This one went about as expected. Baylor came out and locked San Diego down right out of the gate, combined with a deadly efficient offense. The Bears held San Diego scoreless for two stretches of three minutes and one of four minutes in the first have. The basket was not the Toreros' friend in the first half, allowing Baylor to easily moonwalk away in the first 20 minutes.
With eight minutes to go in the game, Baylor's lead was statistically safe, though it felt like they were good to go much earlier. After holding San Diego to an efficiency in the 70s in the first half, Baylor's defense cooled off a bit with the game out of reach and San Diego finished with an ORtg of 97.3. It didn't matter. The Bears did their work early and simply coasted to the finish line, using the second half as more of a training session than a game.
Baylor is ridiculously long and even more ridiculously athletic. They run a bunch of guys out at or above 6-foot-10 with LaceDarius Dunn and A.J Walton running the show at guard. That length and athleticism is incredibly apparent on the defensive end, where Baylor runs a active zone, covering a ton of ground to close out on the ball-handlers and shooters. You'd think a team could shoot over the zone, but the speed at which Baylor plays, and the sound rotation employed, makes gaps that look enticing vanish at the snap of the fingers.
Tomorrow should be interesting and a heck of a test. I can't wait.
Klay Thompson Player Of The Game: LaceDarius Dunn. 13 points, three assists, three steals, three rebounds. Dunn makes the show go and the show went well.
Right Hand Men: Perry and Anthony Jones. Perry: 11 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Anthony: 16 points, five rebounds. Both were all over the place, disrupting San Diego on the defensive end and doing work on the offensive end. These two are a nightmare.
Unsung Hero: A.J. Walton. The other guy that makes the show go as a distributor. Walton finished with eight points and five assists.
Play Of The Game: Twice Quincy Acy went up high to grab a pass, but instead of dunking he came back down and popped straight back up without reloading, finishing with a flush. It's small, but it was pretty dang impressive to see.
It Was Over When: Baylor stepped onto the floor? How bout when Baylor ended the first half on a 22-8 run. This was over by the times hit the locker room for orange slices.
Stat Of The Game: In the first half, Baylor had an offensive efficiency rating of 164.4. That's stupid good. They finished with an OE of 145.6.
Check out CougCenter's full coverage of the Diamond Head Classic here.