Baylor Basketball: 2019-20 season review of the Bears

Highs and lows of the season

Beating Kansas… in Kansas.
This was something that has alluded Head Coach Scott Drew for 17 years, and the program… forever. The Baylor Bears had never traveled to Allen Fieldhouse and walked out handing the Kansas Jayhawks a defeat. Never. Is it a knock on Scott Drew or an ode to Bill Self? Only 12 teams now have won on James Naismith Court in the last 17 years under Self. But this year, not only did the Bears win but they won by double digits! Controlling the Jayhawks nearly the whole game, winning 67-55.

Winning a Big 12 Record, 23 straight games.
The Bears made Big 12 history this year breaking a record set by the Kansas Jayhawks in 1996-97. A record standing nearly 20 years, was snapped when the Bears took on the Sooners in Oklahoma, winning on the road 65-54. A moment that will likely be remembered for some time as even the 2007-08 National Champion Kansas Jayhawk’s couldn’t topple their own record with 20 straight wins.

Myrtle Beach Invitational Champions.
The Bears took on the 3-time National Champion, Villanova Wildcats in the Myrtle Beach Invitational Championship earlier this season. A one-possession game with about 5 minutes to go saw the Bears eventually pull away and beat Jay Wright’s Wildcats 87-78 in South Carolina. The Bears claimed yet another regular-season tournament title under Scott Drew, winning the 2019-20 Myrtle Beach Invitational.

Ending Butler’s winning streak.
Baylor and Butler clashed on December 10th. The teams on six and nine game-winning streaks, respectively. Both teams were climbing in rankings and polls since the season started, this win would cement the victor’s place in the Top 10. The Bears won a fantastic one-possession game in front of their home crowd, defeating the Bulldogs 53-52.

Hosting College GameDay.
Baylor hosted its first-ever basketball edition of ESPN’s College Gameday, after earlier hosting the show in the same school year for football becoming only the 9th school to do so. This is a huge leap for the school’s program as the showcase usually puts the matchup on the national radar and turns a regular-season game into “must-watch TV.” And that it was. The teams both ranked in the AP Top 3 and Baylor was riding the earlier mentioned 23-game winning streak, but the Kansas Jayhawks were seeking revenge after losing the also previously mentioned double-digit walloping at home.

What was one of the best games of the season was dominated by Wooden Award Player of the Year Finalist, Udoka Azubuike. A Baylor fan will tell you he was in foul trouble coming down the stretch leading to a Baylor advantage if the game had gone to overtime, but a loss is a loss. The Bears were defeated 64-61 ending the winning streak and thus later relinquishing the #1 ranking in the country. A bitter-sweet day in the end for the program left college hoops fans across the country joyous and hopeful. Most praying for a potential 3rd, or even 4th rematch between two of the nation’s best teams.

Washington and TCU.
Two low points in the season both came as three-point losses; one in early November to Washington, the other late in February to TCU. The loss in the Armed Forces Classic was heartbreaking to players and fans alike. The Bears led the game for 38 minutes but failed to close down the stretch vs a team that was loaded with NBA talent and at the time seen as a Pac 12 title contender. Luckily for Baylor fans, the team used this as a rallying tool and didn’t lose another game for, you guessed it, the next 23 in a row. The other 3-point stinger came on the road to the school’s rival, Texas Christian University. If the Bears could or would use this loss as another motivational tool come March will have to remain only in our imaginations.

Big 12 vs SEC Challenge.
My personal favorite was the only game I was able to attend in person this season. (I also had Final Four tickets, but we won’t get into that.) I traveled from the east coast to take a weekend vacation in the sunshine state! The Baylor vs Florida game was part of ESPN’s Big 12 vs SEC Challenge. Preseason, I had this game marked on the calendar as a potential Top 10, even Top 5 match-up. With hindsight, I was half-right and the half most wouldn’t have bet on.

Florida struggled just outside the AP Top 25 for most of the season but showed flashes of talent that led most to believe this was a Top 5 team in the preseason. Florida came out hot to start the game, in front of a very loud crowd that wanted to topple the number 1 team in the country. It would’ve been the spark Gator Nation needed to reignite such high preseason expectations.

Scottie Lewis had a great game and is a player that I think will lead them to an even better season next year, as he recently announced he will be staying in Gainesville for at least another season. Deciding not to declare for the NBA Draft at the conclusion of the season. But, the Bears made their way out of ‘The Swamp’ alive! Claiming yet another convincing double-digit victory, on the road, on national television. Winning 72-61.