Nov 21, 2001

Box Score

WACO, Texas - Chad Elsey scored 26 points and Lawrence Roberts added 15 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday night as Baylor defeated Texas-Arlington 88-64.

The victory gave Baylor coach Dave Bliss his 500th career win in his 27-year career.

Twenty-one of Elsey's points came off 3-pointers. He was 7-of-12 from 3-point range.

In the 3-point battle that keyed the win, the Bears (2-0) dominated Texas-Arlington (0-2), connecting on 14-of-37 attempts compared to the Mavericks' 4-of-22.

Donny Beacham led Texas-Arlington with 14 points. He and Mack Callier each had nine rebounds.

Baylor shot 35.1 percent (13-of-37) in the first half, while Texas-Arlington hit 9-of-38 shots for 23.7 percent in the first half.

The Bears connected on 21-of-38 attempts in the second half, including 9-of-18 3-pointers.

Bliss has a 500-298 record (.627 winning percentage) at four schools. He is the 92nd coach to win 500 games, and is 18th among active Division I coaches in victories.

Bliss in his third season at Baylor, where he has a 35-27 record.

Before taking over the Bears, Bliss coached at Oklahoma (77-62 from 1975-80), SMU (142-101 from 1980-88) and New Mexico (246-108 from 1988-99). He has been to the NCAA tournament 11 times - seven at New Mexico, three at SMU and one at Oklahoma.

Bliss' first victory was Nov. 20, 1975, when Oklahoma beat Oklahoma City 67-65.