By Foster Nicholas | Sports Writer
No. 18 Baylor men’s basketball battled UCF for the first time ever, and behind redshirt sophomore guard Langston Love’s career-high 24 points, the Bears snapped their three-game skid with a 77-69 win on Wednesday in the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Fla.
Love said the team knew it had to close out this game if it came down to a few possessions.
“It’s the Big 12, I think over half the games come down to one possession, and we learned — shoot we learned a lot — three games in a row we learned,” Love said.
After a triple-overtime loss to TCU on Saturday, head coach Scott Drew and the Bears (15-5, 4-3 Big 12) found a way to get back in the win column. Baylor assisted on 19 of 24 made baskets and received 32 points from its bench. The 3-point stroke also returned to nonconference form as the Bears finished 9-of-20 from beyond the arc.
OH MY MISSI pic.twitter.com/2Vms2nAwvO
— Eric Kelly (@EricKellyTV) February 1, 2024
UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins said Baylor’s 3-point shooting was on another level.
“I’d heard a lot about their ability to shoot the basketball, and I watched a lot on tape,” Dawkins, who was seeking his 300th career victory on Wednesday, said. “They were better than I even saw on tape. They really shoot the ball well.”
While Love led the team with 24 points, he also tallied a team-high in rebounds (seven) for the second consecutive game. Love tied career-highs with five 3-pointers and seven made free throws.
Three other Bears finished in double figures, which included senior forward Jalen Bridges (12), senior guard RayJ Dennis (11) and freshman center Yves Missi (11). Dennis also led the team with eight assists and matched freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter with three steals each.
The Knights (12-8, 3-5) started strong, opening the game 4-of-5 from 3-point range and went into the half 8-of-13 from deep. Baylor lost an 8-7 lead with 17 minutes to play and UCF stayed on top all the way to the break, when the score was 38-32.
However, the Bears went on a 31-14 run midway through the second half while only turning the ball over once to retake the lead at the six-minute mark — just over 30 minutes since they had their last lead.
Big shot maker 🎯@lhlv4 #SicEm | #CultureofJOY pic.twitter.com/wy5P4GExdY
— Baylor Men’s Basketball (@BaylorMBB) February 1, 2024
Drew said his group became more comfortable attacking UCF’s defense in the second half, which led to better ball security.
“I just think we got used to their pressure a little more,” Drew said. “And first half, again, they have a top-10 defense in the country for a reason: size, length, athleticism, aggressiveness.”
Love sank 16 points in the final 20 minutes of the game and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line in crunch time. Baylor kept its foot on the gas and stopped a late UCF run to snag the eight-point win.
Dawkins said the Knights knew Love could be a problem but that he found ways to make tough shots.
“We talked about Love [and how] over the last five games he had been playing really, really well,” Dawkins said. “[He’s] been one of their leading scorers and been shooting over 50% from three.
“So when we see that, we ID that player as someone who we have to know where he is at all times, and we lost him a few times. And every time we lost him, he made us pay.”
The Bears will be back in action against No. 12 Iowa State (16-4, 5-2 Big 12) at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the Foster Pavilion.
GREAT WIN @BaylorMBB Way to get back on track and overcome adversity. https://t.co/i8l3U8T6Qo
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 1, 2024
Drew added that the Bears are a few possessions away from potentially being the No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3 team in the nation right now.
“That’s the parity in this league, that’s the parity in college basketball,” Drew said. “So, three possessions from being a top-three team and we just had to keep getting better, and tonight I think we showed some improvement in some areas.”
