By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
No. 9 Baylor men’s basketball moved to 2-0 with the help of a career-high performance from sophomore guard LJ Cryer, who had 20 points in the Bears’ 89-60 win over Nicholls State University on Monday in the Ferrell Center. Baylor is now 27-1 in its last 28 games at home, with a current streak of 15 in a row.
Around 3,000 elementary students from 14 local elementary schools were in attendance for the I’m Going to College Day event, which highlights the benefits of higher education by exposing students to Baylor’s environment.
“It was definitely different,” senior guard Adam Flagler said. “They brought the energy, they were really loud from warmups to the end of the game. We felt the energy and played to it.”
The defending champs assisted on 33 out of their 37 made field goals as they poured in 13 three-pointers, five coming in from Cryer. Freshmen forwards Jeremy Sochan and Kendall Brown finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Brown was one rebound shy of a triple-double, as he also tacked on 10 assists and nine boards. Head coach Scott Drew said Brown lets the game come to him and is getting stronger as a player coming back from an injury.
“[Brown] does a tremendous job keeping things simple,” Drew said. “He really lets the game come to him. Very efficient player, statistically what you see is what you get. Doesn’t shoot a lot, but when he does, he usually makes it. He makes the right passes, an elite defender and does a good job on the glass and he’s getting stronger. A double-double is outstanding, one away from a triple-double is tremendous obviously.”
Cryer was hot from the start as he had seven points in the first seven minutes of the game. The Bears’ suffocating defense allowed them to maintain their grip on this one from the start. The offense was efficient as well, hitting 10 of their first 14 field goal attempts to lead 25-11 early. Soon after, multiple Bears connected from deep as Baylor went on a 12-0 run to extend the gap even further.
After jumping ahead early, the Bears never looked back as they had control of the game and momentum for majority of the contest, increasing the margin to 73-43 in the second half. Baylor rolled on to a 29-point win. Last season, Nicholls State won their conference, but Sochan said the team was not worried despite Nicholls being a solid team.
“We weren’t really worried,” Sochan said. “We had to respect them and play our game. We did that and followed the scout and we won.”
After a slow start last game, Flagler said the team was more comfortable this game which is why they were hot from the start.
“We just had to get the jitters out,” Flagler said. “Last game was the first game, so of course we were going to look a little rusty. Today looked like our fifth game. We just come out there and play for each other, leave it all on the line and hope for the best.”
Up next will be a battle of the Bears, as Baylor will host the University of Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Ferrell Center.
