Five Thoughts on Baylor’s 76-60 Win Over Oklahoma State

For about 25 of 40 minutes on Monday night, Oklahoma State looked like it may have the goods to go toe-to-toe with Baylor in Waco.

The last 15 minutes, though, was proof that the eyes can be a bit deceiving.

The Bears held a 32-33 lead with 14:27 remaining in the second half as they clung to life on their home floor. But from that point Scott Drew’s team (and basically, Manu Lecomte) put their foot on the gas and didn’t let up, as they would finish the game on a 43-28 run to grind OSU to a pulp and snag their second Big 12 win in the process.

I have thoughts. So let’s get to those, shall we?

1. Brandon Averette as Mike Boynton’s go-to guy

I could maybe write five thoughts on this point alone, but it’s pretty telling that second-year man Brandon Averette — and not grad transfer Kendall Smith — is the player who has emerged as Mike Boynton’s go-to point man.

Averette played 24 minutes, Smith played 16, and the latter had twice the turnovers than the former.

Averette’s a hustler on both ends of the floor who empties the tank each night. Smith, meanwhile, has a tendency to jack shots up and get out of his world. I think you know, generally, what you’ve got with Averette: a bust-your-butt guard who (mostly) makes the right decisions. He won’t wow you with athleticism or burst into the open court, but he’s a serviceable starter.

The problem is that Smith, when he’s in the groove, has the higher upside of the two in my opinion. Yes, he’s inconsistent. And no, he’s not a particularly good shooter. But what he does well — running the break, making guys miss in space, slashing lanes, etc. — is what Big 12 caliber guards who win big in this league do on a nightly basis. For him, it’s not materialized. But if it ever does (and for Boynton’s sake, let’s hope it clicks soon), OSU could have a really solid 1-2 punch at PG.

For now, though, OSU has one undersized starting PG and a slightly overqualified backup PG. That’s not going to win you many games in this conference.

2. Another guard had a career night

Death, taxes, and random guards going off for career-highs against Oklahoma State.

Fire Glenn Spencer!

No, but really, Manu Lecomte had 30 points — 25 of which came in the final frame — which ultimately doomed the Pokes late. For context, here’s a real second half statistic:

Points scored: Manu Lecomte: 25, OSU: 33.

He was the difference for Baylor and in the game.

“I have to go back and watch the film. However, it started with Manu Lecomte,” said Mike Boynton. “He got going and he hadn’t been shooting the ball well but credit to him for being a competitor and I’m sure he has continued to work hard. He is a really good player and today he led his team to a victory.”

Manu Lecomte, are you kidding? ??

The senior went off for 30, including 7/12 from 3, in @BaylorMBB's home win over Oklahoma State.
⬇️ ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/l4Tz0rwnwP

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 16, 2018

3. Stagnated offense

Baylor played mostly zone defense on Monday, the counter of which is simple: ball movement and knocking down long balls.

Neither of those was in OSU’s system. The Pokes hit just 5 of 18 3-point attempts and mustered a combined 10 assists; that’s fewer than Trae Young is averaging as an individual this season!

“I mean until that last basket you know I looked up and we have nine assists and against a team that plays primarily zone that means we are not in a good flow offensively,” Boynton explained of OSU’s troubles to move the ball and score. “Then you have to force shots playing one-on-one. It’s not going to be very good for us. So, I have to adjust that as a coach and then I’ve got to make my players execute better.”

Going back to thought one, I kind of think OSU is what it is at this point right now. Jawun Evans isn’t walking through the door and unless the team changes identity and adapts to a share-the-ball style of play a la Golden State midseason, I think more nights will end in similar fashion as the one on Monday. Which means more nights are going to end in disappointment than jubilation.

4. Jeffrey Carroll is the difference between L’s and W’s

By no means do I intend for that headline to come out harshly, but frankly put, OSU tends to win when Jeff Carroll is good, and tends to lose when he’s not.

Here’s his PPG stats in wins vs. losses this season.

• Losses: 11.1 PPG

• Wins: 18.7 PPG

It’s not exactly a novel concept that teams go as their best player, but in this particular case, I think the level of inconsistency is going to continue to haunt OSU. Carroll finished with just 8 points on 2 of 12 shooting against Baylor and, perhaps in line with the rest of OSU’s offense, looked out of rhythm most of the night. I don’t know if that’s a side effect of point guard play not being up to snuff or if the lack of ball movement is giving defenses time to clamp down on Clip, but I know that streaky play seems to be more than just an anomaly at this point.

Here’s to hoping Bedlam on Saturday is a positive anomaly.

5. Crime dog breakout

We’ve seen how good OSU can be when Jeff Carroll is OSU’s best player (pretty good). And we’ve seen how good OSU can be when Brandon Averette is OSU’s best player (pretty good against ORU). But how good can OSU be when Cameron McGriff is OSU’s best player?

Monday wasn’t a good indication, I don’t think, but the Crime Dog was OSU’s most consistent offensive force. He scored a team-high 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting to lead the way, and personally, I’d absolutely like to see him take on a more prominent role in the offense.

Right now the Pokes offense is ?? for Carroll to get hot and ?? for Shine to hit 3s. But maybe a patch-fix in between the ?? might be getting McGriff’s mid-range game flowing and daring defenses to respect the interior and open up the 3-point line. It’s my way of saying can we ?? get more Dizzy long range missiles?

• Brandon Averette got the nod at point guard to start the game vs. Baylor for a second consecutive game. Still think Kendall Smith is probably the player with higher upside, but also the most erratic. Boynton going with his Steady Eddie is really interesting — and so far, semi-smart. Curious to see if Smith is up for the challenge.

• Maybe this comes off as prisoner of the moment-y, but I’ve never been more confident about an outside shot going in from any player in OSU history than I am when Thomas Dziagwa lets one loose from deep.

• This game will give SEC truthers across the country all the ammunition in the world to hate on Big 12 offenses.

• The Yankuba Sima experience is almost 100 percent delightful. But a stat line of 1 point, 5 turnovers, and 3 fouls … is certainly not. Still yet, I love his game. And when he’s snagging 10 rebounds and stuffing 3 blocks per contest, I think you take what you can get and hope for more good than bad.

• How different would this season be for OSU if Jawun Evans wasn’t in a Clipper uniform and was donning the orange and black?

• Related note: The bottom of the Big 12 is better than it has been in years past, but this team + Jawun feels like it could be a fifth place finisher. Hopefully that’s the impetus for the staff to snag a big time PG for 2018.

• Baylor went 8 of 13 down the stretch from 3 and shot 52 percent from the field. That’s a losing recipe.