The No. 2 Baylor Bears showed they’re on track to be a force all the way until the Final Four with an 82-69 win over the No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic in Indianapolis on Wednesday night.
The Bears were led by sophomore guard Adam Flagler, who had 18 points on 6-11 shooting with three rebounds and three assists. His backcourt mate Davion Mitchell added 15 points on 5-8 from the floor, with seven assists to lead all players.
Both teams were 7-18 from three-point range, but Baylor led in second-chance points 24-7 leveraging 16 offensive rebounds, and that would be the difference. The Bears had just seven turnovers as a team, and finished with 1.26 points per possession to just 1.05 for the Big Ten team from Champaign.
Illinois star guard Ayo Dosumnu was the high scorer 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists for the Illini.
Baylor entered as 4.5 point favorites, and will now face the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday also in Indianapolis in what will be the most anticipated game of the 2020-21 college basketball season so far.