No. 1 Baylor, Brown rally to overpower Oregon 78-70 in Eugene

No. 1 Baylor (10-0) survives a first-half slump to topple Oregon (6-6) in Eugene 78-70. 

The Bears are pretty damn good against them Pacific Northwest teams, ehh? Granted, this game was more than hairy early on, Scott Drew pulled out the trusty red button with around 10 minutes to go.

Only you can prevent forest fires. Only Drew can prevent the inevitable run of death. 

Settling in on the first half, I hope you like offense. There was so much of it. After lidded baskets defined the Villanova game, threes were raining in Eugene. And that didn’t favor defensive-driven Baylor all that well. 

Shooting 58% total in the opening 20 minutes, Oregon exploded out to an early lead and even held a 10-point advantage at 34-24 with 4:45 to go. That’s when Adam Flagler kept the Bears in it. Flagler hit two quick threes that sparked an 11-5 mini-run that left Baylor trailing just 39-35 at the half.  

Halfway through the game, Flagler had 15 points on 5-6 from deep and both teams combined for 15 long balls and 27 field goals. 

While the second half was not as offensively explosive, the Bears came out of the locker room on a mission and took a 42-41 lead less than three minutes into play. Both teams traded blows until Oregon led 51-50. That’s when it got fun. 

Kendall Brown took a hit that would result in 20 to life in most first-world nations — it was appropriately called a flagrant. He sunk both free throws. He used the added possession to throw down an alley-oop from James Akinjo. Then he immediately stole the ball and cruised to a fast-break dunk. 

That, followed up by an Akinjo three and two more fast-break baskets by Brown, put Baylor up 63-51. The camera panned to Drew. The red button was still in hand. That was pretty much it.

Kendall Brown had two points in the first half — followed by 15 in the second on a 6-6 clip. After being fouled into oblivion with 10 minutes or so left in the game, Brown sought revenge on the entire state of Oregon and the Bears rolled 78-70. 

Brown obviously carried the team when it mattered most down the stretch, but Akinjo’s second-half performance of 15 points and a couple of steals was immaculate as well. It was a game in which the defense was not as pristine, so Baylor showed how it can very easily out-offense someone when needed. 

That’s like 2,383 straight wins against nonconference opponents for Drew and the Bears. Does winning ever get old?