WACO, Texas -- Jared Butler and Baylor's guard-oriented lineup quickly helped ease Coach Scott Drew's usual nervousness about a season opener.
There wouldn't be another upset.
Butler scored 30 points with a career-high eight three-pointers, MaCio Teague had 18 points and 10 rebounds in his Baylor debut and the No. 16 Bears opened Drew's 17th season by scoring the first 19 points on the way to a 105-61 victory over the University of Central Arkansas on Tuesday.
"It's a great feeling [after] last year and what happened, and how we felt going into the locker room after the game," Butler said, referring to last year's opening loss to Texas Southern. "Man, it's great that we got off to a great start. I think it's really important. But with that being said, it doesn't matter how you start, it's how you finish."
Baylor overcame several injuries and won 20 games last season, getting to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Big 12 coaches picked them this preseason to finish second in the conference behind Kansas.
"In these Power 5 games, we've won one ... you know the reality of it. You never go into the game thinking that you don't have a chance because basketball's a funny game," sixth-year UCA Coach Russ Pennell said. "But I think the thing that we try to do in these games is try to find the good minutes."
Baylor's first five baskets were scored by five different players, including transfer starters Teague and Davion Mitchell. The game began at 11 a.m. -- no other college basketball game started earlier on the first day of the season -- and was played before a crowd filled mostly with elementary school students.
"Won't guarantee we'll always shoot 55 percent, but when you do and you have 25 assists and you defend and rebound like we did today, obviously not a lot to be upset with," Drew said.
Teague, a transfer from UNC-Asheville who had to sit out last season, had four three-pointers.
"I was pretty anxious going into the game. I had a little bit of trouble sleeping last night," Teague said. "But it felt great to go out there and join the team, join my brothers and play against a different team."
Devonte Bandoo added 15 points and Freddie Gillespie 14 for Baylor, which shot 56% overall (40 of 71) and finished with a 51-30 rebounding edge. Baylor shot 55% on three-pointers, the 18 (of 33) being the most in a home game and two short of the overall school record.
Rylan Bergersen, a transfer from BYU, had 17 points in his UCA debut. Eddy Kayouloud added 13 points and top returning scorer Hayden Koval had 12.
"I thought some guys played well, but we have to get more of them playing well," Pennell said in a news release. "I thought they did play hard. I told them I was proud of that. I didn't think we backed down. But you spot a Power 5 team 20 or 22 points, you spotted them something that is almost insurmountable, it really is. You're probably not going to come back from something like that.
"So I think the whole thing in these type games is finding your way to play a standard of basketball that you know in the Southland Conference can win. And every coach in our league is looking for that in these type of games. There's a reason Baylor is 16th in the country. There is a reason they have the facilities they have and they are on TV all the time. They're a Power 5 team. But it doesn't mean that we can't come in and compete with them, but we also need to keep it in perspective as we go through this."
NO. 5 LOUISVILLE 87,
MIAMI 74
CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Jordan Nwora's 23-point performance included four three-pointers and a throwdown dunk in Louisville's season-opening victory.
The Cardinals are touted as a potential Final Four team, and they lived up to the hype with a rout on the road against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.
Nwora, the preseason ACC player of the year, shot 8 for 16 and had 12 rebounds in 31 minutes.
McMahon and Dwayne Sutton had 16 points apiece for the Cardinals, who shot 54%.
Chris Lykes had 18 points and DJ Vasiljevic scored 16 for the Hurricanes.
NO. 6 FLORIDA 74,
NORTH FLORIDA 59
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Kerry Blackshear Jr. had 20 points and 10 rebounds in his Florida debut, and the Gators beat North Florida.
Blackshear, who came to Gainesville after four years at Virginia Tech, added three assists and two steals.
Scottie Lewis finished with nine points, five rebounds and two assists in his college debut. Tre Mann had 11 points and four boards.
Noah Locke chipped in 14 points for the Gators.
NO. 7 MARYLAND 95,
HOLY CROSS 71
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Jalen Smith had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Darryl Morsell scored 15 and Maryland defeated Holy Cross.
Taking full advantage of their height and depth, the Terrapins placed four players in double figures, finished with a 47-33 rebounding advantage and scored 64 points in the paint.
Freshman guard Drew Lowder scored 24 for Holy Cross, playing its first game under Coach Brett Nelson.
NO. 8 GONZAGA 95, ALABAMA STATE 64
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Corey Kispert scored a career-high 28 points as Gonzaga used a second-half surge to beat Alabama State.
Filip Petrusev added 15, Admon Gilder scored 12 and Ryan Woolridge had 11 for depleted Gonzaga, which is down to nine scholarship players. The Bulldogs have won 16 consecutive season openers dating to 2003.
NO. 12 SETON HALL 105, WAGNER 71
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- Myles Powell scored 27 points to lead Seton Hall to the win without Coach Kevin Willard.
Seton Hall announced a week ago that the NCAA is investigating the program and Willard would be sitting out two games.
Quincy McKnight added 10 points and seven assists for Seton Hall.
NO. 13 TEXAS TECH 85, EASTERN ILLINOIS 60
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Newcomer Jahmi'us Ramsey led Texas Tech with 19 points as the much-changed Red Raiders opened the season by beating Eastern Illinois, seven months after playing in the national championship game.
Davide Moretti, the only returning starter from last season's team that lost in overtime to Virginia in the title game, had 11 points.
TJ Holyfield scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting for Tech, and fellow newcomer Terrance Shannon Jr. scored 11 points.
NO. 14 MEMPHIS 97,
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 64
MEMPHIS -- James Wiseman, the nation's top-rated recruit, had 28 points and 11 rebounds for Memphis.
Fellow freshman Precious Achiuwa added 14 points and eight rebounds.
NO. 15 OREGON 71,
FRESNO STATE 57
EUGENE, Ore. -- Payton Pritchard scored 24 points, Chris Duarte added 16 in his first game with Oregon and the Ducks beat Fresno State.
Duarte looked sharp in his first game as a junior college transfer, and teammate Francis Okoro added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Nate Grimes led the Bulldogs with 13 points.
NO. 17 UTAH STATE 81, MONTANA STATE 73
LOGAN, Utah -- Sam Merrill scored 28 points and Utah State got past Montana State.
Alphonso Anderson and Justin Bean each added 13 points for the Aggies. Utah State overcame 37.7% shooting from the field to hold off the Bobcats by getting to the line.
Harald Frey led Montana State with 34 points on 10-of-20 shooting.
NO. 19 XAVIER 76, JACKSONVILLE 57
CINCINNATI -- Tyrique Jones had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Naji Marshall also scored 17 and Xavier beat Jacksonville.
Paul Scruggs scored all 12 of his points in the first half, including a pair of three-pointers, to help the Musketeers build a 21-point lead at the break. Bryce Moore's three off an assist from Scruggs put Xavier ahead 41-22 late in the half.
Xavier freshman Zach Freemantle scored 11 points in his debut, including a two-handed dunk for his first points.
NO. 20 SAINT MARY'S 65, WISCONSIN 63, OT
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Jordan Ford scored 26 points, Malik Fitts added 16 and Saint Mary's hung on to beat Wisconsin in overtime.
Freshman Kyle Bowen hit 1 of 2 free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining for the Gaels, and Wisconsin had a chance to win it, but Aleem Ford's deep three-pointer at the buzzer was short.
Nate Reuvers tied a career high with 22 points and Brad Davison scored 16 for Wisconsin.
NO. 24 AUBURN 83,
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 74
AUBURN, Ala. -- Samir Doughty scored 20 points to lead No. 24 Auburn over Georgia Southern.
The Tigers, coming off their first Final Four trip last season, could never quite pull away from the Sun Belt Conference's Eagles. But Doughty made five of six free throws over the final 1:09 to avoid a late scare.
Auburn took a 61-48 lead eight minutes into the second half with Danjel Purifoy's three-pointer punctuating a quick eight-point flurry.
Austin Wiley had 13 points and 9 rebounds for the Tigers, and Purifoy also scored 13. Freshman Isaac Okoro scored 12 points in his debut. New point guard J'von McCormick had nine points and four assists.
NO. 25 VCU 72, ST. FRANCIS 58
RICHMOND, Va. -- Marcus Santos-Silva had 21 points and 18 rebounds and No. 25 VCU used a big early run to take command against St. Francis.
De'Riante Jenkins added 16 points and Marcus Evans scored 12 for the Rams.
Isaiah Blackmon scored 15 and Keith Braxton had 11 for the Red Flash.
Sports on 11/06/2019