No. 12 MBB Defeats Tarleton, 80-57

Tuesday, December 6

Waco, Texas

7 PM

Baylor

7-2,0-0Big 12

Tarleton

5-4,0-0WAC

Tarleton St.

Baylor

No. 12 MBB Defeats Tarleton, 80-57

12/6/2022 9:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

George, Love combine for 42 points in win over Texans

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Down two starters who have averaged 32 points per game between them, Baylor coach Scott Drew just dipped into his bench and found two replacements who scored a combined 32 points as the 12^th-ranked Bears survived a physical matchup with the Tarleton Texans for an 80-57 win Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.
            With LJ Cryer sidelined with a back injury and Adam Flagler out with illness, redshirt freshman Langston Love and senior Dale Bonner got their first starts of the season and responded with 20 and 12 points, respectively, as the Bears (7-2) won their second-straight and held the Texans (5-4) to a season-low 57 points.
            "Some guys were out, so we had their back just like they have our back when we're playing," said Love, who became Baylor's fifth player to score 20-plus points this season with a new career high. "We wanted to come in and just play hard for them."
            While Love scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half, freshman Keyonte George had a Superman effort in the second half, knocking down three 3-pointers and scoring 18 of his game-high 22 points. Adding six assists and a career-high seven rebounds, George split point guard duties with Bonner.
            "Some of the best shooters miss shots, so that's my mentality," said George, who was 5-of-8 in the second half after missing six of his seven first-half shots. "They can miss shots, I can miss shots. So, getting to the rim, out to the free throw line, and then it starts opening up the game for me, and I was able to make shots."
            Fifth-year senior forward Flo Thamba, making his 73^rd-consecutive start, became the winningest player in program history with his 100^th career victory. The 6-foot-10 Thamba had six points and four rebounds in 17 minutes.
            "Shout out to Flo Thamba for becoming the winningest player in Baylor history," Drew said. "That's a heck of an honor for hm. He's always there. Played with strep throat and gave us all he had tonight. You could see we were under the weather. Adam gave us everything he had against Gonzaga, and unfortunately just couldn't get back for today. LJ woke up, back was tight, and couldn't get loose."
            In a tight first half where neither team led by more than four points until the last four minutes, Love completed a three-point play with 2.8 seconds left to give the Bears their biggest lead at the break, 39-30.
            "Once he took that brace off, he's been a much different player," Drew said of Love, who missed last season with a torn ACL. "He played 35 minutes, I thought we'd be lucky to get 25. If him, Dale and Key could have knocked off a couple of turnovers each, they would have been flawless."
            Tarleton coach Billy Gillispie had to call a quick timeout 4:35 into the second half when Love drained a 3-pointer and then George fed him for a fastbreak dunk off a Texan turnover that stretched Baylor's lead to 49-38.
            "It's really exciting playing with a great passer like Keyonte," Love said. "I knew he was going to hit me, so I just had to finish it off."
            In a game that had 50 fouls called, Baylor won the free-throw battle, knocking down 21-of-29 from the line while Tarleton (5-4) was 16-of-29. The Bears also dominated the boards, 41-23, scoring 24 second-chance points off 17 offensive boards.
            "Second half, we needed to do a better job keeping them off the line," Drew said of the Texans shooting 17 second-half free throws. "For the most part, we did a great job defensively to hold them to 41%. Billy's teams are always going to play hard, so for us to outrebound them 17-9 on the offensive glass and 24-14 on defense, that's a heck of an effort by us."
            Josh Ojianwuna chipped in with eight points and five boards, while West Virginia transfer Jalen Bridges had six points, two blocks and a season-high eight rebounds for the Bears. Shakur Daniels and Tiger Booker scored 13 and 11, respectively, for Tarleton.
            After taking the next 11 days off, the Bears will face Washington State (3-4) in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge at 9 p.m. Dec. 18 in the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Cougars will host Northern Kentucky on Wednesday and UNLV on Saturday before traveling to Texas.