Langston Love tied a career high with 20 points as No. 20 Baylor used its depth to shrug off the fatigue from a quick turnaround and defeat John Brown University 96-70 on Thursday afternoon in Waco, Texas.
The Bears (2-0) began the season on Tuesday with a win over Auburn in Sioux Falls, S.D. and were worse for the wear early on from that contest and the travel back to Central Texas. It took until the final five minutes for Baylor to push its lead to 20 points against John Brown, an NAIA school.
RayJ Dennis scored 16 points, Jayden Nunn had 15 and Yves Missi contributed 10 for the Bears.
Drew Miller led the Golden Eagles (2-1) with 19 points, while Malachi Reeves had 17 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the floor. John Brown shot just two free throws in the game.
John Brown hung tough with the Bears the first 10 minutes of the first half, taking a 7-6 lead after a layup by Ahlante Askew at the 16:14 mark. Baylor moved in front on a 3-pointer by Nunn on the ensuing possession and slowly pulled away, pushing its margin to six points after another jumper by Nunn with 10:19 remaining in the half.
A layup by Love with 4:33 to play in the half increased the Bears’ advantage to 34-22 but was immediately answered by a three-point play by Reeves. Baylor expanded its advantage to 16 points via a layup by Bridges with 1:35 remaining and settled for a 47-34 edge at the break.
Nunn led all scorers with 10 points in the half, as Baylor outshot the Golden Eagles 63.6 percent to 48.4 percent over the first 20 minutes of play. Reeves paced John Brown with nine points before intermission.
John Brown still was within shouting distance after a 3-pointer by Miller made it 70-57 with 9:28 to play. Baylor finally put away the Golden Eagles with a 21-5 run over the next five-plus minutes, with six straight points by Dennis, including a pair of breakaway dunks, part of the spurt.
–Field Level Media
