No. 13 Baylor has put it all together after a sluggish start to the season.
The Bears will have an even better gauge of their progress on Thursday night when they face No. 22 St. John’s in the first round of the Baha Mar Championship in Nassau, The Bahamas.
The winner of Thursday’s game will play the victor of the night’s second game between Virginia and No. 11 Tennessee in the championship contest on Friday. The losers on Thursday will square off in the earlier game on Friday.
The Bears (3-1) head to the tournament after an impressive 104-41 win at home over Tarleton State on Sunday. Jalen Celestine scored 20 points, and freshman phenom VJ Edgecombe added 17 as Baylor rode a dominant first half to a third straight victory.
Those three wins have been against No. 16 Arkansas at home and then against a pair of overmatched, mid-major teams after the Bears got steamrolled by then-No. 6 Gonzaga by 38 points to begin their campaign.
Jeremy Roach drained four 3-pointers to highlight his 14-point performance against Tarleton State while Robert Wright had 12 points and nine assists. Baylor led by 43 points at halftime and cruised to the win, forcing the shorthanded Texans into 28 turnovers that the Bears converted into 46 points.
The Bears twice reeled off 17-0 runs in the first half, when they outshot Tarleton 67 percent to 29.4 percent.
“We really wanted to make sure we got off to a fast start, and going 9 of 13 from 3 is just what the doctor ordered,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said about the torrid first 20 minutes for his team. “Second half, you’re fighting human nature. We came out and lost the first media (timeout). But after that, really the last 11 minutes, we played a lot better.”
Celestine, a transfer from Cal, finished one point off his career high.
“It’s crazy, because going into the other three games, I wasn’t missing in warm-ups and I couldn’t hit anything,” Celestine said. “(Against Tarleton)I was just able to make some shots, and my teammates thankfully and selflessly kept giving me the ball and putting me in position to score.”
The Red Storm (4-0) travel to the Bahamas to play away from the Big Apple for the first time this season, with St. John’s most recent game an 85-71 victory against New Mexico on Sunday.
RJ Luis Jr. amassed 21 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists to help the Red Storm repel the visitors and give coach Rick Pitino his third win in four career games coaching against his son, Richard Pitino.
St. John’s never trailed after the seven-minute mark of the first half. Deivon Smith added 12 of his 15 points in the first half, when the Red Storm led by as many as 16, and Kadary Richmond collected 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Aaron Scott had 14 points while Zuby Ejiofor added 13 to go with 10 rebounds for St. John’s.
“I think we have greatness potential,” Rick Pitino said. “But we’re just solid now. We’re a good, solid team. You have all new players. You’re not supposed to be great in November.”
–Field Level Media
