By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
Baylor failed to shake off the Tuesday morning fog in Kansas City, Mo., falling to Arizona State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, 83-79. The loss eliminates the Bears from the tournament and effectively drops their odds of an NCAA Tournament appearance to zero.
“I’m appreciative of how the guys continued to improve throughout the season,” head coach Scott Drew said. “I think this whole season speaks to how difficult roster construction is now and to how tough the Big 12 is as a conference.”
The Bears (16-16, 6-12 Big 12) came out noticeably slow against the Sun Devils (17-15, 7-11 Big 12), starting 5-for-18 on their early attempts from the floor. The 11:30 a.m. tipoff seemed to have gotten the better of the Bears, as they repeatedly fell back to sleep on rotations at the top of the key, allowing Arizona State’s starters to go 4-for-9 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Shot selection was not a strong suit for the Bears early in the game, as feeding redshirt sophomore Cameron Carr seemed to be the only thing thing that worked. The All-Big 12 honoree scored 15 points on eight attempts in the first half.
Turnovers proved a continued struggle for the Bears in the opening game of the tournament, as the Bears gave up seven in the first half. The lack of ball control was capped off by a miscommunication involving freshman center James Nnaji, who allowed an inbounds pass late in the first half to bounce off his forehead and into the Sun Devil bench.
At the close of the first half, the Bears trailed 44-35, looking down the barrel of an early end to their season. The Sun Devils rifled the Bears from the floor, shooting 61.3% from the field and 42.9% from the 3-point line.
“Credit to Arizona State, because they came out hard and shot the ball really well,” Drew said. “Defensively we weren’t as sharp as we need to be, but at the end of the day they made shots.”
The second half for the Bears began about the same as the first. Poor shot selection and flat defense allowed Arizona State to maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the remaining game.
With 13 minutes left in the battle, freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou found the bottom of the bucket on four straight shots, cutting the Arizona State lead to 67-64. The shortened gap didn’t last long, as the Sun Devils proceeded to go on an 11-0 run.
The gap proved too much for the Bears to fight back from, as they were unable to overcome the 10-point lead. That is, until fifth-year guard Obi Agbim hit a three with under a minute left.
Carr followed Agbim’s only bucket of the game with a trifecta of free throws after drawing a foul on a 3-pointer. The too-little, too-late push by the Bears was enough to cut the final score to 83-79.
Tuesday’s loss in Kansas City may mark the end of the season for the Bears, with invites for the College Basketball Crown and NIT still pending conference tournament results.
