Box Score By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
FORT HOOD, Texas - For Scott Drew and the 16th-ranked Baylor Bears, this was a lot more than just another basketball game.
Three years after going through a "Weekend as a Wrangler" experience on the Fort Hood Army base, the Bears returned to "say thank you and hopefully give (the soldiers and their families) a couple hours of entertainment" in the first-ever regular-season college basketball game at 2,000-seat Abrams Gym.
Five players scored in double figures, led by Johnathan Motley with 23 points, as Baylor overcame a slow start to blow out Division III Hardin-Simmons, 104-59, Wednesday night before a packed house full of soldiers and their families at the base gymnasium.
"If you write one thing, please write that our team can't thank the soldiers and the families enough for all they do for our country," Drew said.
Hardin-Simmons coach Craig Carse echoed that sentiment, saying Baylor and the Cowboys (6-4) "were doing this to give some people a few minutes of some relaxation and maybe something to get their minds off of" the fighting going on in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"What an honor for us to be a part of this, and for us to just have a few minutes to be able to give these people some relaxation . . . and seeing one of the best basketball teams in the country," Carse said, "and I'm biased, but in my opinion one of the best college recruiters in the country, a man that's done the best job in building a basketball program the last 15 years of any person in the country."
Early on, the Bears (8-1) struggled to find all of the Cowboys' shooters as they connected on 6-of-21 first-half 3-point attempts and stayed within striking distance until the last minute.
Dashun Dixon knocked down a short jumper that made it a 40-32 game with 2:18 left in the half. But the Bears closed on an 8-0 run, capped by a beautifully executed final play.
Getting the ball back with just 1.5 ticks left after a shot clock violation, Ishmail Wainright threw a perfect pass about 80 feet to 6-foot-8 senior forward Rico Gathers, who took one step and flushed it through just before the buzzer to put Baylor up 48-32 at the break.
"It's one of those plays we work on every day of practice," said Gathers, who had 20 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. "At that moment, I didn't know what I was going to do with the ball if I caught it. (With 1.5 seconds left), you really don't have much time. But as soon as I saw it go over the guy's head, I already knew what to do with it, and that was to finish it."
Justin Jones, a 6-8 junior who was a high school point guard, had his hands full with Gathers and Motley. Baylor's inside duo combined to hit 21-of-27 shots and score 43 points as the Bears outrebounded the smaller Cowboys, 57-27, and dominated points in the paint, 74-16.
"It's a real big learning experience for me," Jones said. "They have probably 60 to 70 pounds on me, so I have to adjust, play a little bit different and give them a little room. Strength overwhelms."
The Bears simply had too much size, strength, speed and athleticism for the Cowboys to stick with all night.
With senior point guard Lester Medford leading the way with 13 assists, Baylor set a program record with 40 assists while turning it over just 15 times. The Bears also shot 54.2 percent from the floor and forced 21 turnovers.
"Forty assists is pretty unselfish; 74 points in the paint is tremendous," Drew said. "And it was great for us - everyone played, no one got injured. That was outstanding. Plus, coming off finals, you're always worried after you spend a week studying and taking finals that they're not into it. Playing today, they were all focused."
Taurean Prince posted his second double-double of the season and fifth of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Also scoring in double figures for the Bears were guards Al Freeman and Jake Lindsay with 12 and 11 points, respectively, with Lindsey adding nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Christian O'Neal had 11 points and Cameron Barnes 10 for the Cowboys.
Baylor, which was coming off an eight-day break for finals, will face 24th-ranked Texas A&M (8-2) at 8 p.m. Saturday in College Station. The Aggies have been off since beating Kansas State, 78-68, last Saturday.
