STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Tarleton State Men's Basketball played its fifth AP Top 25 opponent, resulting in a 104-41 loss to the nation's number 12 Baylor Bears on Sunday night at Foster Pavilion.
The Texans (1-4) were unable to every get any momentum against the No.12 Bears (3-1).
Joseph Martinez led the team in scoring for the second consecutive game. Martinez was the only Texan to score in double digits, notching 11. The sophomore shot three-for-four from beyond the arc, a new career high.
Jordan Mizell got the Texans on the board earlier with a steal and score in the first minute of the contest to make it 3-2, Bears. Then Baylor took over. They orchestrated a 7-0 run to break out to a 10-2 lead. A mini Texan run fueled by a
Chris Mpaka jumper and
Nick Krass triple, put the Purple and White within five.
Baylor erupted on a 17-0 burst to take the wind out of the Texans. The Bears found the three-ball with 12 of their 17 points during the spurt coming from downtown. BU led 29-9 at the midpoint and the lead only ballooned after.
The Bears finished the half with a 56-13 advantage. Bu shot nine of 13 from three-point land, 69.2 percent in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, Martinez jumped out with a 5-0 run of his own. After a smooth wide-open transition triple, Martinez was selected as the shooter after a Baylor technical foul. He sunk them both.
Bubu Benjamin followed with a fast break layup to cut the deficit to 60-21 on a 7-0 run with 17 minutes to go.
Baylor took control and never looked back in the final 17 minutes of the contest. Tarleton was unable to find any rhythm ultimately suffering their largest defeat of its D1 era. The Texans were outscored, 48-28 in the second half.
Baylor shot 52 percent from the floor (31-for-60) and 47 percent from deep (15-for-32). Tarleton shot 15-for-39 from the field and five-for-14 from downtown. The Purple and White committed a season-high 28 turnovers and forced 12.
Tarleton will be off for four days before taking on the Michigan Wolverines in the Crisler Center on Thursday night at 7:30 CT. That will be the final contest for the Texans before heading to the Bahamas for the 2024 Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship spanning from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1.
