The Cats are coming off their most impressive performance of the season after beating Providence 79-65, a game which saw Willie Cauley-Stein morph into Anthony Davis for one night. Stein ended that game with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 9 blocks. Yes you read that correctly, 9 BLOCKS on the night. The Cats will need more of that type of effort from Willie if they expect to have a good showing against their next opponent, Baylor.
Baylor comes into this match-up with a record of 7-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of Syracuse by a score of 74-67.
It's time to take a look at some highlights of the Baylor Bears to get you geared up for tomorrow nights match-up in Texas….
EST: 1845
ENROLLMENT: 15,195
LOCATION: Waco, Texas USA
COLORS: Green/Gold
NICKNAME: Bears
MASCOT: Bruiser
CONFERENCE: Big 12
NOTABLE ALUMNI:
Willie Nelson- Yes, the country singer and song writer
Robert Griffin III (RG3)- Washington Redskins quarterback
Britney Griner- WNBA
Here's a look at how the Cats and the Bears stack up against one another…
The Game By The Numbers:
BU UK
PPG: 78 85
RPG: 41 47
APG: 16 13
SPG: 5 5
BPG: 6 8
TPG: 14 13
FG%: 50 48
FT%: 66 68
3P%: 44 31
Baylor is a very good three point shooting team, proven by their 44% average from deep. This will be another good test for the Cats as perimeter defense is something that they have been working on in practice the last few days. The focal point of the perimeter defense Friday night will no doubt be Brady Heslip who shoots the three-ball at a 52% clip on the season. For those who thinks that 52% clip is a fluke, go back and watch some Baylor game tape from last season. This kid can flat-out fill it up from outside and will be a true test for whoever is tasked with guarding him.
SERIES HISTORY:
The Cats and Bears have met eight time in history with Kentucky holding a 7-1 record over the Bears. Baylor's only win in the series came last season when the Bears came into Rupp and defeated the Cats by a score of 64-55. The Cats and Bears have met twice in NCAA tournament history with the first being in the 1948 NCAA Championship game with Kentucky winning 58-42. The only other NCAA Tournament match-up between the two schools came in 2012 when the Cats defeated Baylor 82-70 in the South Regional final on their way to the 2012 National Championship…
THOUGHTS ON THE GAME:
This will be an interesting match-up for Kentucky. It presents another team who can shoot it from deep and in another strange venue as the Cats will travel to Texas and play in the Dallas Cowboys stadium ( Not sure of the actual name of the arena and couldn't care less. Don't know anything about the NFL and don't want to) So it should be interesting to see how this young team responds to an arena like the one they're about to play in. It's safe to say that none of them have ever played in a setting quite like this. The upside is, the Dallas Cowboys stadium just also happens to be the site of the Final Four this year.
The game will be Friday night at 10pm on ESPN……..
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