By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
Halloween is the time when the supernatural comes into the spotlight, but Baylor men’s basketball showed the Northwestern State Demons that they were two days too late to emerge victorious.
The Bears (1-0) dispelled the Demons (0-1) 87-56 Monday night behind a strong start from the Bears’ offense beyond the arc.
Freshman guard Dylan Mingo came out of the gate aggressive on both sides of the floor. He scored 6 of the Bears’ first 11 points while also terrorizing the Demons in full court pressure to generate a pair of steals.
“His defense, the great thing is he does it on usually the other team’s best player,” head coach Scott Drew said. “He’s an all-conference-type level defender.”
Mingo’s playstyle led him to find the floor multiple times, whether it was diving for a free ball or making contact in the paint. While he got well acquainted with the hardwood, he wants to distance himself from falling.
“The floor is not your friend,” Mingo said. “My parents just told me to stay off the ground, so I got to do better than that.”
After it jumped out to a 21-4 lead behind a 3-pointer and jumper from junior guard Brett Decker Jr., Baylor pushed the ball down low. Junior guard Isaac Williams IV and sophomore guard Kayden Mingo converted on two tough finishes resulting in a foul, lighting up the Foster Pavilion crowd.
The focus on the paint allowed the floor to open for the Bears as the first half progressed. Decker found himself on the receiving end, hitting all three of his shots from downtown to lead the team with 11 points going into halftime. Williams dishes the ball out on a pair of Decker’s 3-balls.
Drew recognized Decker is well on his way to competing for some of Baylor’s 3-point records.
“[He] reminds me a little bit of Brady Heslip,” Drew said. “The all-time shooting records, he’s chasing those
Freshman forward Elijah Williams and Kayden Mingo both hit a 3-pointer.
The Bears’ offense began to struggle as halftime neared despite leading 48-26 with four minutes remaining. Baylor scored four points in the final stretch of the first half while turning the ball over four times. The Bears’ up-tempo offense led to multiple loose balls and knocked them off the rhythm they had to begin the contest.
“We were getting the shots we want sometimes,” Decker said. “We just got to take care of the ball better. Just get in the paint and make the right reads and be strong with the ball.”
Baylor still went into the locker room with a 50-32 lead on 60% shooting from the field and 50% from 3.
The start of the second half did not go as planned for the Bears. Fifth-year center Caden Powell received a technical foul for throwing the ball into an opposing player’s chest after a jumper from junior forward Isaac Celiscar. The officials shortly after called a foul on Kayden Mingo for diving into a scrum for a loose ball.
Baylor also slowed down from beyond the arc. The Bears shot 1-for-11 from deep through the first 10 minutes but still held a 63-46 lead.
“In the second half, even at the end of the first half, we just let up,” Dylan Mingo said. “We kind of got complacent.”
The Bears’ offense remained quiet for most of the second half. Baylor missed six field goals in a row before Elijah Williams caught a lob and slammed the alley-oop to revitalize a hushed home crowd.
Decker broke his streak of four straight missed 3-pointers in the second half with a pair of catch-and-shoot treys with under six minutes left to put the Bears in front 80-56.
Monday marked the 11th time Decker made five or more 3-pointers in a game.
Baylor’s defense shut down the Demons from 3-point land throughout the second half, holding them to a 0-for-6 clip. Northwestern State relied on getting to the basket, scoring 12 of its 26 points from the paint. It also shot from the free throw line 17 times in the half.
Sophomore forward Maikcol Perez closed out the 22-point victory with his first collegiate bucket after suffering a season-ending injury last year.
He joined a group with Powell, sophomore center Mayo Soyoye and junior center Juslin Bodo Bodo, who were uncertain about their futures before this season. All four made an impact Monday.
“He’s come a long way, and happy to see him,” Drew said. “[I’m] happy to see [Bodo Bodo]. I mean, Mayo was injured for a long part this summer. [Powell] hadn’t been eligible. A lot of things just came together with the start of the season.”
The Bears will take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 4 p.m. Friday at Foster Pavilion.
