Baylor likely would've remained a projected No. 1 seed even with a loss to Texas Tech on Monday because the Bears' resume is filled with quality victories compiled during a Big 12-record 23-game winning streak. But when you open a season 24-1, dropping to 25-4 stinks. So Monday's game with Texas Tech was huge.
The score was 30-30 after one half.
It was 60-60 after two.
So Baylor and Texas Tech had to settle things in overtime, which is when MaCio Teague buried a step-back 3-pointer with 73 seconds remaining that lifted the Bears to a 71-68 victory inside the Ferrell Center.
"[He] saved the day like Superman," said Baylor guard Jared Butler.
The Bears were missing two of their top eight scorers -- Mark Vital and Tristan Clark -- but still survived Texas Tech's upset bid and thus avoided losing for what would've been the third time in a four-game stretch. As a result, Scott Drew's team is now 26-3 overall and 15-2 in the Big 12 entering Saturday's regular-season finale at West Virginia. Broken down, Baylor is 11-1 in Quadrant 1 opportunities and 5-2 in Quadrant 2 opportunities. So that means the Bears are 16-3 in Q1/Q2 games with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants.
Only Kansas has more Q1/Q2 victories.
Baylor remains No. 3 in Tuesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Bears are one game back of top-ranked Kansas in the loss column of the Big 12 standings.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Devon Dotson finished with 25 points and two steals in Saturday's 62-58 victory at Kansas State. The Jayhawks will take a 14-game winning streak into Wednesday's game with TCU. | -- | 23-11 |
| 2 |  | Filip Petrusev finished with 27 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 86-76 victory over Saint Mary's. The Zags are 9-2 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 27-8 |
| 3 |  | Devonte Bandoo made four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and four assists in Monday's 71-68 victory over Texas Tech. The Bears are 11-1 in Quadrant 1 opportunities. | -- | 24-11 |
| 4 |  | Obi Toppin finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds in Friday's 82-67 victory over Davidson. Both of the Flyers' losses have come in overtime to schools ranked in the top 30 at KenPom -- namely Kansas and Colorado. | -- | 25-8 |
| 5 |  | Malachi Flynn finished with 36 points, five rebounds and five assists in Saturday's 83-76 victory at Nevada. The Aztecs are the first Mountain West Conference team to win at Nevada in more than two years. | -- | 26-11 |
| 6 |  | Immanuel Quickley finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in Saturday's 73-66 victory over Auburn. The Wildcats are 12-1 in their past 13 games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Auburn. | -- | 23-10 |
| 7 |  | Myles Powell made five 3-pointers and finished with 28 points in Saturday's 88-79 victory at Marquette. Seton Hall is 5-2 in its past seven games with additional wins in that stretch over Villanova and Butler. | -- | 25-12 |
| 8 |  | The Seminoles finished with 16 turnovers and just 11 assists in Saturday's 70-69 loss at Clemson. Florida State is 12-5 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with just two losses outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 17-16 |
| 9 |  | The Terrapins missed 14 of the 20 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 78-66 loss to Michigan State. Maryland has a one-game lead in the Big Ten standings with two regular-season games remaining. | -- | 16-17 |
| 10 |  | The Bluejays missed 23 of the 27 3-pointers they attempted in Sunday's 91-71 loss at St. John's. Creighton is two games back of Seton Hall (and tied for second with Villanova) in the Big East standings. | -- | 25-10 |
| 11 |  | Jordan Nwora finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds in Sunday's 68-52 victory over Virginia Tech. The Cardinals are tied in the loss column with Florida State atop the ACC standings. | -- | 8-24 |
| 12 |  | The Tigers missed 25 of the 34 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 73-66 loss at Kentucky. Auburn is 13-5 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 27-8 |
| 13 |  | The Wildcats missed 25 of the 30 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 58-54 loss to Providence. Villanova lost three games at home in the month of February. | -- | 18-16 |
| 14 |  | Payton Pritchard made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in Thursday's 69-54 victory over Oregon State. The Ducks' resume features seven Quadrant 1 victories and just two losses outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 24-12 |
| 15 |  | Cassius Winston finished with 20 points and six assists in Saturday's 78-66 victory at Maryland. Michigan State is the first team to beat the Terrapins inside Xfinity Center this season. | -- | 20-15 |
| 16 |  | Cassius Stanley finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Monday's 88-69 victory over NC State. Duke is 2-3 in its past five games with multiple losses to currently unranked opponents. | -- | 27-9 |
| 17 |  | Yoeli Childs finished with 38 points and 14 rebounds in Saturday's 81-64 victory at Pepperdine. The Cougars are 16-2 with Childs in the lineup. | -- | 23-11 |
| 18 |  | Jordan Tucker got 13 points and four rebounds off the bench in Saturday's 60-42 victory over DePaul. The Bulldogs are 13-9 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 18-15 |
| 19 |  | Luka Garza finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds in Saturday's 77-68 victory over Penn State. The Hawkeyes are 13-7 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with two additional Quadrant 3 losses. | -- | 19-15 |
| 20 |  | The Nittany Lions missed 21 of the 31 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 77-68 loss at Iowa. Penn State is 1-3 in its past four games with multiple losses to unranked teams in that stretch. | -- | 16-17 |
| 21 |  | Duane Washington made five 3-pointers and finished with 20 points in Sunday's 77-63 victory over Michigan. The Buckeyes are 5-1 in their past six games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Iowa. | -- | 22-14 |
| 22 |  | The Golden Eagles allowed Seton Hall to shoot 53.3% from the field in Saturday's 88-79 loss to the Pirates. Marquette is 11-10 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with just one loss coming outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 27-10 |
| 23 |  | Marcus Sasser made five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points in Sunday's 68-55 victory over Cincinnati. The Cougars are 9-7 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 32-5 |
| 24 |  | The Wolverines missed 19 of the 26 3-pointers they attempted in Sunday's 77-63 loss at Ohio State. Michigan has only lost once outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 8-24 |
| 25 |  | Brevin Pritzl finished with 15 points and three rebounds in Sunday's 71-69 victory over Minnesota. The Badgers will take a six-game winning streak into Wednesday's game with Northwestern. | -- | 22-14 |
| 26 |  | Andres Feliz finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in Sunday's 67-66 victory over Indiana. Illinois will take a four-game winning streak into Thursday's game at Ohio State. | -- | 29-9 |
