Cryer scores 20 to lead Baylor to win
No. 9 Baylor 89, Nicholls State 60: LJ Cryer is getting his chance to lead host Baylor after the departure of a trio of standout guards from last season’s national championship team. He also has some pretty talented freshmen around him.
Cryer had a career-high 20 points to lead five players scoring in double figures as the Bears rolled over Nicholls State in a rare midday game.
“I’ve always been a scorer, but as far as developing my game, I feel like mentally I’ve grown a lot, just being able to flush out a miss whenever I miss, just move on from that play. Just on to the next one,” said Cryer, who finished 7of-9 shooting with five of Baylor’s 13 3pointers.
Freshman Kendall Brown had 13 points and 10 assists for the Bears (2-0), who had 33 assists on their 37 made baskets. Jeremy Sochan, another freshman, had 14 points, while returning players Adam Flagler and Matthew Mayer had 12 each.
Ty Gordon had 20 points for the defending Southland Conference champion Colonels (3-1). Latrell Jones had 11 points.
“We actually shot it OK in the first half, we were 5 for 9 from 3. We missed a lot of layups. Their length bothered us at the rim,” Nicholls State coach Austin Claunch said. “Against their physicality, it’s hard to finish. And then when you miss, they’re just so explosive in transition.”
Baylor coach Scott Drew said Cryer gets a lot of credit for working hard this summer, and the 6-foot-1 sophomore learned a lot being around Jared Butler, Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague last season.
“That really helped him in going against them every day, made him want better, and he’s been confident from the beginning,” Drew said. “He’s played well from the beginning, and we knew he was going to have a great year because he showed us that.”Marquette 67, No. 10 Illinois 66: Tyler Kolek converted a steal into a go-ahead layup with 18 seconds left and host Marquette forced 26 turnovers for a 67-66 comeback victory over Illinois.
Marquette (3-0) came back from a 12-point deficit in the second half to give new coach Shaka Smart his first signature win, despite going 3 of 9 from the foul line down the stretch.
Illinois (2-1) was clinging to a 66-65 lead when Kolek stole the ball from Trent Frazier at midcourt, maintained his balance and made a layup despite getting fouled. Kolek missed the ensuing free throw, but Kur Kuath stole the ball from Illinois guard Andre Curbelo with three seconds left to thwart the Illini.
Darryl Morsell scored 21 points, Justin Lewis had 17 and Kolek added 12 points.
For the Illini, Frazier had 23 points, including 6 of 10 3-pointers, while Coleman Hawkins scored 13 points and Jacob Grandison 10.
No. 18 Ohio State 89, Bowling Green 58: Five players scored in double figures for host Ohio State, which routed Bowling Green.
After escaping with closer-than-expected wins in their first two games, the Buckeyes started pouring it on early and never allowed the Mid-American Conference squad to get close.
E.J. Liddell and Meechie Johnson each scored 13 points. Zed Key had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Eugene Brown III had a career-high 12.
Chandler Turner led the Falcons with 12 points, and Samari Curtis and Joe Reese each had 11 points.