Tag: Baylor Basketball

Fran Fraschilla’s genuine shock at Kansas blowing a historic lead spoke volumes

Yikes.

No. 11 Kansas men’s basketball seemingly had Baylor on the ropes until it blew the biggest lead in program history (21 points) on Saturday while on the road.

ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla was in genuine shock to see the Jayhawks falter in such a major way after having such a commanding lead, and his reaction probably spoke for many at home watching this bizarre collapse.

“This is unbelievable!” Fraschilla exclaimed on the broadcast to partner Jon Sciambi, as it really was unbelievable to see Kansas falter down the stretch in such epic fashion.

The Jayhawks have such an established history of excellence, but Saturday’s game will most likely be quickly forgotten by Kansas fans for plenty of reasons. It was a rough one.

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Is Brittney Griner the best comparison for Lauren Betts?

If Lauren Betts wants to make a Brittney Griner comparison more legitimate, there is one very big thing she can do.

When watching great athletes, it’s easy as fans to think of other great players they remind you of. With UCLA center Lauren Betts’ unique blend of size and skill, there are not many college basketball players or WNBA players that are great comparisons for Betts. However, Howard Megdal of The IX Sports called former Baylor center Brittney Griner as the “last player with a profile anything like Betts.” Megdal added that Griner wasn’t as “efficient or skilled an offensive player as Betts is at this point in her collegiate career.” That is awfully high praise, considering Griner was a two-time AP Player of the Year and was an NCAA champion in her time with the Bears.

In terms of efficiency, Betts holds up well against Griner, who was absolutely dominant at Baylor from 2009-2013 before heading to the WNBA, where she has been an All-WNBA player six times. Griner was elite from the very beginning of her college career, averaging 18.4 points per game as a freshman. She led the country with 6.4 blocks per game. Betts is set to have the best season in program history at blocking shots, but she’s still at just 2.8.

After her freshman season, Griner proceeded to average close to 23 points per game over the next three seasons, Betts is having a career-best season, scoring at 20 points per game.

The case could be made that Betts would have a higher scoring output if she was surrounded by less talent, but Griner did so while being able to win a national title, something Betts and the Bruins have yet to do.

If Lauren Betts really wants to make the Brittney Griner comparison work, she needs to go win a national championship at UCLA.

Lauren Betts sets new UCLA record with nine blocks in win over Baylor

Lauren Betts’ defense, even more than her offense, made everything happen for UCLA in the MLK Day win over Baylor.

Lauren Betts once again showed on Monday why she should be in contention for the Naismith Women’s College Player of the Year, dominating Baylor to help move UCLA to 18-0 on the season.

Betts matched a program-record with seven blocks against Penn State on Wednesday. That wasn’t enough for the 6’7” junior. Betts set a new record with nine blocks for the Bruins on Monday. Betts put together the historic performance in front of a national audience, with the win over Baylor being shown on Fox. 

The officials allowed a physical game, which worked to Betts’ favor as the largest player on the court. The physicality turned each trip through the paint into a battle for positioning. Betts won the battle, collecting 24 points and nine rebounds in the 72-57 UCLA win. 

On the season, Betts is now averaging a clean 20.0 points per game along with 9.9 rebounds. She is fifth in the country with 2.81 blocks.

Betts went 10-17 from the field but only 4-9 from the free throw line. She did commit five turnovers in the win, but that’s something UCLA can live with when she blocks nine shots. 

Baylor shot a putrid 27.5% from the field, down from its season average of 45.8%. While Betts was denying shots left-and-right in the paint, guards Kiki Rice and Londynn Jones applied full-court pressure to wear out Baylor’s ballhandlers. 

Betts’ matchup, Baylor senior center Aaronette Vonleh, scored just two points before fouling out. Vonleh entered the game averaging over 14 points per game before being blanketed by Betts in the post on Monday. 

No. 1 UCLA, Lauren Betts pull away from Baylor to remain unbeaten

Lauren Betts against Baylor — 24 points, 9 rebounds, 9 blocked shots. That is superstar-level stuff for the Bruins and their best player. UCLA is 18-0.

The UCLA women’s basketball team stayed unbeaten with a win over a ranked opponent on Martin Luther King Day. The Bruins and superstar Lauren Betts notched a 72-57 victory over the No. 25 Baylor Bears. No. 1 UCLA moved to 18-0 on the season with the win, extending the best start to a season in program history. 

The Bears couldn’t figure out the Bruins’ defense on Monday, shooting a rough 27.5% from the field. One of the main reasons Baylor kept it as close as it did was a large number of UCLA turnovers. The Bruins turned the ball over 18 times, which led to 26 points off turnovers for Baylor.

UCLA got off to a terrific start in the first quarter, opening the game on a 17-2 run before heading to the second period up 19-9. Baylor would win the second quarter 20-18 but still trailed 37-29 at the half. Lauren Betts broke the game open in the third quarter, dominating on both sides to give the Bruins breathing room. 

Baylor had no one to handle Betts while posting up offensively. The Bears were unable to work around Betts, who set a new program single-game block record with nine. Betts added 24 points and nine rebounds in the win.

Betts wasn’t alone, however, in propelling UCLA to victory. Junior Kiki Rice had a strong game as she returned home to the East Coast. She scored 15 points on just seven shots from the field. Rice and junior Londynn Jones provided constant pressure to the Bears’ guards as they brought the ball up the floor, making everything difficult for Baylor. 

UCLA will spend a few days in New Jersey as it awaits a matchup against Rutgers on Thursday.

UCLA to honor Martin Luther King Jr.’s late wife on MLK Day vs Baylor

UCLA vs Baylor is part of the Coretta Scott King Classic on MLK Day.

Two of the top teams in the country will meet in New Jersey on Monday. The unbeaten UCLA Bruins head across the country to face the Baylor Bears in the Coretta Scott King Classic. UCLA looks to move to 18-0 and extend the best start to a season in program history. 

UCLA will honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his late wife, Coretta, this MLK Day. UCLA-Baylor will be the early game in this year’s Coretta Scott King Classic, having a noon Pacific time tip-off, with No. 7 Texas facing No. 8 Maryland in the second game in Newark on Monday. 

While Baylor is not the juggernaut it has been in the past, the Bears still sit at 16-3 on the season. The Bears have won five straight games heading into Monday’s matchup that features two of the top 17 teams in the country in terms of scoring margin. UCLA is No. 4 with a margin of 29.4 per game. Baylor is No. 17 with an average margin of 23.5.

With UCLA possessing the defensively dominant Lauren Betts, the Bruins may challenge Baylor to knock down shots from the perimeter, which isn’t the Bears’ strong suit. Baylor is averaging just 7.42 made threes per game while shooting only 33.6% on threes as a team this season. 

Betts will likely match up with Baylor’s senior center Aaronette Vonleh, Baylor’s second leading scorer at 14.2 points per game. Vonleh’s average is just behind junior forward Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, who is at 14.5 points per game. While Vonleh and Littlepage-Buggs lead the Bears’ scoring attack, Baylor has six players currently averaging double-figure scoring, giving the Bruins’ defense plenty to gameplan for. 

Baylor, UCLA’s next opponent, is trying to return to basketball’s top tier

Baylor should give UCLA a good, tough test on Monday afternoon in Newark, New Jersey.

UCLA women’s basketball is heading out to New Jersey on Monday to face Baylor. The game will be in Newark at 3 p.m. Eastern time, noon Pacific time, on January 20. The game will be televised by Fox Sports. When UCLA faces Baylor, it is not facing the national championship-level powerhouse of past years, but it is facing a good, solid team.

Baylor became a superpower and a national championship program under former coach Kim Mulkey, who then went to LSU and won a national championship with the Tigers down in Baton Rouge. Baylor, since Mulkey’s departure, has not collapsed as a program. The Bears have been very good. They made the Sweet 16 last season and gave USC a very tough battle before narrowly falling short.

This season, Baylor has stacked a lot of wins. The Bears entered this week 14-3, 4-1 in the Big 12, before their recent game against Utah on Tuesday night. The Bears are very much in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid. They are likely to get in, having been projected by ESPN one week ago as a No. 7 seed. They’re not a lock, but they are in good shape.

This game against Baylor should be a rugged and legitimately good test of where UCLA women’s basketball stands in the middle of the 2024-2025 season.

UCLA women’s basketball prepares for “taxing” road trip

Cori Close talked about the challenge this upcoming 3-game road trip will pose to her UCLA women’s basketball team.

After moving to 17-0 earlier this week, the No. 1 UCLA Bruins will hit the road for a three-game roadstand coach Cori Close called “taxing” in her media availability on Friday. 

“It is going to be a taxing trip,” Close said to reporters. “We’ve been knowing this was going to happen for a long time and we’re prepared for it. It’s a choice. You have to pre-decide that we are lucky to compete, we’re ready and we’re going to make the most of every opportunity.”

The trip begins with a game against Baylor in New Jersey on Monday before a pair of Big Ten matchups against Rutgers and Maryland on Thursday and Sunday. Baylor’s 15-3 on the season. It’ll be a challenge for the Bruins after UCLA had to battle to hold off Penn State on Wednesday. 

“They’re a really good team and they’re playing really well,” Close said of Baylor. “We’re very attentive to what Baylor is doing and how well they’re playing right now.”

After a turbulent week in Los Angeles, the Bruins will be leaving town for a week before returning home on Groundhog Day to face Minnesota.   

“I’ve never obviously led through a catastrophe like this and the perspective it’s taken and the emotional toll that our players have had to carry,” Close said. “There is a part of that I think going on the road may be able to narrow our focus.”

UCLA will need their full focus to remain undefeated through next week’s trip to the East Coast. 

UCLA takes a break from Big Ten basketball, plays Baylor on national TV

Most college basketball teams do not interrupt conference play in the middle of January, but UCLA is doing that against Baylor on January 20.

The UCLA women’s basketball team begins a high-profile three-game road trip on Monday when it goes to Newark, N.J., for a national television showcase against the Baylor Bears. Most college basketball teams do not take a break from conference play in the middle of January the way the Bruins are doing in this game. It’s an intriguing schedule decision by coach Cori Close, giving UCLA something different from the Big Ten grind but adding to a three-game road swing.

The obvious thought process is to expose UCLA to different playing styles so that the Bruins are ready for anything and everything in the NCAA Tournament. Facing Baylor in Newark, not (let’s say) Dallas, makes this a true neutral-site game, like an NCAA regional. Playing this game in Newark is also being done because UCLA’s next game is against Rutgers three days later on January 23. UCLA will not have to commute far for the Big Ten basketball game which comes right after Baylor.

UCLA will be on the road for more than a full week. The Bruins will get into New Jersey a few days before the Baylor game. They won’t fly home to Los Angeles until after they face Maryland on the road on Sunday, January 26. UCLA won’t play another home game until February 2.

76ers land V.J. Edgecombe in latest 2025 NBA mock draft from Bleacher Report

This would REALLY help Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia 76ers are struggling more than nearly any other team in the NBA, but that could lead to get them help in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Philadelphia only gets to keep their pick if it lands between No. 1 and No. 6 overall in the lottery. Otherwise, it is owed to the Oklahoma City Thunder on draft night.

However, as of right now if the season ended today, Philadelphia would indeed finish with one of the worst records in the league and would thus likely (81.0 percent chance) keep their pick.

If they earn the No. 4 overall pick, Edgecombe is a strong candidate.

Read more from Jonathan Wasserman on why this could make some sense to pair with 2024 draftee and potential NBA Rookie of the Year candidate Jared McCain (via Bleacher Report):

“Edgecombe may be the most dangerous freshman or draft prospect in space with some outrageous quickness, burst and bounce. That athleticism has also translated to wild defensive playmaking rates: 4.5 steal percentage and 7.5 block percentage.

And that athleticism should buy him time with scouts when it comes to skill development. Even without a pull-up game or advanced creation, he’s averaging 11.0 points and 3.0 assists just by capitalizing in transition, attacking in straight lines, hitting spot-up threes, making the extra passing and finding open shooters.”

Edgecombe is off to a strong start at Baylor, including this highlight dunk against Gonzaga.

He is currently the only high-major freshman with at least 8 dunks as well as 8 field goals made from beyond the arc, per Bart Torvik.

On the other side of the ball, he is the only high-major freshman with a block percentage and steal percentage both above 4.0 percent.

Edgecombe would also join Tari Eason and Matisse Thybulle as one of the only high-major players to reach his impressive block and steal percentage thresholds in over a decade.

Here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win, where Edgecombe goes to the Toronto Raptors.

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Mark Few’s son got brutally dunked on by V.J. Edgecombe after his dad put him in Gonzaga’s blowout win

This was NASTY.

Baylor freshman V.J. Edgecombe tried to put a man through the Earth’s crust on Monday during the Bears’ matchup with Gonzaga.

Let’s explain how we got here. To be clear, the Bulldogs embarrassed the Bears. It was never really any sort of competition. But that doesn’t mean Baylor went down without a fight. They were going to let out some frustration, even in garbage time.

As the second half ticked away, Gonzaga head coach Mark Few put his son, Joe, in to get some minutes. Unfortunately, poor Joe was on the receiving end of a steal and a fast-break transition bucket, and it didn’t end very well. Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe moved up the court and immediately proceeded to dunk all over unsuspecting Joe Few. YIKES.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DB-tng0RkxG/?igsh=MTBoamZyNXl2dnBwbg==

(Feature image courtesy of ESPN)

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