Baylor
1-0,0-0Big 12
Incarnate Word
0-2,0-0Southland
No. 8 MBB Gets Rings, Rolls to Victory over Incarnate Word
11/12/2021 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
James Akinjo watched Friday night as eight of his Baylor basketball teammates were presented rings and the 2021 national championship banner was unveiled in the rafters of the Ferrell Center.
While Akinjo wasn't a part of that magical 28-2 ride last season, earning first-team All-Pac-12 honors at Arizona, the 6-foot-1 point guard feels like "I know them, like I was on that team."
But, he was one of Baylor's five double-figure scorers in Friday's season-opening 87-60 blowout win over the Incarnate Word Cardinals before a crowd of 8,895.
"It was really cool seeing them recognized for what they did," said Akinjo, who had 10 points and six assists in his first game in a Baylor uniform after stops at Georgetown and Arizona. "I don't think it could have been on a better day. Starting a new season, that's so motivating."
Two other newcomers also scored in double figures, with freshmen Kendall Brown and Jeremy Sochan adding 13 and 10 points, respectively. LJ Cryer hit two 3-pointers and scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, while Matthew Mayer overcame some early foul trouble to pump in a team-high 14 points.
"This is something I know our players and coaching staff will remember a long time," Drew said of a pregame celebration that also included a highlight video from last season. Former players Jackson Moffat and Mark Peterson also returned for the ring ceremony, while MaCio Teague arrived late and was presented his new ring during a media timeout.
"I want to thank all the fans who came out, and the administration did a phenomenal job celebrating the banner drop and ring ceremony."
Once the celebration ended and the game tipped off, it took a while for the defending national champions to look the part. With the Bears (1-0) missing seven-straight shots, Incarnate Word (0-2) went on a 10-0 run and took a 12-6 lead six minutes into the game.
"Obviously, we're all kind of new, so (the team chemistry) is something that we're still working on," said Akinjo, who helped the Bears finish with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 22-10. "As the game went on, we got more comfortable and guys really took pride in doing what we do and everybody moving into their roles. As we keep playing, I think we'll keep getting better."
The Bears dug out of that early hole and took the lead for good when Adam Flagler found Cryer open for a 3-pointer, then closed the half on an 11-2 run to go up 40-28 when Dale Bonner picked off a pass and fed Sochan for a layup.
Akinjo said it "makes my job much easier" having so many weapons.
"Not a lot of pressure on me to score the ball or make plays," said Akinjo, who averaged 15.6 points per game last season at Arizona. "It's so much fun when you can get out in transition and throw it to your guys."
That happened four minutes into the second half, when Brown finished off a fast break with a crowd-pleasing one-handed dunk off a lob from Akinjo, part of a 14-3 run that extended the Bears' lead to 62-41.
"Ever since we got here in the summer, we've always been connecting," said Brown, who was 5-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the line," him getting lobs, backdoors, fast breaks, all this. It was just a matter of time before we got our first one in a real game."
Led by Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, who had six points and 10 rebounds, Baylor dominated the boards in the second half and finished with a 40-25 edge.
Incarnate Word (0-2), playing its second game in three days, had four double-figure scorers and was led by RJ Glasper and Josh Morgan with 17 and 16 points, respectively.
"We started doing a better job defensively, knowing what they're doing and staying locked in," Drew said. "It's tough when you've got five shooters out there. But, I think our depth wore them down a little bit, and we got more disciplined and contested more shots. Then, we were able to get a couple turnovers and did a good job of sprinting out and converting."
After using a nine-man rotation for most of the game, Drew emptied the bench for the last five minutes and had walk-ons Austin Sacks and Mitchell Paul joining Jordan Turner, Zach Loveday and Dain Dainja.
Baylor will play three games in a six-day stretch, hosting Nicholls State at 11 a.m. Monday, Central Arkansas on Wednesday and Stanford next Saturday.
