LAS VEGAS – Scott Drew would probably like to forget those first 10 minutes of the second half in Friday's opening-round game at the Continental Tire Main Event at T-Mobile Arena.
Trailing by three at the halftime break, 16th-ranked Virginia came out on fire, hitting 10 of its first 12 shots, knocking down eight 3-pointers and outscoring No. 5 Baylor, 30-5, en route to an 86-79 win over the Bears (3-1).
"Obviously, there are always going to be spurts in games," said Drew, whose team suffered a rare loss in a regular-season tournament, "but you can't allow 10-minute spurts like that. . . . Those 10 minutes, they really got going. I knew coming in, this was going to be a really hard game."
Baylor led by as many as seven in the first half and was still up 33-30 at the break, knocking down 7-of-17 from 3-point range and getting 13 points from LJ Cryer. But, Armaan Franklin and Kihei Clark both hit treys in the first couple minutes of the second half and took the lead for good.
Franklin scored a career-high 26 points and hit three 3-pointers in that early run in the second half, when the Cavaliers (3-0) turned a three-point deficit into a 22-point lead, 62-40.
"We have to do a better job getting easy buckets," Drew said. "Normally, we get them off of defensive transition, and we didn't get any stops for 10 minutes. So, we didn't have an opportunity to do that. That fuels you. In half court against Virginia, it's hard to score, period."
The Bears didn't have any problem scoring, putting up 46 second-half points and getting four players in double figures, led by freshman Keyonte George and Cryer with 20 and 19 points, respectively. After a tough first half, missing five of his first seven shots, George got 14 points in the second half.
"Just trying to make winning plays . . . whether it's playing defense, getting rebounds, things like that," said George, who scored 20-plus points for the second time in four games. "For me, I started flat, and I had to pick it up for us to have a chance at winning. I was able to have a good last 10 minutes."
Scoring eight unanswered points in less than a minute, the Bears were able to whittle away at the deficit, pulling within 62-48 on a dunk by Caleb Lohner off an alley-oop pass from George. Lohner had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench, hitting all four of his shots when Baylor went to a smaller lineup.
"Early in the year, when you play games like this, you have a chance to let freshmen and first-time guys see what it's like," Drew said, "this atmosphere and playing against quality teams that are Sweet 16, Final Four-type teams. From there, it allowed us to help them grow, see different combinations that maybe allowed us to win right now. Caleb at (post) was a viable option and gave us a good lift."
Adam Flagler hit four 3-pointers and had 15 points and seven assists, pulling the Bears within 68-58 with just under six minutes to play. Dale Bonner had a driving layup to make it a two-score game, 79-73, but the Cavaliers closed it out by hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the last minute.
Virginia shot 65% in the second half (13-of-20), including a sizzling 8-of-12 from outside the 3-point arc. Kadin Shedrick (17) and Ohio transfer Ben Vander Plas (14) also scored in double figures, while Reese Beekman had a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.
Baylor will face eighth-ranked UCLA (3-1) in Sunday's 4:30 p.m. consolation game, while Virginia advances to play 19th-ranked Illinois (4-0) in the championship game at 2. Texas Tech transfer Terrance Shannon Jr. pumped in 26 points for the Illini, who overcame a 15-point second-half deficit to defeat the Bruins, 79-70.