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Baylor Bears Toy with Tarleton State Texas 104-41

For perspective, the Bears more than doubled the -29.5 point spread

Author

Michael Nichols
November 17, 2024

Player of the Game

Jalen Celestine had his first breakout game for Baylor with 20 points on 4-7 from deep. His dead-eye shooting warps the defense and punishes even the slightest misstep when his defender steps in to contest one of Baylor’s driving guards. With how Baylor has to split the minutes of Norchad Omier and Josh Ojianwuna, Celestine’s minutes are really crucial.

VJ Edgecombe certainly came away with some highlights (see below), and the trio of Robert Wright III, Jayden Nunn, and Jeremy Roach combined for 37 points. They also had 17 assists to just 6 turnovers. Not bad from your guard trio.

Oh My Moment

Baylor — in man defense, no less — forced consecutive shot clock violations in the first half. Yeah, this isn’t Gonzaga or Alabama, but given where the defense was to start the season, it was good to see a locked in squad on that end.

Oh. Yeah. Probably this, too.

Or this.

When Was the Game Over?

Earrrrrrrllly. Baylor went on a 26-2 run in the first half to effectively slam the door on the a Tarleton team that was, well, short. Literally. For long stretches of this game, Tarleton played lineups that were all 6-3 and under. Facing a team as athletic and big as Baylor, that was never going to end well. They’re starting center (still only 6-6!?) fouled out just two minutes into the second half. Brutal.

But to be even meaner, Drew played the entire game with full-court, man-to-man pressure to the tune of 15 steals and 46 points off turnovers. Come on, Scott. Have a heart! Is it not enough that they’re little!?

Truly, though, this was a non-competitive game from the jump. Baylor’s talent was far superior, but you could also see the team gelling a bit more. Sure, there were still a handful of plays where it looked like some guys miscommunicated on one end or the other. For instance, Josh Ojianwuna and Edgecombe both took the same man on a switch, opening up a lane to the basket for Bubu Benjamin. Luckily, Ojianwuna was able to reach back in and poke the ball away for a steal and a fast break layup by Edgecombe. It’s not something you’d want to see against St. Johns on Thursday, but you like to see the two guys who made the mistake finishing the play with a couple of highlights.

If the man defense can be this physical and handsy in the coming games, then maybe this team has a chance to be respectable on that end.

Quote of the Night

I can’t layup the ball. I gotta dunk everything. If I try to dunk everything, it scares them, then they’re not going to jump no more, then I get layups.

VJ Edgecombe, on his approach to layups:

Notables

  • 15 steals + 15 threes + 22 assists is pretty nasty

  • Nunn hit the big 1K in total career points

  • Baylor ended the 27-8 run the last 8 minutes, and had a 26-2 run over ten minutes in the first half

  • Tarleton’s 41 points were the fewest allowed by Baylor since holding Villanova to 36 points in 2021 and effectively ending the Jay Wright era in Villanova.