WACO — Baylor jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first four minutes of the game Monday night and then ran away from the ACU Wildcats in the second half as the Bears knocked off the Wildcats, 88-57, at the Foster Pavilion.
ACU falls to 6-4 on the season, while the Bears – who dropped out of the nation’s Top 25 in Monday’s latest Associated Press poll – improved to 6-3. ACU will return to Moody Coliseum this Saturday after six straight road contests. The Wildcats will host Hardin-Simmons at 6 p.m.
The Bears — who hit their first 10 shots from the field — led 12-3 before ACU cut the advantage to 12-9 as Leonardo Bettiol capped the 6-0 run with a bucket at the 13:52 mark of the first half. But the Bears outscored ACU 17-4 over the next five minutes to take a 29-13 lead with 8:33 left in the first half. V.J. Edgecombe had the final five points in the run, including a fast-break dunk and free throw that forced ACU to take a timeout at 8:33.
After trailing by 24 points at halftime, ACU cut the Baylor lead to 17 points (54-37) with 15:39 left on a jumper by Nasir Degruy, forcing a timeout by Baylor. From that point, the game belonged to the Bears, as they finished the game on a 34-20 run to pull away from the Wildcats.
Bettiol led the Wildcats with 16 points, his sixth straight game with at least that many points. He was 5 of 9 from the floor and 6 of 8 at the free throw line. Quion Williams was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 10, and he also had three rebounds, two assists, and one block.
The Bears had five players in double figures, led by 18 from Jayden Nunn as he hit 7 of 12 from the field, including 4 of 4 from 3-point range. Baylor’s leading scorer, Norchad Omier, had 15 points and six rebounds, while V.J. Edgecombe had 14 points and six rebounds. Josh Ojianwuna scored 13 and picked up eight rebounds, while Langston Love scored 10 points.
