By Gio Gennero | Sports Writer
No. 5 Baylor men’s basketball moved to 2-0 after winning its 2021 NCAA Tournament first round rematch with Norfolk State University 87-70. The reigning Big 12 champs are now 4-0 against the Spartans and improve to 40-3 in non-conference games over the last three seasons.
“We knew they were going to be a well coached and good team, and we knew they would be excited to play us,” head coach Scott Drew said. “Great game for us, the crowd was tremendous, and I thought we learned a lot as a team.”
In his second time suiting up for the Bears, freshmen guard Keyonte George had his coming out party with his 23 points, seven assists, five rebounds, hitting six threes in the process.
Ken Prabhakar | Photographer
“My preparation for every game stays the same,” George said. “I wasn’t feeling it last game, but I was getting my teammates involved. Shots are going to fall, so you just have to control what you can control.”
Redshirt senior guard Adam Flagler wasn’t far behind with 18 points of his own to go along with five assists. Junior forward Jalen Bridges scored in bunches with 20 points, also grabbing five rebounds. These three combined for 61 of Baylor’s 87 points. The Bears forced 19 turnovers and converted those into 23 points.
Both squads started the game swapping a few buckets, and for the first five minutes, it was a single possession game. The game started to open up when George hit back-to-back threes, including a transition pull-up three that resulted in a four-point play, which got the Ferrell Center rocking, as the Bears jumped ahead 13-7. A little less than halfway through the first, the Bears went on a 7-0 run to help take their first double-digit lead of the contest at 26-13.
Ken Prabhakar | Photographer
It became a very defensive back-and-forth battle as the Bears did not score for nearly four minutes. But at the same time, they hadn’t allowed a made field goal for three minutes. George ended the scoring drought, as he continued to pour it on from beyond the arc, hitting his fourth of the game to go up 34-22. With just over three minutes in the half, Norfolk State converted an and-one to cut its deficit to single-digits. The Spartans were able to cut the Bears’ lead to five points around the one-minute mark, but multiple threes from Flagler kept them at arm’s length, 42-34 going into the break.
George led all scorers going into the half with 15 points. George also led the team in assists and rebounds at the half. Flagler followed suit with nine points on three-of-five shooting from three-point land. As a whole, Baylor shot 40% from the field in the first and 38.1% from three. On the defensive end, it forced the Spartans into 11 first-half turnovers, leading to 12 points off of turnovers.
Flagler hit his fourth three of the game to open up scoring in the second half. The next time down the floor, George connected on his fifth of the night and the Bears’ lead increased to double-digits at 48-36. Bridges would then join the run, finishing a layup before getting a block on the other end just to go down and hit a three of his own, as Baylor began to take over the game.
Ken Prabhakar | Photographer
Flagler put the moves on to break down his defender as he finished a tough floater, resulting in a crowd explosion to the tune of a 61-46 Baylor advantage. The Bears continued to roll, remaining in control of the contest the entirety of the second half.
Up next, Baylor hosts the University of Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. Monday in the Ferrell Center.
