Baylor basketball had a disappointing season last year, finishing 17-17. Now, they head into the regular season with hope of being great after two impressive exhibition wins. The two wins came against #1 Florida and #3 Illinois, which has to have Baylor fans feeling good about this team. The question now becomes whether or not they can carry this momentum into the regular season with this new-look Bears team.
Baylor Basketball Guard Kayden Mingo Looks Impressive
Kayden Mingo played 39 of the 40 minutes and finished with 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. This is even more impressive because he was able to do this against the #1 Florida Gators. He made 9 of his 15 shot attempts and made two three-pointers. His ability to draw fouls was huge too, as he shot 15 free throws, converting 11 of them. He controlled the game and led Baylor to an impressive 82-76 win over the Gators.
Mingo followed up his impressive game against Florida with 24 points against #3 Illinois. In this game, he made 9 of his 20 shot attempts and only made two of six from three. He only got to the foul line four times, converting all four of them. She is capable of attacking the paint and scoring while also being able to knock down threes. He can get to the free-throw line but can also score without them. He is going to be huge for Scott Drew’s Baylor team.
Baylor Has a Deep Team
Coach Drew said, “We have more depth than we had the last couple of years”. This could not be more true. Against Illinois, Isaac Williams IV added 28 points to Mingo’s 31, and they also had two 15-point scores. Against Florida, it was the brother of Kayden Mingo, Dylan Mingo, who provided help with 12 points. Williams also had 15 points in that one, proving to be a reliable second option.
For college teams, having multiple scoring options is important. This is a good sign for Baylor before the season even starts. They clearly have a deep team now and a team that is capable of competing with anyone. Mingo will probably be the consensus number one option, but they have a few different players that can step into the second option role on any given night. This puts the Bears in a great situation with the regular season approaching.
Exhibition Success to the Regular Season
They still need to figure stuff out with their defense. One game they held Florida to 76 points, and the next, Illinois scored 91. That is the biggest issue shown with them. The defensive consistency is the main thing that the Bears need to be working on. The defense will get better as the season goes on, especially with Coach Drew.
The other thing that needs to be worked on is the lack of frontcourt scoring. The majority of the Bears’ points have come from the guards. They need some type of balance; the guards can’t be relied upon to get every point. The frontcourt will start being tested if people notice that the guards are the only ones scoring.
There’s no doubt that these exhibition wins have caused optimism. It should; these are two impressive wins against two top-three teams. Baylor fans should be feeling amazing right now. All that’s left now is to see if they can carry this success to the actual season. We’re a few days away from the season starting, and Baylor will get their chance to show that this is no fluke.
Baylor Basketball Has a Reason to Believe After Two Major Wins