No. 3 MBB Pulls Away from No. 14 UCSB

Friday, March 17

Denver, Colo.

12:30 p.m.

Baylor

23-10,11-7Big 12

UCSB

27-8,15-5Big West

UC Santa Barbara

Baylor

Caleb Lohner goes for the shot against UCSB in Round One

No. 3 MBB Pulls Away from No. 14 UCSB

3/17/2023 2:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Caleb Lohner shines for Bears in win over Gauchos

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            DENVER, Colo. – Almost the forgotten man on the bench, Caleb Lohner hadn't played double-digit minutes in the previous nine games and his only double-figure scoring performance of the year came all the way back in November.
            But on a day when Baylor coach Scott Drew used an extended 10-player rotation to combat any altitude issues, the 6-8 junior forward hit all five of his shots and scored a season-high 13 points to help the third-seeded Bears knock off 14^th-seeded UC Santa Barbara, 74-56, Friday in an NCAA Tournament first-round matchup at Ball Arena.
            "One thing I'll say, it's great to brag about guys when they do the right thing," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team improved to 23-10 with its fifth-straight opening-round win.
            "Caleb, all year long, if he played two minutes or 20 minutes, worked really hard, was a great teammate on the bench. For coaches, it's so rewarding for us when someone does well because they've done the right things, and I know his teammates feel the same."
            After scoring a combined four points in the last month, Lohner scored six in a first-half stretch of a minute and a half and already had eight points by intermission.
            "I think just staying ready, continuing to get better every day, no matter whether I play a few minutes or 20 minutes," said Lohner, a BYU transfer who played in altitude in Provo, Utah. "I want to give all credit to my coaches and teammates, just because I think I was put in great opportunities to be successful. And at the end of the day, God gets all the glory."
            Baylor advances to a second-round matchup on Sunday against sixth-seeded Creighton (22-12), which outlasted 11^th-seeded North Carolina State, 72-63, behind a 31-point outing from 7-foot-1 junior center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Tipoff time and TV information will be released at the end of the first-round games.
            "It's a blessing whenever you win. Thank God for giving us an opportunity," Drew said. "Credit to our guys in the second half for making some adjustments and really dialing in defensively. It helps when you've got veteran guards in Adam (Flagler) and LJ (Cryer), and Caleb really gave us a great lift."
            An oft-maligned Baylor defense took care of business in the second half, forcing eight turnovers and holding the Gauchos to just 20 points. After shooting a sizzling 61.6% (16-of-26) to take a 36-35 halftime lead, UCSB made just 7-of-23 shots in the second half and 2-of-10 from outside the arc.
            "Defense, defense, defense," said Flagler, who had a game-high 18 points and five assists while knocking down 3-of-5 from 3-point range. "We locked in and tried to fly around. We're a high-level offensive team, but we have to pride ourselves on stopping somebody else."
            Freshman Keyonte George, who didn't make his first field goal until almost four minutes into the second half, said "the whole country knows what we're about when it comes to offense."
            "At the end of the day, it's not just an offensive game," said George, who finished with nine points, three rebounds, one assist and a steal. "People saying that we can't guard, we want to prove to a lot of people wrong that we can sit down in a stance, guard and do that."
            Lohner kept the Bears in it in the first half, hitting his first four shots and scoring eight points. After UCSB went on a 13-1 run to go up 26-22, Baylor trailed by just one at intermission, 36-35.
            Reeling off seven unanswered points, including a 3-pointer by Cryer, the Bears took a 46-41 lead when George turned a Flagler steal into a bucket on the other end.
            "The players deserve all the credit," Drew said of the second-half defense. "I thought our bench really did a good job, especially in altitude. Having a deep bench helps in an early-morning game. I thought the second half, they had some good looks, but they were short on shots. Really credit the guys for locking in defensively."
            UCSB was still within seven with under nine minutes to play, trailing 59-52. But starting with a pair of Cryer free throws, the Bears went on a 15-2 run as the Gauchos missed 11 of their last 13 shots.
            "I think they picked up their pressure," said UCSB head coach Joe Pasternack. "And it really bothered us. I think we had eight turnovers in the second half, and it fueled their fast break. They got open shots and really bothered us."
            Cryer chipped in with 15 points, while Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua had four points and a game-high nine boards, helping Baylor win the battle of the boards, 29-23, after getting dominated by Iowa State on the glass in a 78-72 loss in the Big 12 Tournament.
            Miles Morris had 15 and Ajay Mitchell 13 for the Gauchos, who had a seven-game winning streak snapped after a three-game run to the Big West Tournament championship, making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last three years.