No. 2 Baylor finishes 2020 with a 105-76 victory over Alcorn
WACO, Texas — Unscathed.
No. 2 Baylor men’s basketball (8-0) rocked Alcorn State (0-5) in their final tune-up before the heat of conference play, 105-76.
It was a free throw clinic for the Bears as the Green and Gold knocked went 25-31 from the stripe in a game that had a relatively mild stat comparison. Similar to the rest of this season, it was also the Davion Mitchell show as he put up 10 points and led the team with 10 assists, four rebounds and three steals.
From a 31-17 advantage in points off turnovers to 31 points off the break, the Bears were quite obviously the dominant team — surprise. However, Baylor didn’t quite dominate from jump in this one.
Alcorn State led 8-4 early and even had a 10-9 advantage shortly after the first media break. The Bears then conjured up an 11-0 run and never looked back, eventually extending the lead to 59-27 at the break.
The tandem of MaCio Teague and Jared Butler picked right back up where it left off against Central Arkansas with 14 and 13 points respectively in the first half. Baylor’s offense was facilitated by Mitchell’s six assists and electrified by a couple of dunks by Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and his five boards.
Oh, yeah, and a 15-3 turnover advantage in the first 20 minutes was pretty helpful.
The second half saw Baylor rest some tired legs and offer valuable minutes to the deeper part of the bench. With the Bears on cruise control, the Bravehawks were able to keep the scoring pretty even keel in the final 20 minutes. Even so, it was another 25-plus point blowout with the final ringing in at 105-76.
Second-half scoring was jolted by Jordan Turner’s 10 on 3-3 from deep along with Zach Loveday’s 10.
In a game where Baylor shot so many free throws, the stats just don’t look as dominant as the score. That said, it can’t be ignored that Teague finished 8-8 from the line and the Bears went 8-8 on dunks — yeah, eight dunks is nice. You’ll be hard-pressed to see this team lose to anyone when those two stats cash in.
Lock-in, though, things get oh so real when the good guys play in Ames this Saturday and begin the Big 12 gauntlet.