Strong second half pushes No. 2 Baylor over No. 5 Illinois, 82-69

INDIANANAPOLIS — The No. 2/1 Baylor men’s basketball team (3-0) notched an early-season defining victory, knocking off No. 5/10 Illinois (3-1) 82-69 in the Jimmy V Classic at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse. 

It was a grown man ballgame. With both squads showing legitimate Final Four potential, the powerhouses traded blows up until the Bears erupted during a crucial second-half stretch, breaking a tie with a 16 point advantage from the 12:51 to 6:13 mark to claim a 72-56 lead. 

Davion Mitchell was nearly perfect for the Bears behind the arc with 15 total points on 4-5 shooting from deep, but it was the red hot Adam Flagler that bolstered the Bears again with a team-leading 18 point performance. Atop only turning the ball over seven times as a team, Jonathan Tchamwa-Tchatchoua notched a nine-point and nine board night amongst the Illini’s trees. 

The first half of the game saw neither team lead by more than five, but Baylor outplayed the Illini by the slimmest of margins to lead 31-30 at the break. Giorgi Bezhanishvili led all scorers with 13 at the break — being the only Illini to score more than five — while Baylor’s Jared Butler put up an early 10 on 5-12 shooting. 

It was certainly an up-tempo opening 20 minutes, but neither team put up gaudy numbers with the Bears going 5-10 from the line and Illinois matching such with a 1-6 mark of their own. The stripe is where the difference could’ve been made, but neither team found their stroke. 

Coming out of the half, things stayed tight until well after the first media break, and the squads were knotted at 43-43 with 13:16 to play — that’s when Scott Drew unleashed the Bears. Baylor went on a quick 6-0 run from there and bested such with a 9-0 stretch minutes later that made all the difference. 

While Illinois would climb back from 16 down to make it a single-digit game, the Illini never made things too close for comfort. Led by an 18-35 shooting mark as a team in the final period and a 10-14 clip from the line, Baylor closed out their 82-69 victory. 

The major takeaways from this game revolve around Baylor — a guard driven team — being able to bully opposing big men in every facet. Although the rebounding battle favored Illinois in the first half, the entire Bear lineup reversed such with a 20-10 advantage in the final half — alongside a 10-3 offensive board advantage at that. 

Moreover, the Bears effectively dominated the points in the paint and second-chance points battles when it mattered most. In the last 20 minutes, Baylor tallied 24 points in the paint and 13 second-chance points compared to Illinois’ 12 and three respectively. 

There is still plenty to be seen when Baylor meets Gonzaga Saturday, but this team is in midseason stride through just three contests.