With 13:30 left in Baylor’s 84-72 home win over Auburn on Saturday, Matthew Mayer – the team’s popular teddy bear – flew into the lane to make a shock that rang out ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla, “Oh my God!”
Baylor’s bench also exploded.
However, for Mayer, the collapse has also helped him gain an advantage over his teammate and all-American candidate Jared Butler, who missed the three-pointer that caused Mayer’s relegation. in your running competition to see who can get more garbage course.
“OH MY GOODNESS!” 😲# SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/EZy9asV3RB
– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 30, 2021
“They weren’t really out of boxing and I just came in and got the kickback,” said Mayer, who scored 13 points, during the post-game conference call. “I and [Butler] he has a competition over who can get more dunks and thinks he will get more than me. I mean he plays more minutes than I do, but hey. [After that dunk], it’s like, “Okay, now you beat me, now you beat me.” He would say to me, “I’m suffering from you.” This was [our] running conversation on track “.
For a 16-0 Baylor team that has now been 41-3 in their last 44 games dating back to last season, the celebration also showed the link that has helped this group get into the final stretch of the 2020-21 season as a serious candidate to win the national title.
“It was crazy,” Baylor’s Adam Flagler said of the frenzy that followed Mayer’s fall in the second half of Saturday’s win. “We were all very excited about him. He’s a great talent and he’s shown a little bit tonight.”
Mayer is also an example of the depth Baylor has. He’s played more than 20 minutes once this season because of the talent he had on the roster, but he’s still left his mark.
“I know they only count as two points, a dunk, but the dunk momentum, the energy … just permeates the whole team,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “It helps you move forward. It just changes the momentum of a game.”