Records Fall as No. 9 MBB Breezes By Central Arkansas

Wednesday, November 17

Waco, TX

7 PM

Baylor

3-0,0-0Big 12

Central Arkansas

0-3,0-0ASUN

Central Ark.

Baylor

Records Fall as No. 9 MBB Breezes By Central Arkansas

11/17/2021 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

Bears Win 16th-Straight Game at Home

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            On a night when starting guard Adam Flagler played only eight minutes and the 3-point shots weren't falling for anyone, ninth-ranked Baylor relied on its defense.
            The Bears (3-0) forced 29 turnovers, tied a school record with 21 steals and held Central Arkansas (0-3) to 31% shooting in rolling to a 45-point blowout victory, 92-47, Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            "It doesn't matter who we play, we're always trying to lock in defensively and be aggressive," said Baylor freshman Kendall Brown, who had 19 points, five rebounds and two steals in just 22 minutes. "Our motto is to speed them up and have them turn it over, and we did."
            Central Arkansas, which turned it over just 12 times in an 85-53 loss at Butler five days ago, had 17 turnovers by halftime, falling behind 43-20 at the break.
            "They were exactly what we were expecting," UCA coach Anthony Boone said. "I don't know if Baylor can win a national championship this year, but I think this team could possibly beat the team they had last year. And that's saying a lot. The team they had last year was really good, but this team is more athletic and they're bigger."
            Informed about Boone's assessment, Baylor coach Scott Drew said he would "love that to be the case, but at the same time, we don't have quite the experience of last year's team."
            "Obviously, we haven't gone through the rigors of the Big 12, haven't played the meat of our non-conference schedule," Drew said. "But, we like the possibilities and the upside of this team."
            He should. Last year's Baylor team defeated Central Arkansas by 37 points, 93-56, en route to winning the program's first national championship. Wednesday night, the Bears won by 45 despite shooting just 24% from 3-point range (5-of-21).
            "They may not shoot the ball quite as well as the team last year," Boone said, "but if they're allowed to play as physical as they played . . . they'll have a chance of making a run again this year."
            Baylor did a lot of running, scoring 30 fast-break points. Other than Brown, a high-flying freshman, the Bears got a second-straight 20-point game from sophomore guard LJ Cryer and a double-double by grad transfer James Akinjo from Arizona with 18 points and 10 assists.
            "He's done a great job, especially in the short time, getting used to playing with the guys," Drew said of Akinjo, who added six rebounds and four steals. "He does a great job of finding Kendall and making spectacular plays in transition."
            A lock-down defense was more than enough for the Bears to win their program-record 16^th straight at the Ferrell Center, dating back to the last two games of the 2019-20 season. UCA went more than seven minutes without scoring a field goal in the first half, helping Baylor extend its lead from a narrow 10 points to a comfortable 43-20 edge at the halftime break.
            "That's the great thing about having a good defense," Drew said. "The nights where you go 5-for-21 from 3, you can still win by (45)."
            During a 13-0 run, Akinjo fed Brown for a dunk and layup on consecutive series and then buried a 3-pointer, followed by a pull-up jumper by Cryer. Baylor strung together another nine unanswered points early in the second half and then went up 80-40 on a driving layup by Akinjo.
            "(The fast breaks) definitely give us a big edge," Brown said. "We're a good transition team, really athletic, and we run. Getting points off missed shots is critical for us going forward against other teams. They know to throw it, and I'll go up and get it every time."
            In his best game in a Baylor uniform, Akinjo knocked down 5-of-9 from the field, 6-of-8 from the line and 2-for-2 from distance. Freshman Jeremy Sochan and junior forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua had 12 and 10 rebounds, respectively, helping the Bears dominate the boards, 51-34, and second-chance points, 15-4.
            "It was a great game to get everyone some experience and opportunities with guys that are playing their first year at Baylor," Drew said. "These kinds of games allow them to get some confidence and get some rhythm. Obviously, things will change this Saturday with Stanford. It will be a great test for us and tell us what we need to work on to get ready for (the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas)."
            Matthew Mayer recorded double-digit points for the third-straight game (12), but was 5-of-15 overall and 0-for-6 from outside the arc.
            "A couple of (Mayer's shots) were good looks. A couple, maybe we'd prefer for him to get to the rim," Drew said. "But, at the same time, normally he's not going 0-for-6."
            Flagler, who was coming back from a hand injury, hit it again in the first half of Wednesday's game and played only eight minutes in the first half. Averaging 10.5 points, he scored just two points, going 1-of-2 from the floor.
            "He could have gone back in, but we didn't want to risk it. For precaution, we kept him out," Drew said.
            At the end of the game, walk-on senior guard Mitchell Paul scored his first bucket with 1:07 left and Kijana Love made his Baylor debut. A 6-1 guard who had played at New Hampshire and St. Edward's, Kijana is the older brother of 6-5 freshman Langston Love – who's out for the season with a knee injury – and actually started the year as a grad assistant.
            "We traded one Love for another Love," Drew said. "He was here and was going to be a GA, but we needed a little help with our guard injuries. With Adam and LJ and Langston, we needed more guards in practice. He's getting in better shape, getting out there trying to help us."
            Central Arkansas had three players in double figures, led by Eddy Kayouloud with 14 points and seven rebounds. Darious Hall, who hit a buzzer-beating half-court shot at the end of the first half, had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Vincent Reeves scored 10.
            Finishing off a season-opening four-game home stand, Baylor will host Stanford (3-1) at noon Saturday. The Cardinal, which lost to Santa Clara in its only previous road game, defeated Valparaiso, 74-60, Wednesday night.