No. 2 Baylor Opens Season with Win, Oklahoma State Improves to 2-0
The No. 2 Baylor Bears defeated Louisiana, 112-82, as the Bears snuck off to Las Vegas to get in a couple of games this weekend before venturing off to Indianapolis to prepare for a pair of huge games against Illinois and Gonzaga.
The Bears (1-0) will face Washington tomorrow. Oddly enough, the Huskies were the first team to beat Baylor last season, a game that came at a tournament in Anchorage, Alaska, in the first weekend of the season. The Bears didn’t lose again until late February against Kansas.
Headlines:
➡️ MaCio Teague (21 points) led five Bears in double figures as they won their season opener.
➡️ Cade Cunningham leads three Oklahoma State players in double figures as the Cowboys improve to 2-0.
➡️ Kevin Samuel’s double-double fuels TCU’s second win of the season.
No. 2 Baylor 112, Louisiana 82
Leaders — Baylor: Jared Butler, 18 rebounds, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals; Davion Mitchell, 18 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals; MaCio Teague, 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists; L.J. Cryer, 17 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals; Adam Flagler, 12 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists. Louisiana: Theo Akwuba, 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks; Cedric Russell, 26 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Brayan Au, 16 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.
Records — Baylor (1-0), Louisiana (0-1)
About the game — The Bears ended up canceling their first three scheduled games of the season after head coach Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19 last week. But, the Bears managed to find a place to play in Las Vegas and two games to get themselves prepared for next week’s huge games against Illinois (Jimmy V Classic) and Gonzaga. Drew didn’t make the trip. Long-time associate head coach Jerome Tang coached the Bears on Saturday, and thanks to five players in double figures the Bears cracked more than 100 points for the first time this season. The Bears went with a five-guard alignment, though at 6-foot-9 Matthew Mayer is stretching the term ‘guard.’ But the Bears are searching for their inside game early this season, and off the bench both Flo Thamba (6 rebounds) and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua (7 rebounds) put together promising numbers. And, of course, Mark Vital had 7 rebounds, too. All 10 Bears scored, which is a good sign going into a tougher game against Washington on Sunday. Just as promising were the debuts of Adam Flagler (a transfer who sat out last season) and true freshman L.J. Cryer.
Oklahoma State 85, Texas Southern 65
Leaders — Oklahoma State: Cade Cunningham, 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks; Rondell Walker 19 points, 3 rebounds; Ferron Flavors Jr., 11 points, 3 rebounds; Isaac Likekele, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists. Texas Southern: Galen Alexander, 22 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block; Michael Weathers, 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists; John Walker III, 11 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists; Karl Nicholas, 10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.
Records — Oklahoma State (2-0); Texas Southern (0-2)
About the game — We’re going to have to start getting used to Cade Cunningham having games like this every time out. A few nights after he fashioned his first collegiate triple-double, Cunningham led the Cowboys with 20 points and hit every relevant part of the box score (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks). But the big jump here was Rondell Walker. Another freshman, his 19 points off the bench showed the Cowboys they have another young option when it comes to scoring. Ferron Flavors Jr. is starting to setting into the starting lineup with 11 points, and Likekele put together another fine game. Between he and Cunningham, the Cowboys are proving to have two guards with point guard ability on the floor, and that’s going to open up more options for the Cowboys. We will see if the Cowboys did enough to break into the Top 25 when the new rankings come out on Nov. 30.
TCU 70, Tulsa 65
Leaders — TCU: Kevin Samuel, 16 points, 18 rebounds (career high), 2 blocks; Mike Miles, 12 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists; Francisco Farabello, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals. Tulsa: Brandon Rachal, 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks; Keyshawn Embery-Simpson, 14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Elijah Joiner, 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals.
Records — TCU (2-0), Tulsa (0-1)
About the game — If the Horned Frogs can get this kind of production from Kevin Samuel every game, then the Horned Frogs are going somewhere. A dominant pivot can be somewhat of a rarity in the guard-driven Big 12, and Samuel certainly took advantage of the mismatch on this evening. Momentum can be a powerful thing early in the season, and the Horned Frogs hope to ride that. RJ Nembhard returned to the starting lineup after a one-game absence and scored 8 points. That pushed Mike Miles out of the starting lineup, but the freshman had a fine game off the bench with 12 points. Digging in, TCU would like more games like this out of Francisco Farabello, too. TCU didn’t shoot particularly well (36.4 percent) and had to hold off the Golden Hurricane at the end. But this early in the season the Horned Frogs will take the win.
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