Baylor Basketball: Bears hold off a furious Wisconsin comeback to win

Despite holding a 19-point lead in the second half, Baylor basketball allowed Wisconsin to fight back and almost take the victory before holding them off.

This was an up-and-down game for anyone who watched it. Even though Baylor led the game for 38:21 of the 40 total minutes, it seemed like they never had it in firm control. Even when the Bears took a 19-point lead with 11 minutes left to go in the game, there was a glimmer of hope that the Badgers would be able to make a run. And make a run they did.

After falling down 19, Wisconsin exploded for a 21-4 run over the next 8:42 to cut the Baylor lead to just 57-55. From there, though, the Bears were finally able to respond and score on their own. Baylor head coach Scott Drew put the ball in the hands of his star point guard Manu Lecomte and he did not disappoint. While only holding onto that two-point lead, Lecomte then went on a personal 5-0 run to extend the lead back to seven.

While Baylor continued to pull away in the final minute, it was Lecomte doing all of the damage. He scored 10 of Baylor’s last 13 points while finishing with 24 on the game. As per usual, Lecomte’s ability to consistently knock down free throws is what helped Baylor pull out of this game. He knocked down 13 of his 15 free throw attempts on the night with the majority of them coming in crunch time.

For Baylor, this will go down as a very solid neutral site win against a good Wisconsin team. They leaned heavily on the play of Jo Lual-Acuil, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, as well as the previously mentioned Lecomte. In addition, their team 3-point shooting was solid all night long, hitting on six of their 13 attempts (46%).

Wisconsin Badgers Basketball

Wisconsin, on the other hand, will see this as a missed opportunity. Although coming back from 19 down was certainly encouraging, they once again struggled without a go-to scorer along the perimeter in the final two minutes. On the defensive end of the floor, they were forced to foul Lecomte, one of the best free throw shooters in the country, down the stretch and he did his damage.

For games like this to not become the norm for the Badgers, they will need somebody to step up and be a consistent secondary scorer next to Ethan Happ (23 points, 13 rebounds) for all 40 minutes. We have seen flashes of scoring ability from several different players in the early going of this season, but one of them needs to develop that consistency to be a go-to perimeter scorer. This may have been just his fourth collegiate game, but that guy looks to be freshman guard Brad Davison (13 points in 26 minutes).

Next: Previewing the PK80 Victory Bracket

Both of these teams have things to work on over the course of the season and we can expect to see both Wisconsin and Baylor in the NCAA Tournament come March. Despite some of the bumps they may have along the way, these teams are consistent performers who always seem to find a way on the bracket. While Wisconsin may settle near the top-to-middle portion of the Big Ten, look for Baylor to be sitting behind Kansas in the Big 12 for the majority of the season.

Next up for Baylor (4-0): The Bears face Creighton on Nov. 21 next.

Next up for Wisconsin (2-2): The Badgers face UCLA on Nov. 21 next.