Lohner Floats Baylor Until Second-Half Breakaway, Bears Advance 74-56

DENVER — The No. 3 seed Baylor Men’s Basketball team (22-10) overcame slow start to beat the No. 14 seed UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (27-7) by a score of 74-56 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Caleb Lohner gave the Bears an important 13 points off the bench, with eight coming during the first half when the green and gold were otherwise struggling to pull away from the Gauchos. 

Adam Flagler led the Bears with 18 points and five assists while LJ Cryer scored 15.

In the first period, Baylor allowed UCSB to shoot 70% from inside the arch while only knocking down two of their own seven three-point attempts. 

As ever, this was a game of runs in both halves. The Bears hit first with an 8-0 run to build an 18-11 lead before the Gauchos responded with an impressive 13-1 run of their own.

By the end of the half, Baylor was down 35-36 and looking like the defensively susceptible team that dropped four of their last six games heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Scott Drew and company turned things around in the second half though. 

Coming out of the gates with a 13-5 stretch to go up 48-41, the Bears were hustling to loose balls and boxing out with extra energy. 

Then, with just over eight minutes to go, Baylor finally broke away from UCSB. Cryer and Flagler combined for 15 straight points for the Bears, stretching an eight-point lead into a 20-point cushion at the 1:22 mark.

The green and gold ended the half +8 on the boards and 6-for-15 from three. Important improvements on the first half numbers.

It was a great day for the Baylor bench, with Dale Bonner and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua playing really solid minutes. Joshua Ojianwuna and Langston Love also saw the court some.

The Bears will now await the winners of No. 6 seed Creighton and No. 11 seed North Carolina State for their game on Sunday.