James Akinjo scored 15 points and Kendall Brown added 12 to lead No. 6 Baylor to a 75-58 victory over Michigan State in the Battle 4 Atlantis title game on Friday in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Adam Flagler had 11 points and five assists, while Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua added 10 points for the defending national champion Bears (7-0), who won their 31st consecutive nonconference game.
LJ Cryer, Matthew Mayer and Jeremy Sochan each added eight points for the Bears, who shot 49.2 percent from the field, including 26.9 percent (7 of 26) from 3-point range.
Akinjo added five assists and three steals, while Brown made 6 of 7 shots from the floor.
Baylor converted 19 Michigan State turnovers into 22 points.
Leading 38-36 at halftime, the Bears pushed their lead to 55-42 on Akinjo’s 3-pointer from the right wing with 13:57 remaining and never looked back. Baylor led by as many as 17 points.
The Bears have taken off where they left off last year, as six of their seven victories have been by at least a dozen points.
Gabe Brown had a team-high 13 points and five rebounds for Michigan State (5-2), while Jaden Akins added 12 points.
Michigan State shot 45.7 percent from the field and 26.7 percent (4 of 15) from behind the arc.
No team led by more than six points during an evenly played first half that ended with the Bears ahead by two.
Akinjo and Cryer each scored eight first-half points for the Bears, who shot 50 percent from the field and sank five 3-pointers. Baylor scored 10 points off nine Spartan turnovers
Michigan State got nine first-half points from Brown and shot 51.9 percent from the field, including 4 for 8 from deep. While Michigan State committed five more turnovers than the Bears, the Spartans outrebounded Baylor 18-11 in the opening 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media
