Baylor Basketball: Bears shooting impressive in beatdown of Central Arkansas

Baylor Basketball played in the first official game of the 2019-20 season. They used that opportunity to send a message to everyone else.

For NCAA Basketball fans desperate to see some real games, more eyes were usual were on the noon contest between No. 16 Baylor Basketball and Central Arkansas, a mid-major team likely destined for a mid-tier finish in the Southland Conference this season. The results showed right away, with the Bears starting the game off with a 19-0 run and holding the Bears scoreless the first six minutes.

It was never truly a competitive game, with Baylor scoring 50+ points in both halves to win by a final score of 105-61. Jared Butler had a career-high 30 points to lead all scorers on 10-14 (8-12 from deep) shooting. The Bears had 16 made threes total and shot 56% from the field as a team, 20 points higher than what Central Arkansas can do.

There’s not a huge amount to take away, considering the talent disparity of the teams involved. But I still did notice some things that we should keep in mind going forward for Baylor Basketball.

Devonte Bandoo was the most impressive player

All four rotation guards for the Bears had a good game. Butler’s barrage from deep made everyone who pegged him as a breakout star very happy, while transfer MaCio Teague had a great first game with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Auburn transfer Davion Mitchell was happy being a facilitator (five assists) and an asset on the defensive end.

But the guard who I thought really showed himself well was Bandoo, who scored 15 points and grabbed six boards off the bench. Like last year, the former JUCO star looks to be the sixth man for Baylor and first guard off the bench. He was very sporadic at times, which affected his playing time during the middle last season. If he can play at a high-level consistently off the bench, Baylor will be in great shape overall and can continue using three-guard lineups as they did in this game.

The frontcourt wasn’t needed…. this time

The return of Tristan Clark from last season’s injury was anything but notable. The starting forward played just five minutes in the first half while dealing with foul trouble and finished with more fouls (4) than points scored (3). Reserve forward Mark Vital also was plagued with fouls and had just six points on 2/7 shooting as well. Ultimately, the guards for the Bears didn’t need any help in this one but I can’t help but wonder if this is a concerning sign.

Central Arkansas has little to no size themselves but still managed to cause foul trouble for Baylor. Small mid-major schools don’t have the ability to capitalize on this potential weakness but the likes of Kansas and Texas Tech can. Maybe I’m overthinking the need for size, considering that Houston didn’t use anyone over 6’7 last year but still was seconds away from the Elite Eight.

But the Bears were exposed last year by a very big Gonzaga team in the NCAA Tournament last season. Baylor needs both Vital and Clark to play at a high level in order to maintain being a Final Four contender this time around. Credit to sophomore forward Freddie Gillespie, who had 14 points and seven rebounds to lead the frontcourt.

Baylor Basketball has a quick turnaround for a much tougher battle in Alaska to take on Washington. They feature two five-star freshmen bigs so we’ll get a real test for how the Bears will look down low. It should be a great contest with NCAA Tournament seeding implications.