After beating Texas at the Ferrell Center without Scott Drew on the sidelines, Baylor hopes it can repeat the feat on the road.
The Bears will play their first Big 12 road game against Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Tuesday at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock.
Drew is serving a two-game suspension for NCAA rules violations that were announced April 11, 2012. Drew was cited for failure to monitor the men?s basketball program for violations that centered mainly around Baylor coaches making excessive phone calls to recruits.
Standing in for Drew, longtime assistant Jerome Tang guided the Bears to an 86-79 overtime win against Texas on Saturday. Though Texas Tech is in a rebuilding phase, Tang knows every Big 12 road game is perilous.
?You have to protect your home court, and we?ve done that,? Tang said. ?The goal now is to try to get a win on the road. Tech is a tough place to play, and they?re very confident. They?re playing real aggressive, and Coach (Chris) Walker has done a great job with those guys.?
The Baylor assistant coaches haven?t been allowed to contact Drew since the night before Saturday?s game against Texas until midnight Wednesday. But Tang said Drew prepared the team for his suspension.
?Coach Drew did a great job preparing us for this, how we approach practices and how we do everything,? Tang said. ?We miss him, there?s no doubt about it. But we feel like we?re prepared.?
Baylor senior guard A.J. Walton said it?s strange not having Drew with the team, but they have confidence in Tang and the other Baylor assistants.
?It?s pretty different, but we practiced a little bit without him before,? Walton said. ?We were kind of in the flow and everybody was pretty excited to see how Coach Tang would do since he is one of the fiery coaches on our staff. He gets everybody going. He did a good job. He rotated and mixed it up a little bit and put people in different positions.?
The Bears (9-4) overcame a dismal 35.9 shooting percentage to knock off the Longhorns. Point guard Pierre Jackson directed the Bears to the win with 24 points and six assists, and constantly drove into the lane to score 11 points in overtime.
Forward Cory Jefferson finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds while center Isaiah Austin collected 18 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson and Walton often dished to the two big men in the paint as the Bears repeatedly drew fouls and nailed 36 of 45 free throws.
?As long as we have Pierre Jackson leading the team, we?re extremely confident,? Tang said. ?He does whatever it takes. That?s extremely exciting as a coach when you ask guys to step outside their comfort zone. When you have a player who is that coachable and locked in, it?s a pleasure.?
Scouting Tech
While Baylor has had to make some adjustments with Drew?s suspension, it?s minor compared to the turmoil Texas Tech has gone through.
Billy Gillispie resigned as Texas Tech?s head coach last September due to health concerns. His resignation came after the school announced it was looking into allegations of player mistreatment by Gillispie, who was starting his second year at Texas Tech.
Former Gillispie assistant Walker made the move to interim head coach, and has guided the Red Raiders to an 8-4 record. Texas Tech has won three straight games, including Saturday?s Big 12-opening 62-53 win over TCU in Fort Worth.
?We?re getting to know our roles and we?re more comfortable playing together,? Walker said. ?We?ve got eight new players playing in the Big 12, so we?re trying to find the roles that fit our personnel. Jaye Crockett has been our No. 1 player, and he?s set the example for the team with his energy level.?
Crockett is a 6-7 junior forward who ranks among the Big 12 leaders with 15 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Josh Gray and 6-11 junior forward Dejan Kravic are both averaging 10.2 points while sophomore forward Jordan Tolbert is averaging 8.8 points and is Tech?s second-leading rebounder with 6.3 per game.
Both the Bears and Red Raiders rank among the Big 12 leaders in scoring offense but bring up the bottom of the league in scoring defense.
?We have quite a task on our hands trying to deal with Crockett,? Tang said. ?Texas Tech is extremely fast at each position and gets its hands on a lot of balls. But I like the guys we?re going to war with. Those guys are tough to defend and strong minded.?
The Bears will play their first Big 12 road game against Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Tuesday at United Spirit Arena in Lubbock.
Drew is serving a two-game suspension for NCAA rules violations that were announced April 11, 2012. Drew was cited for failure to monitor the men?s basketball program for violations that centered mainly around Baylor coaches making excessive phone calls to recruits.
Standing in for Drew, longtime assistant Jerome Tang guided the Bears to an 86-79 overtime win against Texas on Saturday. Though Texas Tech is in a rebuilding phase, Tang knows every Big 12 road game is perilous.
?You have to protect your home court, and we?ve done that,? Tang said. ?The goal now is to try to get a win on the road. Tech is a tough place to play, and they?re very confident. They?re playing real aggressive, and Coach (Chris) Walker has done a great job with those guys.?
The Baylor assistant coaches haven?t been allowed to contact Drew since the night before Saturday?s game against Texas until midnight Wednesday. But Tang said Drew prepared the team for his suspension.
?Coach Drew did a great job preparing us for this, how we approach practices and how we do everything,? Tang said. ?We miss him, there?s no doubt about it. But we feel like we?re prepared.?
Baylor senior guard A.J. Walton said it?s strange not having Drew with the team, but they have confidence in Tang and the other Baylor assistants.
?It?s pretty different, but we practiced a little bit without him before,? Walton said. ?We were kind of in the flow and everybody was pretty excited to see how Coach Tang would do since he is one of the fiery coaches on our staff. He gets everybody going. He did a good job. He rotated and mixed it up a little bit and put people in different positions.?
The Bears (9-4) overcame a dismal 35.9 shooting percentage to knock off the Longhorns. Point guard Pierre Jackson directed the Bears to the win with 24 points and six assists, and constantly drove into the lane to score 11 points in overtime.
Forward Cory Jefferson finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds while center Isaiah Austin collected 18 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson and Walton often dished to the two big men in the paint as the Bears repeatedly drew fouls and nailed 36 of 45 free throws.
?As long as we have Pierre Jackson leading the team, we?re extremely confident,? Tang said. ?He does whatever it takes. That?s extremely exciting as a coach when you ask guys to step outside their comfort zone. When you have a player who is that coachable and locked in, it?s a pleasure.?
Scouting Tech
While Baylor has had to make some adjustments with Drew?s suspension, it?s minor compared to the turmoil Texas Tech has gone through.
Billy Gillispie resigned as Texas Tech?s head coach last September due to health concerns. His resignation came after the school announced it was looking into allegations of player mistreatment by Gillispie, who was starting his second year at Texas Tech.
Former Gillispie assistant Walker made the move to interim head coach, and has guided the Red Raiders to an 8-4 record. Texas Tech has won three straight games, including Saturday?s Big 12-opening 62-53 win over TCU in Fort Worth.
?We?re getting to know our roles and we?re more comfortable playing together,? Walker said. ?We?ve got eight new players playing in the Big 12, so we?re trying to find the roles that fit our personnel. Jaye Crockett has been our No. 1 player, and he?s set the example for the team with his energy level.?
Crockett is a 6-7 junior forward who ranks among the Big 12 leaders with 15 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Josh Gray and 6-11 junior forward Dejan Kravic are both averaging 10.2 points while sophomore forward Jordan Tolbert is averaging 8.8 points and is Tech?s second-leading rebounder with 6.3 per game.
Both the Bears and Red Raiders rank among the Big 12 leaders in scoring offense but bring up the bottom of the league in scoring defense.
?We have quite a task on our hands trying to deal with Crockett,? Tang said. ?Texas Tech is extremely fast at each position and gets its hands on a lot of balls. But I like the guys we?re going to war with. Those guys are tough to defend and strong minded.?
