By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor's starting five can certainly stack up with the best in the country, but it's the bench that makes this team so scary good. 
            While the starting backcourt duo of Jared Butler and MaCio Teague were a combined 2-of-13 from 3-point range, sophomore guard Adam Flagler poured in a season-high 19 points and Matthew Mayer had a pair of highlight-reel dunks to help the second-ranked Bears (16-0) remain undefeated with an 84-72 win over the Auburn Tigers Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center. 
            Baylor's seventh win in the Big 12/SEC Challenge was especially sweet for junior guard Davion Mitchell, who had 13 points, seven assists and only one turnover against his former team. Mitchell transferred to Baylor after playing his freshman season at Auburn. 
            "I know this was a tough game, because it was emotional, the team wanted to win it for Davion," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team is 7-1 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and 11-2 combined in conference challenges. "Obviously, Davion wanted to play well. . . . Since they've gotten (Sharife) Cooper back, I think them and Alabama are the two best teams in the SEC."
            Coming off an 88-82 upset of 12^th-ranked Missouri, Auburn (10-8) had won four of its last five and went toe-to-toe with Baylor through the first 20 minutes. Dominating on the glass (27-19), the Tigers never trailed by more than six in the first half and pulled to within 31-30 when Allen Flanigan fed Devin Cambridge for a dunk. 
            But, the Bears closed the half with jumpers by Mitchell and MaCio Teague to take a five-point lead into the break and quickly stretched it to double digits with seven points by Teague in the first two minutes of the second half. 
            "I thought the second half, we started making a couple shots, applying more pressure, getting out in transition, things were just smoother to start," Drew said. "Where first half, we had some good looks, we just didn't make them. And they did such a good job coming down and crashing the glass, it was hard for us to really get in a rhythm."
            When Baylor pushed it to 51-38 on a Mitchell 3-pointer and Butler layup, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl was forced to call a time out. 
            "Butler and Teague and Davion Mitchell and Flagler are all really good," Pearl said, "but I think our guys are good, too. But, that was disappointing. . . . We just didn't guard them in the second half, or at the end of the first half, like I think we are capable of."
            Baylor's defense did a job on Cooper, an outstanding freshman who came in averaging 22.3 points and 8.7 assists per game. He finished with 15 points, but was just 6-of-17 from the floor and 1-of-5 from outside the arc and committed four of the Tigers' 13 turnovers. 
            At times, 6-5 senior forward Mark Vital was defending the 6-1 Cooper on the perimeter. 
            "That's the blessing of having three guys on the Naismith's top 15 (Defensive Player of the Year watch list)," Drew said of Vital, Mitchell and Butler. "Mark, whoever he's on 1 through 5, we always feel great with. We can orchestrate where we start them and who he guards so we can get those matchups."
            Mayer, who has shown flashes, put together one of the best four-minute stretches of his collegiate career in helping the Bears take their biggest lead of the game. The 6-9 junior forward came out of seemingly nowhere to throw down a one-handed dunk off a Butler miss that pumped up the crowd and the Baylor bench. 
            "They really weren't boxing out, so I just went in and got the put-back dunk," said Mayer, who finished with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in 15 minutes. "Jared and I have a competition to see who can get the most dunks on the season, and for some reason he thinks he's going to get more than me. Yeah, he plays more minutes, but come on! Coming down the court, he was like, 'OK, you're beating me now.' And I said, 'I was already beating you.'''
            While a dunk is only worth two points on the scoreboard, Drew said, "the momentum, the energy, the excitement, it just permeates throughout the team."
            "That allows you to build on a run or go on a run, and it just changes the momentum of the game," he said. "Credit Matt, because he's done a great job rebounding. And because of his hard work of going to the glass, it paid off."
            Mayer also nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the stretch, sandwiched around a baseline drive for another impressive dunk as he finished 5-of-9 overall and 3-of-6 from outside the arc. 
            "He's a big-time talent, and he showed that tonight a little bit," said Flagler, who added a season-high eight rebounds. 
            Butler had an off-night shooting, hitting just 1-of-18 from outside the arc, but still finished with 16 points, five assists and two steals. Teague added 15 points for the Bears, while Jaylin Williams paced five double-figure scorers for the Tigers with 17 points and eight boards. 
            Flo Thamba was scoreless (0-for-4), but grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds and helped Baylor bounce back from a minus-8 difference in the first half to tie it up on the boards, 43-43. The Bears had a 20-15 edge in second-chance points and outscored Auburn, 38-16, in bench points. 
             "It was really exciting being out there playing with this group of guys," Flagler said. "Every shot I made was because of my teammates encouraging me and finding me. I just want to thank them for that, because without them, I wouldn't have this season high."
            Baylor returns to conference play to face No. 5 Texas (11-3, 5-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Austin. The Longhorns had their Big 12/SEC Challenge game against Kentucky canceled because of the Wildcats' COVID issues after losing at home to Oklahoma, 80-79, last Tuesday.