Baylor has struggled at times with slow starts, unable to overcome them in lopsided losses to Gonzaga and Tennessee.
That certainly was not an issue Monday night, when the Bears (6-3) hit their first 10 from the floor and shot a sizzling 74% in the first half to blow out the visiting ACU Wildcats, 88-57, as head coach Scott Drew's picked up his 470th career win and 450th at Baylor.
"Yeah, we'll take that," Drew said. "That's one thing that's so tough about the game. Sometimes, you get great looks, and they don't go in. Other times, they're going in. That's why offensive rebounding is so critical, because you've got to be able to get second-chance points. … Second half, we came out flat, wasn't a good start. And then, the guys really picked it up and did a great job."
Jayden Nunn was a perfect 4-for-4 from outside the arc and finished with a game-high 18 points, while Josh Ojianwuna finished just shy of a double-double with a career-high 13 points and game-high eight boards for the Bears (6-3), who bounced back from a loss at two-time defending national champion UConn.
Calling the 10-for-10 start "crazy," Nunn said it was "just executing plays the first five minutes of the game, executing plays with a lot of pace. I feel like that's going to get us going, and that's why were 10-for-10, for sure."
ACU coach Brette Tanner called three timeouts in the first 11 ½ minutes, trying to cool off a Baylor team that went on a 17-4 run to go up 31-14 when Ojianwuna fed Miami transfer Norchad Omier for a layup with 7:49 left in the first half.
After Baylor's 10-for-10 start, Nunn missed a jumper at just under 10 minutes left in the first half with the Bears already leading 24-13. Freshman VJ Edgecombe made some highlight-reel plays in the first half, including a pair of dunks off steals, and finished with 14 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists after missing the UConn game with a hamstring injury.
"When you have confidence that your teammate will hit a wide-open shot, that will open up space for you," Ojianwuna said. "Now, when the defense tries to run out to the 3, the post is wide open. So I just have confidence in my teammates that they're going to make good plays every time."
Omier, who was limited in the first half after getting poked in the eye, finished with 15 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes. Redshirt junior Langston Love played some minutes at the "4," or power forward spot, and scored 10 points off the bench while shooting 2-for-5 from distance.
"First of all, everyone's a point guard," Drew said. "So, it doesn't matter, 1 through 4, and you're playing switching defense. If he's going against one of your biggest players, that's a problem for a lot of people to guard him, because he's so good at shooting, so good at driving. And now, that puts a lot of pressure on the defense."
Freshman Rob Wright, making his first career start in place of point guard Jeremy Roach, had his only two turnovers early in the second half and finished with eight points and four assists while handling ACU's press. Roach missed his first game under concussion protocol after having to leave early in last Wednesday's 76-72 loss at UConn.
"He really did a good job," Drew said of Wright. "Abilene's one of the best pressure teams, they force a lot of turnovers, and he handled that pressure and broke down the defense. He got us a lot of easy looks, or got the offense started, and a lot of good things happened because of him."
Leading 46-22 at the break, the Bears gave up 15 points in the first 4 ½ minutes of the second half before switching to a zone defense that turned things around again. Nunn capped off a late 18-2 run with his fourth trey of the night, giving Baylor its largest lead of the game, 88-50.
Junior forward Leonardo Bettiol scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half to lead the Wildcats (6-4), with Quion Williams scoring all 10 of his points in the second half.
Before taking an extended break for final exams and the Christmas holidays, Baylor will face Norfolk State (6-4) in the "Study Break" game at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Coming back from the 16-day break, the Bears will host Arlington Baptist (1-8) on Dec. 27 and then open league play at home against Utah (6-2) at 1 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
