Baylor
20-4,8-3Big 12
Kansas State
12-11,4-7Big 12
No. 10 MBB Uses Strong Second Half to Down Kansas State
2/9/2022 9:18:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua leads Baylor with 21 points
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
MANHATTAN, Kan. – Even going back to last year's national championship season, the 10th-ranked Baylor Bears have been far from a one-man team. It seems every night, someone different steps up.
Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua put on his own show Wednesday night, hitting 9-of-10 from the floor and 2-for-3 from the line and scoring 13 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, to lift Baylor to a 75-60 win over the Kansas State Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum.
"We're not a one-man show or a one-man team, and we don't have just one leader," said Tchamwa Tchatchoua, who put an exclamation on his night with a 3-pointer with 22 seconds left. "Every night, we have different guys stepping up and winning games. I'm a leader more by actions and I do stuff to lead by example. It's more like a community, and everyone brings something in."
Coming back from a seven-point first-half deficit, Baylor (20-4, 8-3) tied it up by halftime, never trailed in the second half and built a 15-point lead in the first 7 ½ minutes as the Bears completed the series sweep of the Wildcats (12-11, 4-7).
"Great win, because any Big 12 win is a good one," said Baylor head coach Scott Drew, whose team got blown out 83-59 four days earlier at Kansas. "Especially after the last game we played, we wanted to have a much better performance. First half, we didn't execute as well as we'd like. Second half, I thought we did a great job and looked a lot more like ourselves."
Baylor won the rebounding battle, 39-31, outscored K-State, 40-24 in the paint and scored 13 points off the Wildcats' 15 turnovers. But, the biggest difference was the bench, with Dale Bonner and Jeremy Sochan adding nine and eight points, respectively, as the Bears' three subs scored 38 points.
"I thought our bench was outstanding. Dale and Jon gave us a huge lift," Drew said. "Now, if we can get LJ (Cryer) back, we'll be back whole."
Cryer missed his fourth-straight game with a foot injury, but senior point guard James Akinjo bounced back from a rough game against Kansas, scoring 15 points to go with eight assists and three steals.
"A lot more aggressive," Drew said of Akinjo, who was 0-for-11 in the Kansas game. "Eight assists, did a great job moving the ball. Great players usually don't have two bad games in a row. I didn't expect him to have another performance like he had last game. But, I tell you, for our team to be successful, those eight assists are really important."
Starting with a pair of free throws by Flo Thamba, the Bears opened the second half with an extended 19-4 run as K-State turned it over five times and missed seven of its first eight shots. Akinjo scored nine of his 15 points in that stretch, hitting a 3-pointer and two other buckets before capping the run with a pair of free throws.
After scoring 13 points in the first half, K-State's Mark Smith was held to four second-half points and was 0-for-2 from outside the arc.
"I think we did a much better job on Smith in the second half," Drew said. "I thought he hurt us on penetration in the first half. We had a lot better Smith awareness. I thought the help-side defense was really good as well, which made it tougher to get to the rim. And then, made him pass and let us scramble out."
Nijel Pack, who hit four 3-pointers and poured in a game-high 31 points, scored nine in an 11-2 run that pulled the Wildcats back within six, 55-49. But, the Bears got six-straight points from their bench and went back up by double digits.
"I feel like we were excited to play this game," said Tchamwa Tchatchoua, "and my teammates kept on finding me every time."
Baylor also got 10 points from Adam Flagler and eight points, six rebounds, three steals and a block from freshman Kendall Brown. The Bears outscored the Wildcats, 40-24, in the paint, scored 17 second-chance points and finished with a 13-7 edge in fast-break points.
The Bears play two of their next three at home, hosting 20th-ranked Texas (18-6, 7-4) at 11 a.m. Saturday and TCU (16-5, 5-4) at 11 a.m. the following Saturday, Feb. 19. This Saturday's game is part of a doubleheader at the Ferrell Center, with the No. 10 Baylor women facing West Virginia at 5 p.m.
