Sweet 16 Bracket: Baylor Bears vs. St Mary's Gaels

Saint Mary’s College vs. Baylor

As similar as Tennessee and Ohio State are, Baylor and SMC couldn’t be any more different. The Gaels’ super-star post Omar Samhan is about as athletic as a syrup-soaked waffle. Yet he’s got footwork in the pivot that would make Kevin McHale blush.

The Baylor frontcourt boasts a collection of fly-swatters and jumping jacks that can grab small change off the top of the backboard. Conversely, their back to the basket tool kit has a slam-dunking hammer, and every post entry pass looks like a nail.

I exaggerate but Bears’ post Ekpe Udoh does have a credible turnaround jumper from 10 feet in. His repertoire of moves fits in Omar Samhans’ wallet.

The differences go on and on. SMC plays conventional man to man, Baylor zones. The Gaels surround Samhan with deadheads from Northern California and surfers from Perth. The Bears roll with Ekpe, LaceDarius, and a Tweetie. The trio is a modern-day UGK with basketball skills. They crank One Day in the pre-game while smoking blunts and giving Scott Drew flying wedgies. These aren’t the baptists your Grandpappy knew. They could have talked David Koresh out of the house and prevented WACO. So yes, they can do it all.

Where were we?

Despite these differences, on the scoreboard I look for an even game and here’s why. 

The Bears play zone almost exclusively so Samhan isn’t going to get any clean looks. He’s going to be bounced around between huge 7′0″ Josh Lomers and the Big 12’s best shot blocker Ekpe Udoh. Lomers will play behind him and Udoh will wait on Omar definitive post move and then come over the top.

On the perimeter, the Baylor guards rarely dig down to help. They’re taught to chase you off of jumpers and funnel penetration inside, so this should limit easy looks by Gael sharpshooters.

Hell, a big part of Baylor’s offense is cherry picking at the guard spots because they rarely drop down inside on the zone.

The key to beating the Bears is having a midrange big that can attack the mid to high post. It’s why the rec-goggle dude from Sam Houston had a career high. He just hit 15 footers all game. The Gaels don’t have that player and rely on running offense almost exclusively through Samhan on the low block, which then opens up clean looks at 3’s as Samhan commands double teams.

I think SMC will struggle to score when their horse is taken out of the game by the zone and they have to rely on their guards and the other forward to create.

On the flip side, Baylor creates with their guards so they won’t have as much of a problem manufacturing offense against SMC’s man to man.

Bears by a five spot.

Rooaarr!! Sic’em!

More from Baylor FanTake blog: Bear Crawl here.

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Kevin writes the leading college hoops blog March To March .

Follow him on Twitter: @MarchToMarch