Texas A&M vs Baylor Basketball Recap

Texas A&M 78, Baylor 71

There's still a month of basketball left to play before names get called on Selection Sunday, but if any Big 12 team turned itself from a bubble-licious bunch into a likely NCAA Tournament participant, it's Texas A&M.

Yes, coach Mark Turgeon's Aggies have done a lot over the past week to elevate their place in the conference. Three days after going into Columbia, Mo., and stopping Missouri's 32-game home-court winning streak, the assemblage of athletes from A&M bested Baylor on Saturday afternoon in College Station. The seven-point success story at Reed Arena gives the Aggies two quality wins and an increasingly prominent place in the league's standings. The bubble in the Big 12 is still quite expansive, but with Oklahoma State, Missouri and (yes) Baylor trying to decide what kinds of teams they want to be, A&M is banking a great deal of "conference cash" in America's Heartland.

This victory - which will carry a lot of mileage in the weeks ahead - was built on the back of the Aggies' considerable resilience.

Scott Drew had his Bears ready to go in this road game. The group from Waco stormed to a 26-14 lead in the first 13-plus minutes, and although the Aggies made a furious charge at the start of the second half, Baylor was able to stitch together a number of high-level offensive possessions to grab a 55-48 advantage with 9:52 left in regulation. The Aggies expended a lot of energy to regain competitive balance, so when Baylor countered midway through the second half, A&M's prospects looked bleak.

But Turgeon's troops just kept pushing, and eventually the Bears' defenses broke down.

A&M created two separate scoring droughts for the visitors from Waco, Tex. A three-minute, 40-second dry spell enabled A&M to slash that 55-48 deficit to just two points (at 57-55) with 5:40 remaining. Then, with 4:26 to go, the home team struck paydirt against its green-shirted opponent.

A supremely telling indication of basketball dominance occurs when a team is able to get foul shots on demand in a non-endgame situation. Drawing fouls - even when an opposing defense is expecting strong moves to the basket - showcases the ability to outwork and outmaneuver an adversary. From the 4:26 mark until the 2:35 mark of regulation, this is how Bears-Aggies developed.

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Two foul shots for A&M forward Bryan Davis. Baylor missed jump shot. Two foul shots for Davis (again). Baylor turnover. Two foul shots for A&M guard Donald Sloan. Baylor missed jump shot. Two foul shots for Sloan (again).

That's right: In under two minutes, the Aggies gained foul shots on four separate possessions and made all eight of them, while Baylor settled for jumpers and lost control of this backyard battle in the Lone Star State. Suddenly, the home team grabbed a 69-64 edge and carried it to the finish line.

That's a ballsy brand of basketball... the kind of crunch-time steel that has Texas A&M in line for an NCAA Tournament bid, barring a major slide in the coming weeks.

By: Matt Zemek
Big 12 Fans Staff Writer