Brooklyn, N.Y. –Oregon State knew they had a tall task on hand when they had to play the 13th ranked Baylor men team in the opening game of the NIT Invitational. The Bears jumped on the Beavers as soon as the ball got tipped off.
Ja’Kobe Walter scored 24 points and freshman Yves Missi recorded his first-career double-double with 14 points and 14 boards, Baylor (5-0) beat Oregon State 88-72 in Wednesday’s opening game of the NIT Season Tip-off at the Barclays Center.
The Bears took a lead very early in the game on a driving layup by RJ Dennis and never looked back after that, going up 5-0 on a 3-pointer by Jalen Bridges . Bu then took their first double-digit lead, 15-4, on another Bridges three and went up 44-26 on a four-point play by Walter, who had his third 20-point game.
The Beavers got close to 37-26 on a 3-pointer by Craig with 1:48 left, but Walter ended the half on a 7-0 run but Oregon State couldn’t stop the Bears on the perimeter.
Dexter Akanno scored six points as the Beavers began the second period with a 12-6 run, but Baylor coach Scott Drew called a timeout with 17:04 left and the Bears scored the next seven points.
“Its hard to get multiple stops against them,” Tinkle said. “They’re so good at spacing the floor. They’ve got guys that can really get downhill. They always have a presence at the rim and then shooters licking their chops out on the wing.”
The Beavers got no closer than 13 the rest of the way, though they outscored Baylor 46-44 while shooting 63% (17 of 27) over the final 20 minutes.
The Bears has won 14 of its last 15 regular-season neutral-site games, improved to 41-13 in regular-season tournament games under coach Drew and will go for its fifth title in the last six tournaments with a win over Florida (4-1) in Friday’s 4:30 p.m. CT championship game.
“Players,” Drew said, talking about the Bears’ success in tournaments. “We’ve got really good players that put the team first. And that’s why we’ve been successful in these situations.”
UP NEXT:
Baylor: Looks to win its seventh regular-season tournament under Drew. Four have come since 2016.
Oregon State: Will play Pitt in the third-place game Friday afternoon.
