Arizona State falls to Baylor
LaceDarius Dunn had 24 points with six 3-pointers and sparked the tie-breaking run after halftime as No. 11 Baylor stretched its home winning streak to 11 games with a 68-54 victory over Arizona State on Thursday night.
Dunn made all of his 3-pointers before bruising his left forearm when he fell hard to the court going for an offensive rebound with 6:43 left. He was on the court writhing in pain, then went to the bench, where he kept rubbing his arm and grimacing before returning 2 minutes later. He was still hurting when he got back in the game.
It was only Dunn's third game this season for Baylor (6-0).
Rihards Kuksiks hit consecutive 3-pointers for Arizona State (3-3) in the opening minute of the second half to tie the game at 33. Dunn responded with a 3-pointer, the first of his two in a quick 7-2 run that gave Baylor the lead for good.
Dunn, the leading scorer last season when Baylor made it to an NCAA regional final and had a school-record 28 wins, was suspended for the first three games of the season after a domestic dispute charge earlier this fall.
In his three games since returning, Dunn has averaged 22.7 points a game and made 16 3-pointers. He was already Baylor's career leader for 3-pointers, and now has 315 - with at least one in 20 consecutive games.
Kuksiks led Arizona State with 13 points, while Ty Abott had 12 on four 3-pointers and Kyle Cain scored 10 points.
A.J. Walton had 13 points, four steals, three assists and five rebounds for Baylor. Freshman Perry Jones had 12 points.
Baylor was up 59-45 when Dunn got hurt, a play on which he was called for a foul. When he was sitting at the scorers table waiting to return, and even when he got back on the court, he was rubbing and shaking his arm.
Soon after getting back in the game, he dived on the court for a loose ball - reaching out with his left arm that was hit by a defender. He stayed in the game, and only made two free throws after that.
Baylor hadn't trailed at all its previous three games, and coach Scott Drew called a timeout after Arizona State had a 5-0 lead only 83 seconds into the game. The Bears responded with a 16-3 run, when the only ASU basket was Abbott's 3-pointer.
After Abbott's 3 put the Sun Devils up 8-7, they had four turnovers and got off one shot over the next 4 1/2 minutes. Jones had a dunk and another inside basket, Dunn hit a 3 and Walton had a fadeaway jumper for a 16-8 Baylor lead.
The Bears stretched the lead to 30-18 when J'mison Morgan gathered in the ball underneath the basket and made a reverse layup with just under 7 minutes left until halftime, when they still led 33-27.
Baylor's 11-game home winning streak matches the longest in the Ferrell Center. With exams coming up, the Bears don't play another game until Dec. 15, at home against Bethune-Cookman.