Isaac Williams IV scored a career-high 26 points as Baylor turned a dominating first half into a 109-53 win over hapless Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Friday in Waco, Texas.
The Bears (2-0) scored 27 of the game’s first 31 points on the way to 45-point lead at halftime. Baylor’s combination of swarming defense and domination in the half court overwhelmed Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which shot just 35.3% from the floor for the game (it was at 50% in the second half) and turned over the ball 34 times.
Dylan Mingo added 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Bears, with Kayden Mingo hitting for 13, Elijah Williams scoring 12 and Mayo Soyoye tallying 10. Eleven players scored points for Baylor in the rout.
Macaleab Rich led the Golden Lions with 13 points while Jalen Tatum added 11. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-2) has dropped its first two games by a combined 101 points.
The Bears swamped the visitors from the jump, reeling off the game’s first seven points and building a 17-2 lead when Williams hammered home a dunk at the 12:17 mark after an assist from Kayden Mingo.
Baylor pushed its advantage to 27-4 on Evan Chatman’s steal and dunk with 8:28 to play in the first half. Through the game’s first 11 1/2 minutes, the Golden Lions went just 2 for 12 from the floor and committed 11 turnovers.
Baylor expanded the margin to 31 points on two free throws by Isaac Williams with 5:42 remaining before halftime. The lead ballooned to 50-12 on a 3-pointer by Isaac Celiscar with 1:43 left in the half and to 40 points when Celiscar canned two free throws with 1:11 left.
The Bears went to the break with a 58-13 advantage, their largest halftime lead since 1996. Isaac Williams hit for 18 points for Baylor in the half, five more points than Arkansas-Pine Bluff tallied as a team.
The Golden Lions shot just 20% in the first half and suffered 19 turnovers that Baylor converted into 27 points. Baylor had 14 steals over the first 20 minute of play.
