Chevis Brimmer took the inbound pass for the Buffs and drove the length of the floor, where he tried to launch a shot over the 7-2 Flippen. Flippen had played all of three minutes in Baylor's last 25 games, but he looked comfortable on the floor, as he scored five points, grabbed five rebounds and had an assist. This is a guy who had zero points and zero assists this season. We were confronted with a situation we had not seen all year. When a team is in dire need of help, what they don't need is somebody who thought they got rooked during the season.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
This was not the first time Flippen has enjoyed success in the Big 12 Tournament. Last year in Baylor's first-round win over Nebraska, he set a tournament record with eight blocked shots. I'm always ready to go in. It's been a hard struggle to come back from the ankle injury, I'm just thankful to get in and help. Bliss said he considered not playing Flippen and going with a small lineup, but Colorado was pounding the ball inside with enough success to discourage that.