No. 5 Baylor Basketball Dropped by Hot-Shooting No. 16 Virginia, 86-79
LAS VEGAS — The No. 5 Baylor Basketball team (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season, dropping a 86-79 contest to a hot-shooting No. 16 Virginia Cavaliers team.
The game was broken open by UVA with a 27-5 run out of the halftime break to turn a three-point BU lead to a 57-38 Bears deficit.
The green and gold drew it back to as close as six points, but with just a minute left the surge would fall short.
Armaan Franklin led all scorers with 26 points for the Hoos, while forward Kadin Shedrick poured in 17.
Keyonte George led the Bears with 20 points but fouled out with just under two minutes left in the Bears’ failed comeback attempt.
Not many teams will shoot 64% from deep and 56% from the field against the Bears this year, but Virginia did just that, hitting nine of 14 three-point attempts.
The Bears showed grit, clawing their way back in a somewhat sloppy fashion.
Adam Flagler had a decent stat line of 15 points and seven assists, plus Caleb Lohner scored 11 while bringing much-needed energy and physicality to the floor.
However, the Bears were whistled for two flagrant one fouls in the second half and turned the ball over 13 times. Not a recipe to overcome an astounding shooting night from a very good team.
After the massive UVA run out of the halftime break, Baylor cut into the 21-point deficit with an 8-0 response run. George converted an and-one before Lohner stepped up to hit a three and finish off an alley-oop.
Five more Keyonte points extended the run to 13-2, but the Hoos would regain their composure, especially through Shedrick to finish out the last seven minutes.
Not to be forgotten, the solid first half from the Bears was in large part thanks to LJ Cryer. Cryer scored 13 of his 19 total points in the first frame before being limited to just three shots in the second half. Cryer drilled all three of those second half chances.
Up next for the Bears will be the consolation game of the Continental Tire Main Event against the loser of the No. 8 UCLA vs No. 19 Illinois game.