omier.
The talent on Baylor’s roster is much better than what the final score from its first game showed. Almost everyone knows it, including the Razorbacks.
“I mean, usually when a team loses by 30 points, you know they’re hungry for the next game,” Arkansas forward Zvonimir Ivisic said Wednesday. “So it’s going to be a good match. We’ll see.”
The Razorbacks and Bears are scheduled to tip off Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
