Earlier in the week, three nights before Baylor took the court Friday in South Dakota, Scott Drew’s Bears allowed Marquette to shoot 58.3% from the field in a 96-70 loss that raised real concerns about their defense and frontcourt depth. It was a troubling development considering up next was a neutral-court showdown with Gonzaga, which ranks No. 1 in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com, and is led by Drew Timme, arguably the best frontcourt scorer in the country.
Would the Zags also shoot above 50%?
Would Timme get 25-plus points?
Those were reasonable questions to ask in advance of tipoff. But then tipoff came and went, Baylor looked like a different team defensively pretty much from the jump, Timme struggled to get anything going, and the Bears closed on an 8-0 run in the final 93 seconds to upset the Zags 64-63.
Gonzaga only shot 36.1% from the field against Baylor. Timme was limited to a season-low nine points. He finished with more fouls (five) than field goals (three). It was an impressive effort from Baylor.
So now the Bears are up to No. 13 in Saturday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Gonzaga is down to No. 14. And because I don’t want Baylor ahead of the Marquette team that just smoked the Bears, nor do I want Marquette ahead of the Mississippi State team that’s undefeated with a win over the Golden Eagles, I’ve made Mississippi State and Marquette No. 11 and No. 12, respectfully, in the Top 25 And 1. All that movement — combined with Maryland jumping to No. 10 after Friday night’s 71-66 win over Illinois that pushed the Terrapins to 8-0 with three victories over top-45 KenPom teams — caused Kentucky, Arizona, Tennessee, Kansas, Duke and Iowa State to…
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