Kansas State holds off Baylor in Hoops

Often when things are over-hyped (see SuperBowl many years) the end result is less than pleasing. That was definitely not the case at Baylor University's Ferrell Center Tuesday night when 11th ranked Kansas State squeezed past 24th ranked Baylor in men's basketball.

The game was the first ever in the 21 years of Ferrell Center between two teams both ranked in the top 25. That doesn't say much for the overall history of Baylor basketball during that period, but it won't be anywhere close to taking another 21 years. Scott Drew has built the Baylor program to the point that being ranked every year is not out of line. He has been able to recruit well and coupled with his actual coaching skills has the most successful of Baylor's revenue sports.

This is Texas and Baylor fans are still more concerned over the fate of the football team than Drew's men or even the women's program that has a National Championship banner hanging in the rafters.

At halftime of the telecast carried on FS Houston and FS Southwest I had a conversation with Baylor quarterback, Robert Griffin, who is coming back this fall from major knee surgery. Robert says he will probably take is easy during spring practice but is figuring on being 100 per cent by fall. That is great news but doesn't change the fact that Baylor football will never be consistently among the top teams in the Big 12, let alone ranked nationally.

The men's and women's basketball teams are there now and figure to be for quite some time.

BEARS DID LOSE ON TUESDAY

Now, all of this praise for the program does come after a home loss to Kansas State on Tuesday night. But it was a dandy of a game with the 11th ranked Wildcats winning with the three point shot and not the foul shot. K-State leads the nation in free throw attempts. Baylor took that away from them, but left open the three point line. Jacob Pullen took advantage by hitting six of seven three pointers and the Wildcats hit 11-21 overall. Baylor which is a national leader with a .410 percentage from long range was pushed off its game. They hit only 3 of 14.

Baylor top scorer Lacedarius Dunn was shut down by a very tight Kansas State defense. Normally good for about 19 points per game he was held to just nine on 3-13 shooting.

Even so, the final score of 76-74 was that close thanks to the work of Tweety Carter who scored 23 points to go with four assists and three steals. Baylor also held its own on the boards actually pulling in more offensive rebounds than the Wildcats, one of the nation's leaders in that department.

Kansas State led most of the way, but the largest lead was only six and that was for a brief instance in the second half.

Basketball still has a way to go to capture the fans like it already does more heavily north of the Red River. The game was not a sellout. Attendance was listed at 8833. That is OK, but not what Scott Drew's program needs or deserves.

Take my word for it from a guy who grew up in basketball mad Indiana. This Baylor team and the Big 12 in general is top notch in hoops. It is definitely not just a football league.