No. 12 MBB Takes Down Nicholls, 85-56

Wednesday, December 28

Waco, Texas

7 PM

Baylor

10-2,0-0Big 12

Nicholls

6-7,1-0Southland

Nicholls

Baylor

No. 12 MBB Takes Down Nicholls, 85-56

12/28/2022 6:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

George, Flagler combine for 41 points in final pre-conference tune-up

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Scott Drew joked that his 12^th-ranked Baylor team was "in the holiday spirit," gifting the visiting Nicholls Colonels with 18 turnovers in Wednesday's matchup at the Ferrell Center.
            But, the defense more than made up for it, forcing 20 turnovers, blocking six shots and holding Nicholls to 37.1% shooting in blowing out the Colonels, 85-56, in the final pre-conference tune-up before Saturday's Big 12 opener at Iowa State.
            "When you're coming back from Christmas break, you're always concerned," said Drew, whose team improved to 10-2 with its fifth-straight win, "especially when you're playing a real quality opponent. Nicholls has won conference two years in a row . . . We've got to do a better job taking care of the ball. Other than that, we did a lot of good things."
            Playing without junior guard LJ Cryer, who was in concussion protocol, the Bears still got plenty of production from its backcourt. Keyonte George and Adam Flagler scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, while redshirt freshman Langston Love came up big with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 2-of-3 from outside the arc.
            "Langston, I thought, was real proficient. He took high-percentage shots," Drew said. "Seventeen points on six shots is really good. I know defensively, he's improving, and he had two offensive boards."
            Freshman forward Josh Ojianwuna also came up big for Baylor, recording his first-career double-double and career highs of 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
            "He's a hard worker, and hard work always pays off in the end," Love said of Ojianwuna. "It's showing on the floor for him, and I'm happy for him."
            The seven-day break for Christmas certainly didn't bother the Bears. They jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first six minutes, going up 14-3 on a pair of free throws by George.
            "We just wanted to come out there and have a good start," said Flagler, who hit three 3-pointers en route to a 12-point first half. "We haven't been doing that in all these games, so we wanted to just go out there and punch them in the mouth early and finish strong at the end as well."
            Baylor had a 14-point lead at the half, but the visiting Colonels (6-7) hit five-straight shots and went on an 8-0 run to pull within single digits early in the second half. They beat the Bears down the field for back-to-back fastbreak buckets and closed to within 47-41 on a nifty inside hook by forward Manny Littles.
            After Flagler and George combined for seven unanswered points, Nicholls stayed within striking distance when guard Lance-Amir Paul completed a three-point play with a layup and free throw to make it a 12-point game, 58-46.
            Ending a five-minute drought from the field, Baylor answered with a decisive 20-2 run and took command, 78-48, that started with 10-straight points by the freshman trio of George, Love and Ojianwuna.
            "Coach just brought us into the huddle, and we all spoke our thoughts on what was going on," Flagler said. "(The coaches) just did a great job of making adjustments, and we were ready to adapt. At the end of the day, they made their runs, it's a game of runs. And we knew that. We just wanted to come back out and make our run as well."
            Making up for the loss of Cryer, Baylor got big production from the backcourt trio of George, Flagler and Love and a solid floor game from Dale Bonner with six assists and no turnovers.
            Latrell Jones and Caleb Huffman were the Colonels' only double-figure scorers with 18 and 11 points, respectively, while Micah Thomas was held to just two points and a 1-for-9 shooting night. The Colonels were outrebounded, 45-34, and made just 2-of-18 from 3-point range.
            "We did some things that we're not coached to do," Nicholls coach Austin Claunch said. "We overhelped a little bit. They're such a good shooting team, they make great decisions. When we did make mistakes, they buried us. They didn't let us off the hook."
            Baylor opens Big 12 play with a matchup against Iowa State (9-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Ames. The Cyclones had a Dec. 20 game against Omaha canceled because of weather conditions and haven't played since a 73-57 win over Western Michigan on Dec. 18.
            "I think every coach wishes he had a couple of more practice days before the Big 12 starts, but that's what makes it fair and equal," Drew said. "We know how tough the Big 12 is. . . . The good news is that each and every night, there are no bad losses. There are a lot of quality-win opportunities."