Field Level Media
Nov 28, 2020
MaCio Teague scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Davion Mitchell finished with 18 points and six assists, and No. 2 Baylor cruised to a 112-82 win over Louisiana on Saturday night at Las Vegas.
The contest, which was only scheduled on Friday, was the season opener for both teams.
LJ Cryer and Jared Butler added 17 points apiece for Baylor. Adam Flagler was the fifth and final Bears player to score in double digits, putting up 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting.
Cedric Russell scored 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting to lead Louisiana. Theo Akwuba finished with 22 points while making all nine of his shots from the field, and Brayan Au scored 16. Akwuba grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent, but Baylor dominated the glass with a 41-29 advantage in rebounds.
It marked the first game in 272 days for Baylor, which had its first three scheduled games of this season canceled because of COVID-19 concerns. Head coach Scott Drew remained isolated at his home after recently testing positive for the coronavirus, and he is expected to rejoin the team next week barring any setbacks.
Associate head coach Jerome Tang led the team in place of Drew on Saturday. Tang will remain in charge Sunday, when Baylor tips off against Washington on the same court in Las Vegas.
Louisiana stayed within single digits for much of the first half, but the Ragin' Cajuns struggled to keep pace as the Bears pulled ahead by 20 points with 18:57 remaining in the second half. Butler finished a fastbreak with a driving layup to make it 60-40.
By midway through the second half, the Baylor lead had swelled to 27. Cryer hit a 3-pointer to make it 85-58 with 10:17 to go.
Baylor's largest lead -- 33 points -- came in the last five minutes.
The Bears were on top 53-40 at the half.
A second-chance jump shot by Teague gave Baylor a 53-37 advantage, which marked its biggest lead of the first half. Louisiana responded on the next possession with a 3-pointer by Au to pull within 13.
Mitchell led Baylor with 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting before the break. Teague also had 10 points.
Au scored 12 points to lead Louisiana in the first half, and Akwuba added 11.
It was the 11th all-time meeting between Baylor and Louisiana. The Bears improved their series record to 8-3.
--Field Level Media