Dennis, Bears surge into semifinals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Baylor got to experience the downside of earning a double-bye in the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday night: a slow start when the Bears were finally able to step on the floor against Cincinnati for the quarterfinal round.
The Bearcats experienced the downside of having played in the opening round: tired legs from three games in three days.
The No. 14 Bears eventually got going in the second half, when Rayj Dennis and Jalen Bridges scored the majority of their points, and Cincinnati finally faded in the closing minutes, allowing Baylor to earn a 68-56 victory and a spot in the semifinals.
The tournament’s No. 3 seed advanced seventhranked Iowa State late Friday for a spot in the championship game.
“Unfortunately there’s a lot of teams that want to win,” said Bears coach Scott Drew, whose team has never raised a trophy at the end of the conference tournament. “The second half is how we’re going to have to play tomorrow and moving forward. We probably aren’t going to survive if we play another half like we did in the first half.”
Dennis led the way for Baylor with 13 points, Bridges had 12 points and eight boards, and Yves Missi also had 12 points as the Bears (23-9) advanced to their eighth semifinal since Drew took over the program.
Dan Skillings Jr. had 15 points for the No. 11 seed Bearcats (20-14). John Newman III and Jizzle James added 12 apiece.
The Bearcats were forced to begin their Big 12 Tournament march against West Virginia on Tuesday, a high-scoring affair in which they expended a load of energy. But they still bounced back the following night to rout No. 16 Kansas, taking advantage of a team missing Allamerican candidates Hunter Dickinson and Kevin Mccullar Jr.
Tired legs — and perhaps tired minds — finally seemed to show up for the Bearcats in the second half.
When they weren’t turning the ball over with sloppy passes and slippery fingers, they were hoisting up shots that continually came up short. Cincinnati looked a step slow on defense, too, where Dennis shook off a 0-for-7 first half from the field by hitting a series of floaters before draining a 3-pointer that gave Baylor a 47-33 lead with 1 ½ minutes to go.
The Bearcats, who struggled against the Bears’ zone defense in the second half, managed to put together a 10-0 run to get back in contention but could never regain the lead.