Big (Monday) Letdown

After last Monday's debacle against Kansas, the Baylor Bears (13-6, 3-3) had a shot at Big Monday redemption in Manhattan, Kansas against the Kansas State Wildcats (14-7, 2-4). Both teams have underperformed this season and needed a win to try and get their seasons back on track. K-State and their home crowd proved to be too much, pulling away with a 69-61 win.

Perry Jones started the Bears off with a 2 point lead just a minute into the game. However (as was the case the entire first half), the offense went cold for the next three minutes. Quincy Acy then added 2 points of his own. Four minutes then passed before the Bears scored another point. Meanwhile, Kansas State then built as much of a 12 point lead.

Nothing seemed to go right for the Bears for much of the first half. Not only were their shots not falling, they were also getting into early foul trouble. Perry Jones and A.J. Walton both spent much of the first half on the bench after picking up early fouls. Luckily, Kansas State's offense was struggling as well. The Bears went into halftime trailing 25-18, their lowest first-half output of the season.

The Bears provided a glimmer of hope at the beginning of the second half. LaceDarius Dunn hit a 3-point shot right out of the gate, followed by Walton who connected on two 3's of his own to cut the lead to 29-27. Walton then picked up his fourth foul and was replaced by freshman Stargell Love, who instantly hit a trey to give the Bears a one point lead. The lead only lasted 27 seconds, though. K-State was able to pull ahead and stretch the lead to 9 within a couple of minutes.

Walton fouled out for good with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Love did show some promise though, scoring a career high 11 points. Turnovers continued to plague the Bears, committing 17 in the game. Acy, who came off the bench for the second straight game, led the Bears in scoring with 14, followed by Dunn's 13.

The Bears will be back in action Saturday against Colorado in Waco at 12:30 CST.