Jayden Nunn had a season-high 25 points to lead a powerful attack as No. 15 Baylor ran past Kansas City 99-61 on Tuesday in Waco, Texas, to stay undefeated.
The Bears (4-0), playing their fourth game in eight days, dominated play in the first half, when they scored 51 points and built an 18-point advantage. The margin grew to 33 late in the game as Baylor reeled off an 11-0 run before its starters went to the bench.
Freshman Ja’Kobe Walter, who on Monday was voted Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, added 23 points for Baylor, with Jalen Bridges scoring 12 and RayJ Dennis hitting for 11. The Bears had 17 more points than Kansas City at the free-throw line and outscored the visitors 39-12 from beyond the arc.
Anderson Kopp led the Roos (2-1) with 15 points while Jamar Brown added 11.
The Bears trailed only in the first 1:06 of the game, sprinting away for a 14-7 lead after a Miro Little fastbreak jumper at the 14:32 mark of the first half. Kansas City closed to within three points just under 1 1/2 minutes later and then to 20-16 after a layup by Brown with 10:44 to play in the first half.
Baylor regained its momentum and expanded its advantage to 39-24 on two free throws by Langston Love with 4:09 remaining in the half. Walter scored the Bears’ final seven points before halftime, hitting four free throws and a 3-pointer to send the home team to a 51-33 lead at the break.
Nunn had eclipsed his season-best scoring total by halftime, when he had 19 points to lead all scorers. Walter added 15 in the half as Baylor outshot the Roos 55.2 percent to 42.4 percent.
After missing all nine of their 3-point attempts in Sunday’s win over Gardner-Webb — snapping a streak of 1,032 games with a made basket from beyond the arc — the Bears were 6 of 12 from long distance in the first half.
Brown hit for 11 points in the half to lead Kansas City, who had a 22-16 edge in points in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media