The Baylor men’s basketball team has risen to the challenge this year in the gauntlet that is Big 12 conference play.
Despite a few disappointing losses, they have managed to put together a team that not only works well together, but is exciting to watch.
One of the big keys to the Baylor Bears’ 2015-2016 campaign has been an improved point guard/shooting guard in senior Lester Medford.
Medford has improved in many ways this season. One of the first that stands out is scoring ability.
During the 2013-2014 season, Medford averaged 7.6 points per game.
This year, Medford has raised that to 9.5 points per game. With five games left to play, Medford is only 11 points shy of his total number of points scored last season.
He has also shown improvements on defense. During his junior year, Medford attained 51 steals. Right now, half-way through February, Medford has already gathered 50 steals with five games left to play in the regular season.
This increase in steals has been a big help for the Bears this season against high-caliber offenses like Iowa State and Kansas.
However, the area in which Medford has improved the most is the assists category. In the 2013-2014 season, Medford collected 106 assists.
During his senior campaign, Medford has already amassed 184 assists.
His distribution of the ball has opened up opportunities for a lot of different players to score, rather than forcing star players like senior forward Taurean Prince to constantly create their own shots.
After losing a productive Keny Chery last year, many people wondered how effective the Bears would be from the point guard position. Medford has continued to step up all season long and fill the gap that Chery left.
Although the Bears fate remains unknown, they can rest assured that they have a leader on offense and defense in Medford.
