Game #143 of 364 39% complete

I commented in the last blog (University of Texas at Arlington) how this unplanned game at Baylor ended up on my schedule. That being said, the pain of accidently scheduling the University of Texas at Arlington instead of the University of Texas at Austin was lessened by adding a fourth game here on my Texas trip.

So I ended up at the arena below, ignoring my Google Maps instructions, and pulled into a parking lot full of cars. It just looked like a basketball arena to me!

I parked the car and walked the entire circle of the arena looking for a place to get in. I saw some folks inside but thought it strange that there was no more activity before a major conference game. I saw a guard who let me in. I showed her my ticket but she said that was okay. I heard some cheering inside but strangely every concession stand was closed about 45 minutes before game time. I sensed something was wrong here. So I asked the guard reluctantly if there was a men’s game here tonight? She laughed and said that arena was a mile down the road. But what about the cars in the parking lot? Oh they are here to catch the shuttle down to that arena. I did not even ask what game was going on in this arena. It was minor snafu #2 on this trip. Since I had purchased a parking pass to the garage, I walked back to my car and proceeded to the right arena, pictured below.

I really hate parking in garages next to an arena in a downtown area. Google Maps does not take into account roads closed by police on game day. I eventually weaved my way toward to the garage with 15 minutes to spare before the game. I try to avoid garages because of the nightmare getting out but I did almost sprint after the game and got out very quickly considering I had a 2 1/2 hour ride back to San Antonio.

Baylor is now considered one of the last four into March Madness according to Joe Lunardi. They currently have a 17-13 record so their strength of schedule and the number of quality wins must be very good to warrant a bid with that record. I am sure the Baylor fans are hoping for a very small number of upsets in the league tournaments to avoid being shut out with automatic qualifiers who are less qualified teams than Baylor.

Baylor guard V.J. Edgecombe is projected to be drafted number 4 by the Charlotte Hornets. I saw Baylor play UConn earlier this year but V.J. missed the game due to an injury. I don’t judge a player by one game but he was awful in this game. He scored just 8 points and seemed to be forcing many shots. He did score 18 points in his next game against TCU. His 6’5″ frame and playing style reminded me of ex-UConn player Jordan Hawkins.

Two transfers led the way for the Baylor Bears. Jeremy Roach (Duke) led scorers with 21 points. Norchard Ormier (Florida) had 10 points and 13 rebounds for his 17th double-double this year. Baylor (17-12, 9-9 Big 12) shot just 37% (22 of 59) but had 11 steals and scored 16 points from 18 Oklahoma State turnovers.

Now back to San Antonio arriving approximately at 1AM. I am glad tomorrow will be a slower day than today.

FYI -I keep a map of my Operation 351 trips with a pin representing an visited arena. The colors of the pins are meaningless. The close arenas in the New England area make the accuracy of the locations there in a “Close enough” category.

Here is the updated map after the four Texas games:

There is much work to do west of the Mississippi River!