Baylor fans pumped for Missouri showdown

[IE]

Baylor basketball fans were greeted by an unfamiliar sign when they approached the ticket window at the Ferrell Center Friday morning.

?SOLD OUT,? it read.

The Bears have filled their home arena before, but Saturday?s showdown against fifth-ranked Missouri marks the first time ever that a game has sold out more than 24 hours in advance of the opening tip.


It will also be the first matchup in school history between a pair of top-five teams. The Tigers and third-ranked Baylor are each 17-1. The Bears suffered their first loss of the season to No. 7 Kansas on Monday in Lawrence.

?The top-10 thing didn?t work out (Monday),? Baylor coach Scott Drew chuckled Friday afternoon, ?so I?m ready or a top-5 (matchup). Let?s keep moving up.?

Missouri enters Saturday?s game averaging 83.1 points while shooting 50.2 percent from the field, a mark that ranks second in the nation.

Still, as difficult as it is to match their talent, the most challenging part about playing the Tigers is preparing for their unorthodox style. With only two players on the roster standing above 6-foot-6, Missouri employs a four-guard lineup that gives opponents fits.

Kim English, Marcus Denmon, Michael Dixon, Phil Pressey and Matt Pressey all handle the ball as well as a point guard. The Tigers are extremely fast up and down the court and are shooting a collective 40 percent from 3-point range.

?You don?t face many teams in the country that play four guards,? Drew said. ?And I don?t think you face anybody that has the caliber of their four guards. Their guards are all-conference level, guys who are going to make a lot of money playing basketball for a long time.?

Drew even said they reminded him of ?four honey badgers.? Bears forward Perry Jones III said Missouri has ?four Pierre Jacksons,? referring to the Baylor point guard and early favorite to win Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

As fast as the Tigers may be, their lack of depth and height could be a problem against a Baylor squad that boasts players such as Perry Jones, Anthony Jones, Cory Jefferson and Quincy Miller, all of whom are 6-foot-9 or taller. Two weeks ago Missouri faced a Kansas State squad with similar length and height -- but not nearly as much talented -- and lost 75-59. K-State outrebounded the Tigers 36-22.

Drew said his squad?s size is only an advantage if ?length stays in front of quickness.?

The 10,347 fans who pack the Ferrell Center Saturday are hoping that will be the case for a Baylor team that?s off to its best start in school history.

?We?ve had great sellouts before,? Drew said. ?But the fact that it?d done in advance speaks to what the guys have accomplished this year. Playing at home creates a lot of energy and enthusiasm and helps give you that extra edge that you need.?

 

[IE]

Pierre Jackson is spark plug for Baylor





No team makes a more imposing entrance onto an area floor than Baylor with its endless line of oversized athletes.
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</td></tr></tbody></table> The roster includes 6-foot-11 Perry Jones III, 6-9 Quincy Miller, 6-7 Quincy Acy, 6-10 Anthony Jones, 6-9 Cory Jefferson and on and on. Coach Scott Drew has so much size at his disposal that he opted to redshirt 6-11 J?Mison Morgan when the senior center was hampered by a calf issue.
But junior Pierre Jackson, a 5-10 guard, has done as much as any of them to elevate the third-ranked Bears to contenders for the Big 12 championship and, perhaps, a national title.
The junior college transfer ranks among the Big 12 leaders in scoring (18th, 12.2 ppg), assists (third, 5.4 apg), free-throw percentage (fifth, 84.9 perc3-point percentage (second, 48.4 percent) and assist-to-turnover ratio (eighth, 1.5) while averaging 25:24 off the bench. ?Their point guard play with Pierre Jackson is off the charts,? said Oklahoma State Coach Travis Ford, who watched Jackson torch his team for 18 points, including five 3-pointers, last Saturday.
Kansas Coach Bill Self trumpeted the ?speed, confidence, swagger,? he?s instilled in Baylor, and that was before he saw Jackson score 11 points and dish out 11 assists in the Bears? loss Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse.
?He gives them a guy that I think they didn?t have on their team last year,? said Missouri Coach Frank Haith, who studied Baylor?s visit to Mizzou Arena last year along with footage of this season?s team as he prepared for today?s top-five showdown between the Bears and his fifth-ranked Tigers, set to tip at 1:05 p.m. at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
There were times last season ? such as that night in February when it committed 21 turnovers in a loss in Columbia ? when Baylor looked like a rudderless ship, speeding out of control with too many turnovers and a lack of direction on the offensive end.
Inconsistency at the point was the biggest reason the Bears went from being a team expected to challenge for a Big 12 title to one that finished eighth in the league and failed to make the NCAA Tournament.
It was lucky for Drew that Jackson, a player who could be the solution to his team?s problems, was just starting to be discovered by coaches around the country.
Drew might have to thank elbow surgery for the fact it didn?t happen sooner. Jackson, who shined at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas, was recovering from the procedure during his freshman year at the College of Southern Idaho ? the same program that produced former Missouri player Ricky Clemons ? and averaged 7.8 points.
?My scoring part wasn?t really up to par like it was in high school,? Jackson said. ?I had to develop being more of a playmaker and passer. So my freshman year, I spent that trying to get that part of my game.?
His elbow, and with it his scoring prowess, had recovered by last season, particularly late as he led CSI to the NJCAA Division I championship, averaging 24 points, five rebounds and four assists in the last four games en route to the title. His play earned him recognition as the NJCAA Division I Player of the Year.
Suddenly, colleges were vying for his services, but he didn?t waste time narrowing the list to two ? Baylor and Creighton.
There might not have been much choice after Jackson visited Waco and saw the collection of talent, starting with likely NBA lottery picks Jones III and Miller, he?d get to work with.
?They just took me by surprise, and I couldn?t pass up the chance to play with them,? he said.
But they?ve been just as wowed by playing with Jackson, who has scored at least 10 points in 12 of Baylor?s first 18 games. Jackson finished with 23 points in an 83-81 victory over West Virginia on Dec. 23. He then scored 14, including the game-winning layup, against Mississippi State in a 54-52 win Dec. 28 in Dallas. He?s had at least seven assists seven times, including in his past four games, and has been a catalyst defensively.
?He gets places on the court that other guards can?t get because he has another gear in him,? Drew said. ?He makes shots so you can?t back off him, and he passes the ball so he makes his teammates better. And defensively, each and every game, he?s gotten better and really can be somebody that can be one of the nation?s best defenders when it?s all said and done.?
The coach has eased his adjustment by bringing him off the bench behind incumbent A.J. Walton, whose production pales in comparison to the Bears? sixth man. Jackson ranks second among Big 12 nonstarters in scoring behind Missouri junior Mike Dixon (12.6 ppg).
?When we go to the bench, it gives us a spark,? Drew said. ?It?s kind of like we?re playing at 55 miles an hour, and he comes in and we go to 70.?
Baylor appeared to be motoring along even faster than that until Monday night?s 92-74 beatdown against the Jayhawks, who knocked the Bears from the ranks of the unbeaten. Expect Jackson and his teammates to be ready to return to high gear against the Tigers.












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[IE]

What to watch for with Baylor:





Frank Haith would like to think his No. 5 Missouri basketball team is ready for what awaits it in Saturday afternoon's top-five showdown against third-ranked Baylor at the sold-out Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.
The Tigers have played in other charged atmospheres, from the Braggin' Right Series meeting with Illinois in St. Louis to road games against Kansas State and Iowa State. All three of those teams presented some mismatches similar to what's in store against the Bears.
But Baylor, one of the last three remaining unbeatens in college basketball before a 92-74 loss against No. 7 Kansas on Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse, presents an even taller challenge -- literally and figuratively with its frontline of 6-foot-11 Perry Jones III, 6-9 Quincy Miller and 6-7 Quincy Acy -- than any game Missouri has played. The Bears can also burn opponents from the outside with guards such as Brady Heslip and sixth man Pierre Jackson, both capable of lighting it up on the perimeter or, in Jackson's case, breaking down a defense with dribble-penetration.



"Very gifted team," Haith said. "I think as good as any team in the country. I really believe that about their club watching them on tape. They have no weaknesses. They have size. They have athleticism. They have great ball-handling. They have shooting now with Brady Heslip. They have a complete ballclub.
"And they?re coming off a tough loss when you play a team at Kansas -- and we had to face this before with K-State -- we?re going to get their best effort. They?re going to be very focused Saturday afternoon, so we understand what we?re up against."
But he won't know until sometime after the 1:05 p.m. tipoff if the Tigers are really prepared.
Here are some things I'll be looking out for as I watch the game from inside the Ferrell Center:
? Is Jones limited? This question could go a long way to determining the Tigers' chances. I'm don't see Missouri having anyone to matchup with the versatile 6-11 sophomore if he's healthy and playing aggressively -- sometimes still an issue for the projected top-five pick, who is averaging 14.2 points and 7.5 rebounds.



Health figures to be more of a limiting factor on Saturday with the atmosphere likely to be charged but Jones still dealing with a tender ankle he tweaked after landing awkwardly following a jump shot late in the first half of Monday night's game against Kansas. Though he stayed in the game, neither Jones nor the Bears were the same after it happened.



"I think watching film, it was pretty obvious that once he tweaked that ankle, he became a lot more passive and stopped attacking," Coach Scott Drew told reporters on Friday. "To his credit, he kept playing and fighting. I probably shouldn?t have played him nearly as much as I did. And on film, you saw that his ankle affected him a lot more than he let on. Credit him for being tougher and wanting to compete and wanting to play for his team."
Jones said it's still not back to normal.
"It?s feeling a little better," he said. "I?m not as quick because it?s not 100 percent yet, but the swelling went down, and I?ll be ready to go tomorrow."
? How does Missouri attack Baylor's zone defense? With the length and athleticism Jones, Miller and Acy bring along the backline and Jackson's quickness on the perimeter, the Bears' can give opponents nightmares with their 2-3 zone on the defensive end. They're constantly reaching in passing lanes and swatting away shots and currently lead the Big 12 in both steals blocks.
The Tigers are going to have their work cut out for them generating scoring quality scoring chances, and they can't simply be willing to settle for the first jumper they get on the perimeter. Baylor, with its size, has a way of challenging even the ones that feel open when it's in position.



Missouri's best chances it to make the Bears move. Even though they're fluid athletes, they'll still have a difficult time contending with the Tigers' quickness spread across the court. Haith would like to see Phil Pressey, Marcus Denmon and the rest of his team's guards attacking the gaps off the dribble and keeping the ball moving, something that didn't happen enough in an earlier loss at Kansas State.
It would benefit the Tigers to be able to keep power forward Ricardo Ratliffe out of foul trouble and on the floor -- something that didn't happen in Manhattan -- to give the Bears an interior scoring threat they might be tempted to collapse around. Missouri could also find its easiest scoring chances by pushing the tempo. Baylor struggled with its transition defense against the Jayhawks, who shot 57.4 percent, in part because they made it hard for the Bears to get set.
? Can the Tigers prey on the Bears' mistakes? Baylor has been more sure-handed than the team that committed 21 turnovers in a 77-59 loss to Missouri last season in Columbia. The presence of Jackson, who's playing starter minutes at the point despite coming off the bench, has helped, though he and the Bears can still get a little sloppy.



Baylor has committed 268 turnovers -- second-most among Big 12 teams -- and Jackson recently had seven in a Big 12-opening victory against Texas A&M.



The Tigers still excel at pressuring the ball and jumping into passing lanes and are second in the Big 12 in steals and third at forcing turnovers. If they're able to get the ball away early, the Bears won't have a chance to run offense and get the ball inside to Jones and Acy to take advantage of their size. But they can't count on doing that every trip down, so they're going to have to do their best to keep the big men from establishing position in the paint.


Missouri can't be too conscious of defending inside, though, or they run the risk of leaving Heslip and Jackson open on the perimeter. Both are shooting better than 47 percent from beyond the 3-point arc this season, and Heslip is tied with Marcus Denmon for the Big 12 lead with 51 made 3-pointers.
? Is Missouri tough enough on the boards? The Tigers have done a better job of rebounding than anyone could have anticipated and actually rank fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding margin (plus-2.8 rpg) in conference play. They have outrebounded three of their first five opponents, including piling up a 38-26 rebounding advantage against Texas A&M in Monday's matinee at Mizzou Arena. Denmon's been indispensable, averaging a team-high 7.4 rebounds in Big 12 play including a total of 20 in the past two games.



But with its size limitations, Missouri can't ever start taking rebounding for granted. The Tigers must remain just as focused at trying to box out the bigger Bears every time a shot goes up on the defensive end, and they have to be just as sharp to chase down rebounds that fly outside the paint. The Bears haven't always rebounded with the ferocity that Drew would like but they still rank second in the Big 12 in rebounding margin in league play and are still capable of piling up second-chance points the way Texas did against the Tigers with 17 last Saturday. Acy, in particular, is a dangerous offensive rebounder, averaging 2.3 per game.