No. 10 MBB Falls to No. 21 Duke, 78-70, at Madison Square Garden

Wednesday, December 20

New York, NY

6 pm

Baylor

No. 20/19 Duke

No. 10 MBB Falls to No. 21 Duke, 78-70, at Madison Square Garden

12/20/2023 8:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Four Bears reach double figures in scoring

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

NEW YORK – When 10^th-ranked Baylor got punched by Michigan State early, the Bears didn't punch back and was blown out in its first loss of the year.

This time, the Bears punched back.

Facing a double-digit deficit in the first 6 ½ minutes against the No. 21 Duke Blue Devils, Baylor fought back and actually took a six-point lead in the second half. But Duke used a decisive 15-1 run late in the game to hand the Bears their second-straight loss, 78-70, Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

"After the Michigan State game, we were excited to get back on the court," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I thought we competed at a much higher level as far as intensity and toughness. We still didn't execute the way we needed to win a game like this. And the good thing is we've got guys who want to get better and will get better throughout the year."

Freshman Yves Missi had a monster game with 11 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks for the Bears, who fell to 9-2. Jared McCain led five double-figure scorers for the Blue Devils (8-3) with 21 points, hitting 3-of-6 from distance.

"Yves came out rebounding, being physical, being aggressive," said fellow freshman Ja'Kobe Walter, who scored in double figures for the eighth time with 15 points. "We did a lot of rebounding (drills) lately, and he came out and showed that. I just want him to keep it up going on the season because he's a big piece for us."

Duke hit six of its first eight shots and jumped out to an 18-8 lead on a fastbreak layup by Mark Mitchell off an assist from Jeremy Roach.

Still trailing by 10 with 8 ½ minutes left in the half, Baylor went on a 12-0 run and got seven-straight points from Missi. Dantwan Grimes capped it off with a 3-pointer that put the Bears on top, 28-26.

McCain scored 11 in the first half and gave the Blue Devils a two-point lead at the break, 34-32.

In the second half, back-to-back 3-pointers by Walter and RayJ Dennis finished off an 8-0 run and gave Baylor its biggest lead of the night, 48-42.

"The coaches, ever since the last game, have just been preaching to me to be aggressive," Walter said. "I just tried to come out with energy. I knew coming into half, either team could get punched in the mouth. And I just wanted it to be us doing the punching."

The Blue Devils scored nine unanswered points to go back on top, 57-54, but the game was still deadlocked at 61-61 with under six minutes to play and All-American Kyle Filipowski on the bench with his fourth foul.

But backup center Ryan Young sparked the 15-1 run with four points and a kick-out to McCain for a wide-open 3-pointer.

"McCain really hurt us with the 21 points," Drew said, "and I thought that three he hit in the corner by the bench was really big. That one was on us. We did a bad job following the scouting report on that one."

Trailing by 13, Baylor got late 3-pointers by Dennis and Langston Love to at least make the final margin closer.

Dennis led the Bears with 17 points, adding a season-high seven rebounds and four assists, but also had six of Baylor's 14 turnovers. Jalen Bridges gave Baylor a fourth double-figure scorer with 10 points and five rebounds.

Roach was one of six double-figure scorers for Duke with 18 points. Filipowski scored nine of his 13 points in the second half, while Caleb Foster and Mitchell had 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Blue Devils shot 54.2% in the second half and scored 13 points off Baylor's 14 turnovers.

The Bears were trying to avenge an Elite Eight loss to Duke in 2010, but fell to 3-3 all-time at Madison Square Garden and 27-12 versus AP top-25 teams over the last five years.

Returning home, Baylor will play its final game at the Ferrell Center, hosting Mississippi Valley State (0-11) at 6 p.m. Friday.

No. 21/19 Duke 78, No. 10/10 Baylor 70
New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
Dec. 20, 2023

Baylor is 9-2 (0-0) on the season.
Duke leads the all-time series 2-0.
The Bears are 3-3 in Madison Square Garden.
The Bears are 27-12 vs. AP top-25 teams over the last five years, with 16 of those coming away from home.
Baylor is now 26-4 record when faced with a rest disadvantage since 2020-21.
The Bears are 126-102 following a loss under Scott Drew
BU is 2-2 in NBA venues so far this season (2-0 at Barclays Center, 0-1 at Little Caesars Arena and 0-1 at Madison Square Garden).
BU is 15-3 in its last 18 regular-season neutral-site contests (3-2 this year).
Baylor has posted a combined 195-39 record in November and December games during the Drew era, including a 121-17 mark in November and December games since 2013.
The Bears played in front of their largest crowd of the season (18,512).
Baylor's 12-0 run in the first half was its second longest of the year and its longest since a 13-0 run against John Brown on Nov. 11.
BU deployed a starting lineup of RayJ Dennis, Jayden Nunn, Ja'Kobe Walter, Jalen Bridges and Yves Missi for an eighth time this season and fell to 7-1 when starting that lineup.
With 11 points and 10 rebounds, Missi recorded his third double-double of the season, the most in a single-season by a Baylor player since James Akinjo had 3 in 2021-22
With his team-high 17 points, Dennis scored in double figures for the 58^th time in his last 60 games.
Dennis pulled down a season-high 7 rebounds.
Bridges scored in double figures for the sixth time this season.
Walter poured in 15 points scoring in double figures for the eight time this season. Baylor is now 8-1 when Walter scores in double figures.