George, Love lead No. 12 Baylor past Tarleton State 80-57

Published Dec. 6, 2022 10:28 p.m. ET

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WACO, Texas (AP) — Freshman Keyonte George scored 22 points, redshirt freshman Langston Love added 20 and No. 12 Baylor beat Tarleton State 80-57 on Tuesday night.

The Bears had trouble early pulling away from the Texans, led by former Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie, but finally took a double-digit lead not long after halftime.

Baylor (7-2) was playing for the first time since a school-record run of 54 consecutive weeks in the top-10 ended.

The Bears were coming off a 64-63 victory over No. 18 Gonzaga, when they erased a seven-point deficit in the final two minutes in a rematch of the 2021 title game won by Baylor.

The Bears dropped six spots in the poll because they started last week with a blowout loss to Marquette and former Texas coach Shaka Smart.

Shakur Daniel scored 13 points for the Texans (5-4), who were playing Baylor for the first time since 1986 and the ninth time overall.

Baylor led by three early in the second half when George and Love hit consecutive 3-pointers, then combined for Love's alley-oop dunk off George's steal for the Bears' first double-digit lead at 49-38.

George, who is from the Dallas area but played at IMG Academy in Florida, finished one point off his season high while matching his best with seven rebounds. He also had six assists. Love had a season high in points.

BIG PICTURE

Tarleton State: This is likely to be the only ranked opponent for the Texans, who gave Gonzaga a scare last season when the Zags were ranked No. 1.

There has been more progress this season under Gillispie, the Texas native who also coached at UTEP, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Tarleton has its first Power-5 victory, over Boston College.

Baylor: The bigger Bears dominated in rebounding with a 41-23 edge. Five players had at least four apiece, led by Jalen Bridges with eight.

Baylor outscored Tarleton 24-10 on second-chance points with 17 offensive rebounds, its second-most this season behind 21 in a 64-point win over Mississippi Valley State in the opener.

UP NEXT

Tarleton State: At Central Florida on Sunday.

Baylor: A nearly two-week break before playing Washington State in Dallas on Dec. 18.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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