By The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Baylor assistant coach Jerome Tang is directing the Bears while head coach Scott Drew is in a 10-day isolation period after testing positive for COVID-19.
So after the second-ranked Bears let Louisiana-Lafayette score 82 points on 52 percent shooting Saturday, Tang said he wasn’t “a happy camper” with the defense. The message got through Sunday against Washington.
Baylor held the Huskies to 36.5 percent shooting, Jared Butler scored 20 points and the Bears rolled to an 86-52 victory Sunday.
Adam Flagler added 17 points, MaCio Teague had 15 points, and Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. Mark Vital had eight points and 15 rebounds.
The Bears outrebounded Washington 50-19 and had 24 second-chance points off 21 offensive rebounds.
“Forget the scoreboard, the way our guys are willing to make winning plays … we don’t give up on plays, it really speaks to the character of the guys, that they’ve bought into being the toughest team on the court,” Tang said. “We have a saying that the toughest team wins, and I think that showed through tonight.”
RaeQuan Battle led Washington with 10 points in its opener. Erik Stevenson and Jamal Bey each had eight.
“We were just a little weak in going to the basket,” Bey said. “This group hasn’t played a lot together. It’s growing pains for sure. Coach always says if you want to be the best, you gotta play the best, and that’s what we did tonight.”
The Bears avenged last season’s 67-64 loss to Washington, also in their second game of the season.
The University of Washington will face UC-Riverside at 1 p.m. today at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The game will be streamed on FloHoops. Washington’s next game will be a Pac-12 contest at Utah on Thursday.
Zags remain No. 1
Gonzaga and Baylor remained Nos. 1-2 in The Associated Press poll released Monday. The Zags received 57 of 63 first-place votes from a media panel and the Bears had six first-place votes. They were the only two teams to hold their places from the preseason poll.
Gonzaga kept the top spot by a commanding margin with impressive wins in Fort Myers, Fla. The Zags (2-0) rolled over Kansas 102-90 and crushed Auburn 90-67 the next day.
“We feel we can score on anybody,” said Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, who had 28 points and 10 rebounds against Auburn. “We’ve got great coaching. If we execute our offense and move the ball and not get stymied, we feel we can score on every team.”
Baylor was forced to drop out of the “Bubbleville” tournament in Uncasville, Conn., after coach Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19. The Bears (2-0) adjusted their schedule and had no trouble playing under assistant coach Jerome Tang, routing Louisiana-Lafayette and Washington.
Villanova fell nine places to No. 12 after losing to Virginia Tech, which moved into the poll at No. 16. Virginia also took a big tumble after losing to San Francisco, dropping 11 spots to No. 15.
