By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer
After a 21-point performance in the win over No. 14 West Virginia, Baylor men’s basketball’s sophomore guard Jared Butler earns the honor of Baylor Lariat Sports Athlete of the Weekend. Butler’s proficiency from the field played a big part in Baylor setting the Big 12 record win streak.
The hot shooting afternoon came with redshirt junior guard MaCio Teague out with a wrist injury. Butler said after the game Teague’s injury couldn’t affect his play.
“I told myself that I can’t change my game,” Butler said. “I can’t, try to force shots now that he’s not playing … so I just tried to still play my game, and Davion [Mitchell] found me a lot of times, and my teammates found me a lot of times and just hit the shot.”
Butler has been loaded with praise and accolades this season, from the NCAA Naismith Trophy Watchlist for the best player in men’s basketball to being picked No. 45 in Jonathan Givony’s most recent mock draft on ESPN.
Butler and the rest of the Bears will be back in action at 8 p.m. Tuesday against Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.
Honorable Mentions:
Softball’s Redshirt Senior RHP Gia Rodoni: Baylor’s ace finished the weekend with a 1.27 ERA with 34 strikeouts over 18.2 innings pitched in the last four games and was named to the Getterman Classic All-Tournament team.
Baseball’s Freshman Center Fielder Jared McKenzie: The newcomer hit .571 against Nebraska, going 8-for-14 in the opening series with three RBIs and 12 putouts on defense with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Track and Field’s Sophomore Pole Vaulter KC Lightfoot: The decorated sophomore regained the No. 1 spot in the NCAA standings when he broke his own school record for the second time this season with a 19-1 1/2 (5.83 meters) jump in the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa on Friday.
Men’s Tennis Junior Sven Lah: Ranked No. 25 in the ITA singles rankings and No. 17 in doubles along with senior Constantin Frantzen, Lah remains undefeated through 11 matches in both singles and doubles play.
