With a roster strengthened by the addition of former four-year Duke basketball starter Jeremy Roach, the Baylor Bears began the season at No. 8 in the AP Top 25 Poll. Now, they’ve underachieved to the degree of likely dropping from No. 25 to nonexistent this week, even among unranked squads receiving votes.
ALSO READ: Top-Shelf Duke Target Takes Flight in Massachusetts
Since the release of last week’s AP Poll, Roach and the Bears (11-6, 3-3 Big 12) lost both of their outings, including a deflating 74-71 home defeat at the hands of the unranked TCU Horned Frogs (10-7, 3-3 Big 12) on Sunday evening.
They’ve won only twice across their past five contests. Across that stretch, the 23-year-old Roach, Baylor’s full-time starting point guard, has shot a combined 19-for-57 from the field. That 33.3 percent field goal percentage, including a 4-for-15 clip against TCU, just isn’t sufficient if the Bears are to bounce back and sustain success in their remaining loaded conference slate.
Through his 15 appearances this season, Roach is averaging 11.9 points, a few points shy of his averages as a Duke basketball junior and senior despite roughly the same amount of playing time. His 40.9 season field goal percentage and 34.7 percentage from three also mark notable drops from the career-high 46.8 and 42.9 percentages, respectively, he posted for the Blue Devils last year.
Jeremy Roach and the Baylor Bears next host the Kansas State Wildcats (7-10, 1-5 Big 12) at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday (ESPNU).
ALSO READ: Mighty Blue Devil Machine Capitalizes on Gift in Rankings
Stay tuned to Duke Blue Devils On SI for more updates on former Blue Devils and other Duke basketball news.
Two days after being bounced from the Big 12 women's basketball tournament in the second round, Arizona State has fired women's basketball coach Natasha Adair.
The SEC men’s basketball regular season draws to a close as the No. 1 ranked Auburn Tigers battle the No. 7 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in this fierce in-stat
The top-ranked Auburn Tigers will look to get back into the win column when they battle
It’s the last day of the regular season in the Big East, with five games on Saturday that will shape Big East Tournament seeding and in UConn’s case, cou