FAYETTEVILLE -- Baylor has scored five times more points off turnovers than its first three NCAA Tournament opponents.
Going into Baylor's NCAA Tournament South Region final against the University of Arkansas at 8:57 tonight in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the No. 1 seed Bears (25-2) have a 60-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Bears outscored Hartford 22-6, Wisconsin 16-2 and Villanova 22-4 in converting turnovers into points.
"Defense is the thing we focus most on, and when we have Davion [Mitchell] out there being as elite as he is, it just kind of carries on and allows us to all have his back and be all connected," said sophomore Adam Flagler, who led Baylor with 16 points against Villanova. "That's what we've been trying to do. We've been doing good so far."
Mitchell was voted by coaches as the Big 12 defensive player of the year. He was joined on the Big 12's all-defensive team by Baylor's Jared Butler and Mark Vital.
"He definitely sets the tone," Flagler said of Mitchell. "He's easily -- in my opinion -- the best defender out there. When he's out there guarding 94 feet, we have no choice but to have his back."
Baylor Coach Scott Drew said the Bears lost some of their defensive edge when they had to pause team activities for more than two weeks in February because of covid-19 issues.
"I think our defense had been really good until we hit that pause ... and it diminished," Drew said. "I think we're starting to get it back to where it was."
Arkansas (25-6) has outscored its three NCAA Tournament opponents 57-27 in points off turnovers, though Texas Tech had a 5-4 edge against the Razorbacks in a second-round game in which each team had nine turnovers. The Razorbacks outscored Colgate 34-15 in points off turnovers and Oral Roberts 19-7.
"Both teams are really good in transition, and both teams have very good defenders, very athletic and [exert] pressure," Drew said of his Bears and the Razorbacks. "Pressure bursts pipes, so both teams have got to take care of the ball."
Baylor's turnover margin per game is twice as high as Arkansas' at +5.6 to +2.5 for the season. The Bears rank ninth nationally in forcing turnovers at 17.4 per game and ninth in steals at 9.0.
"We've got to try to avoid catastrophic turnovers, meaning live-ball turnovers," Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman said. "We've got to get shots on goal. We've got to move the basketball. We can't have poor shot selection.
"I thought Villanova did a really good job for the first 28 minutes of the game, and then all of a sudden Baylor turned up their defensive intensity and started causing turnovers."
Villanova had five of its 16 turnovers in a 1:54 span of the second half as Baylor pulled away to win 62-51 after trailing by six points with less than 16 minutes left.
"Their defense went to another level," Villanova senior forward Jermaine Samuels said. "During those times you've got to be solid with the ball. We just didn't do a good job of staying solid with it, and they got out in transition."
Musselman said the Razorbacks have to be strong with the ball when the Bears bring pressure.
"You put that thing on the deck and they'll swarm to you," Musselman said. "They'll attack the ball with multiple people when you try to get in the lanes.
"So it'll be really important for us to have patience and to make the right reads against defensive coverages."
Arkansas will start freshman guards Moses Moody and Davonte "Devo" Davis along with senior Jalen Tate against the Bears, who are led by juniors and All-Americans Butler and Mitchell, seniors MaCio Teague and Vital as well as Flagler.
The Razorbacks also have junior guards JD Notae and Desi Sills off the bench.
"I think first and foremost, everybody's played enough games now where there are no freshmen anymore," Drew said of two freshmen starting for the Razorbacks. "I think early in the season that definitely matters more.
"Later in the season, credit to Coach Musselman for getting his guys a lot of minutes and opportunities so now they have experience. With our guys, I know we believe in them, we trust them, we love them.
"Coaches always tell you they'd rather have an older guard than a younger guard, but at the end of the day, both of our teams have great guards. If we didn't, we wouldn't still be playing."
Davis, who hit a jump shot with 3.1 seconds left for the game-winning basket in Arkansas' 72-70 victory over Oral Roberts, said the Razorbacks have done their homework by studying film of the Bears.
"We know they're always crashing to the ball on the dribble-drives," Davis said. "So I feel a lot of kick-outs will be needed and we'll have to knock down perimeter shots. I think we'll be ready for that."
The Bears lead the nation in three-point shooting at 40.8%, but they were 3 of 19 against Villanova. Their defense is why they advanced to play Arkansas.
"Arkansas does a tremendous job in forcing turnovers and getting easies on the other end because of that, too," Drew said. "I know both coaches will preach the same thing: 'Don't turn it over and when you do, get back.' "
Flagler said the Bears can feel themselves taking over the game when they feed off Mitchell defensively.
"When he's pressuring the ball the way he does and we're able to get out in transition, we definitely feel like the momentum is on our side," Flagler said. "As long as we continue to get stop after stop after stop, we know that the game will eventually be in our hands."