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 The Bears got double-digit scoring effort from four of their
frontcourt players and pounded the Tigers in the paint en route to a
routine 80-50 victory at the Ferrell Center.
The win was Baylor's 12th straight on its home floor and ran
Savannah State losing streak to 10. The Tigers have yet to win on
the road (0-8) or away from home (0-10) this season.
"Thirty-point win in Division I, you take it and you move on from
there," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "So no glaring issues.
Offensive rebounding, I would have liked to have done a better job
there, but that's the only thing statistically that comes to mind."
Small forward Taurean Prince scored 12 of his team-best 15 points in
the first half for Baylor (12-1), and power forward Rico Gathers
didn't score before halftime but finished with 11 points and eight
rebounds. Power forward Cory Jefferson added 13 points and seven
rebounds, while center Isaiah Austin contributed 11 points and seven
rebounds.
"I really don't pay attention to who's guarding me," Prince said. "I
just think it's trying to bring energy in any way possible. I run so
hard in transition, so I think that gives me an advantage over the
defense."
The Bears' superiority up front led to higher-percentage shots and a
52.9 percent shooting night, while their length defensively deterred
the Tigers from taking the ball inside. Savannah State shot 33.3
percent from the floor and settled for 23 3-point attempts, making
only six.
The Tigers also were unable to get to the free-throw line with any
consistency. In fact, their first trip to the line came with 6:52
left in the game, and Baylor outscored them from the charity stripe
19-2.
"They were bigger than us on the inside, and we were just trying to
pull off the wings and get the wings to attack and have their bigs
rotate over," Savannah State coach Horace Broadnax said. "We wanted
to let our big guys touch it. They didn't have to score down there,
just let them touch it and kick back out.
"That's what these bigger programs do is they get you outside your
comfort zone. When you're outside your comfort zone, that's
something that's unfamiliar to you. So you can't react. You start
thinking, and if you think out here on the basketball court against
a program like Baylor, you're going to be in trouble."
Gathers scored most of his points during a second-half flurry. He
tallied baskets on a dunk and a pair of putbacks, including one that
resulted in a 3-point play, and a pair of free throws to help the
Bears to an 11-2 run that made it a 66-42 cushion with 8:14 to go.
Savannah State guard Joshua Montgomery was held without a field goal
in the second half, but still managed a team-best 15 points. Nobody
else scored more than seven points for the Tigers, and forward Jyles
Smith grabbed nine rebounds to lead Savannah State.
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Prince scored 12 points off the bench in the first half, and
Baylor shot a torrid 71.4 percent from the floor to take a 46-28
lead into intermission.
"We just didn't compete defensively," Broadnax said. "I think
they were shooting over 75, 80 percent at one point. I don't
think we could shoot that well if we were on the court by
ourselves. That's just part of competing, and the type of
weapons they've got.
"They've got big bodies, they've got guards that can knock down
shots and can get off the dribble. Their big guys pass decent,
and they can get off the dribble, too. They throw a lot of
different things at you and create a lot of problems for you."
The Bears, who were 6-for-7 from 3-point range, also picked up
nine points apiece from Austin and Jefferson.
Savannah State stayed in the game early, thanks in large part to
the shooting of Montgomery. The senior entered the game
averaging 8.7 points per game, but he drained his first four
3-point attempts and led the Tigers with 14 points.
Montgomery's third trey cut the Tigers' deficit to 23-17, but
Baylor immediately responded with a 9-0 run that included three
free throws from guard Brady Heslip after he was fouled on a
3-point try and a dunk from Austin to help push the lead out to
15.
The Bears stretched that to 40-21 after guard Kenny Chery hit an
off-balance shot for 3, and Jefferson stepped outside for his
second 3-pointer as they kept the margin between 16 and 19 the
rest of the half.
Baylor's ball movement produced 12 assists on its 15 made free
throws in the first half, and it also limited the Tigers to 31
percent shooting while committing only three team fouls.
"We really shared the ball in the first half and made the extra
passes, and we made shots," Drew said. "In the second half, we
didn't get as easy of looks. We didn't work the ball as well
early on, and we had some 3s. We were 1-for-11 in the second
half from 3.
"That's why, if you depend on the 3-ball, you're not going to
have a very good year because you're going to have nights when
you miss."
NOTES: This is the last non-conference game for both teams.
Savannah State begins MEAC competition by hosting
Maryland-Eastern Shore on Monday, while Baylor will travel to
meet Iowa State the next day. ... Savannah State did not shoot a
free throw in the first half. ... F Taurean Prince led Baylor in
scoring in the first half for the second consecutive game,
despite coming off the bench in both contests.
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