No. 15 Baylor is 4-0 after Nunn scores 25 points and Walter 23 in 99-61 win over Kansas City
WACO, Texas (AP) — Jayden Nunn scored 25 points and true freshman Ja'Kobe Walter had 23, with both making four 3-pointers as 15th-ranked Baylor overwhelmed Kansas City 99-61 late Tuesday night.
Nunn, the junior transfer guard from VCU, scored 14 points in a row during a 5 1/2-minute stretch of the first half, which Walter ended by scoring the last seven points for Baylor. The Bears (4-0) never trailed, led by 18 at the break and the final margin was the largest when playing their fourth game in eight days to open the season.
“Learned about our toughness and how we face adversity,” Nunn said. “We didn’t complain, we just came out and played.”
RayJ Dennis, another transfer, had 11 points and eight assists for Baylor.
Anderson Kopp had 15 points for Kansas City (2-1) and Jamar Brown had 11.
The Bears went ahead to stay when Jalen Bridges, who finished with 12 points, hit a 3-pointer only 67 seconds into the game for a 5-2 lead.
That was their first shot from long range only two days after missing all nine attempted 3s against Gardner-Webb to end a streak of 1,032 consecutive games since 1990 making at least one. The Bears made 13 of 23 (56.5%) against Kansas City.
Nunn was 8-of-9 shooting overall, 4-of-5 on 3-pointers, in his 27 minutes. In his personal run before halftime, he had back-to-back three-point plays, then made a pair of 3-pointers before two free throws for a 28-20 lead with 7:39 left in the first half.
“For real? I didn't know that, 14 in a row is crazy,” Nunn said when asked about that stretch.
“He did a great job letting the game come to him, because I don’t think any of those shots were bad shots during that time,” coach Scott Drew said. “He did a great job of staying in the game.”
LATE NIGHT
The Bears played a “Late Night at the Ferrell” game, starting 9 p.m. local time, following the No. 21 Baylor women’s 84-77 victory over fourth-ranked Utah. The men have only four more games in the arena before moving into the new Foster Pavilion on Jan. 2, and the women have five.
LONG RANGE, PLUS ONE
The Bears 3s included two four-point plays by Walter in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
The Bears get a bit of a break after four quick games. After a solid win over SEC team Auburn in the opener, Baylor did what it is supposed to do in non-conference home games, winning three in a row by at least 15 points. ... UMKC, which plays in the Summit League, is 0-26 when playing Top 25 opponents. The Roos' closest game against a ranked team was a 52-44 loss to No. 25 Kansas State on Dec. 29, 2012.
UP NEXT
Kansas City plays at Colorado State on Friday night.
Baylor plays Oregon State in the the NIT Season Tip-off in Brooklyn on Nov. 22, the night before Thanksgiving. The Bears will take on Pittsburgh or Florida the day after the holiday.
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