Hall, Cougars Upend Baylor for First Road Victory

Willis, only giving up 7 inches of height advantage to Isaiah Austin 

Final Score: College of Charleston 63, Baylor 59

Top Performers: 

Willis Hall 12 points (8-10 FT), 6 rebounds

Adjehi Baru 8 points, 15 rebounds, 39 minutes

Andrew Lawrence 10 points, 7 assists

Wow, what a night. First off I'm just really excited for the players and for Coach Wojcik. Baylor hadn't lost a home game to a non-conference opponent since 2009 and this wasn't much of a fluke victory. Willis Hall was tasked with guarding a seven-footer and scored the final six points to break a tied game, Adjehi Baru played all but one minute of the game and hauled in 15 rebounds against a front line of future pros and Andrew Lawrence was masterful in his point guard duties. Credit Wojcik for making the necessary game plan tweaks with Trent being out and credit the Cougars for executing the plan. CofC crowded the paint to limit Baylor's inside scoring opportunities (while simultaneously taking advantage of Brady Heslip's absence), stayed out of foul trouble and hit shots when it mattered. 

Watching ESPN's highlights of the game one might think we won the upset by getting hot from deep. This would typically be the case in a Cremins team, but it is unfair to think that the game was decided by a surge of offense by the Cougars. This game came down to the core principles that Wojcik has been preaching all year: defense and rebounding. The Cougars did hit seven threes in the first half, one shy of their game high this year, but it was because the shots were wide open. Lawrence did a great job of facilitating and when Walton would back off, the captain took his own shot. Just as well the Cougars didn't get three-ball happy in the second half when Baylor made their run. The Bears were a lot better in the last 20 minutes about guarding the perimeter but the Cougars didn't force anything. CofC finished shooting 9 of 18 from deep for the game. 

The bread and butter of this upset was the defense and rebounding of the much smaller Cougars. Adjehi mentioned after the game that the plan was to keep Baylor's bigs off the block and not letting Austin and Jefferson score over them. Willis Hall did his typical blue-collar Charles Barkley impression by using his backside to block out Austin and hold him to just five rebounds. However the "Man of the Game" goes to Adjehi Baru for his effort on both sides of the court. With Trent out, Baru needed to be an offensive option in order to keep Baylor's defense honest. He went 3-for-3 in the first half, scoring over defenders and looking very polished. He also went 2-for-2 from the free throw line when it mattered. Just as importantly Adjehi kept himself out of foul trouble and was able to stay on the floor. 

Yet again the Cougars managed to out-rebound a larger team and kept their opponent's shooting percentage under 40% for the game. Charleston themselves shot 48.8% including that nice clip from deep. 

In the pregame post I mentioned how Stitt, Thomas and the bench players would be the x-factors. Luckily, the bench played fewer minutes than I imagined because Hall and Adjehi only rarely got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Still, in limited time, Nori Johnson and Matt Sundberg both had strong showings. Nori hit 3-of-3 deep balls including one in transition and one to stop a Cougars' offensive quagmire. He also had a sweet block on Pierre Jackson's drive to the basket. Matt was the sub for Baru when he came out and played a total of 12 minutes. In that time he played solid defense and hit a big three. I said it last week and I'll say it again, letting Matt move around more is making him a more effective player. When he at least stops by under the basket the defense has to adjust, then he does a good job of getting open on the perimeter and finishing the play. Sunny D is starting to look more like a "stretch 4" and less like a spot-up shooter.

Anthony Thomas had a very quiet 35 minutes of playing time and even more easily overlooked 11 points. In the second half he had a scoring streak similar to the one against Boston College where he went to the now-patented running jump hook. He did end up having that mismatch against a guard. Stitt again was troubled by turnovers, this time over dribbling on occasion, but he also continues to play the best man defense against opposing guards.

The turnovers (17) and free throw shooting numbers (12-20) again reared their ugly heads but at least the Cougars proved they could win in spite of those issues. They've been addressed on this blog and hopefully by the coaching staff. 

That's about all I got. Great win for the Cougars and for the SoCon, who has a chance today to pick up some more good victories today. The wins in the Charleston Classic were hard to come by but the team is at least being consistent with Wojcik's preachings. Tonight was a testament to how successful this team could eventually be.