Associated Press
By The Associated Press
WACO — Quite a few doubles for ninth-ranked Baylor.
Quincy Miller and Quincy Acy both had double-doubles and the Bears won their second game in less than 24 hours, 75-65 over Texas-Arlington on Wednesday night.
Miller, the freshman, had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Acy, a senior, had 10 points and 11 rebounds with six blocked shots. They were among five players scoring in double figures for Baylor (5-0).
It was the first career double-double for Miller, who had been the leading scorer for the Bears in each of their first three games before being held to only five points in a 70-50 victory over South Carolina State on Tuesday night. Though he was only 3 of 9 from the field, Miller made 11 of 12 free throws against the Mavericks.
“Last night I was disappointed in the way I played, so I just wanted to come out and give my best effort in this game, definitely,” Miller said. “I was just getting to the line because they kept fouling me and fouling me.”
Pierre Jackson added 16 points for the Bears, while Brady Heslip had 12 points on four 3-pointers and Cory Jefferson scored 10 points with seven blocks.
Baylor’s game Tuesday started just after 9 p.m., while Wednesday’s game was done by about that same time.
Now, Bears coach Scott Drew is giving his players three days off for Thanksgiving before they return to practice Sunday.
LaMarcus Reed III had 21 points with four 3-pointers to lead Texas-Arlington (3-1), which was also coming off a Tuesday night victory at home. Bo Ingram had 14 points.
The Mavericks won 97-64 over North Texas on Tuesday night, when they went on a 32-0 run. But they weren’t able to put together any big spurts like that against a bigger Baylor team.
Texas-Arlington was outrebounded 49-33 and Baylor also had a 21-10 advantage in second-chance points.
“I feel like we have a lot of offensive weapons. Unfortunately, tonight we didn’t play with the energy and enthusiasm that we had last night,” UTA coach Scott Cross said. “It was unbelievable last night, the energy and intensity that we had. … You go against one of the best zones in the country, that can stymie you a little bit.”
Heslip hit a 3-pointer from the right side off an inbounds pass from A.J. Walton with about 12 minutes left, then soon after that Miller made a pass to Acy for a one-handed slam and a 55-39 lead.
Texas-Arlington was averaging 48 rebounds a game before getting outdone by Baylor.
“It sounds like a broken record. We keep getting outrebounded and there’s no excuse for that,” Acy said. “We really focused on that tonight, and took it personal as far as boxing people out and going to get rebounds.”
Playing again so quickly probably had an effect on the ragged start for both teams.
Baylor missed its first eight shots before Heslip’s 3-pointer made it 4-2 almost 4 minutes into the game. The Mavericks missed their first five shots before Ingram’s long jumper on the next possession tied the game.
Texas-Arlington did get out to an 11-9 lead after Bradley Gay’s fast-break layup. After Jackson’s turnover with 12:49 left, Drew reinserted four starters who were getting a breather on the bench.
The Bears then scored 14 consecutive points.
Cory Jefferson, the only non-starter still on the court, made a turnaround jumper with 12 minutes left to tie the game at 11 before an impressive segment by Acy.
After Acy swatted away Cameron Catlett’s shot, Heslip took the ball up the court and passed to Walton, who got the ball back to Acy in the lane. Acy drove to the right side of the basket for a short hook for a 13-11 lead with 11:47 left that put Baylor ahead to stay.
Baylor had stretched to lead to 23-11 before Reed made a 3-pointer with 8:15 left, when he fell down in front of the Baylor bench on the right side after letting go of the shot. That was the first of a pair of 3-pointers and another long jumper for Reed in a span of only 66 seconds to cut the gap to 25-19.
The Bears played their last game without preseason Big 12 player of the year Perry Jones III, the 6-foot-11 sophomore forward who had to serve a six-game NCAA suspension for accepting improper benefits before he got to Baylor. The suspension started in Baylor’s final game last season.
Jones will be eligible to return Tuesday at home against Prairie View, the last of six consecutive home games for Baylor to open the season.
“That brings a smile to everybody’s face. I think that shows you’ve got to have a team — to be 5-0 without the preseason player of the year in the Big 12 says something,” Drew said. “Now we’ve got to get him acclimated and get him back and help build that chemistry.”
