INDIANAPOLIS — Adam Flagler wasn't in Baylor's starting lineup but if you missed the first couple minutes of Wednesday's top-5 showdown, you could've been fooled.
Flagler led all scorers off the bench with 18 points Wednesday as No. 2 Baylor beat No. 5 Illinois 82-69 in the Jimmy V Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Out-rebounded 25-18 in the first half, the Bears won the battle on the glass 39-35 and defensively contained Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn better than Illinois' first three opponents, all mid- or low-major teams.
Dosunmu finished with a season-low 18 and Cockburn a season-low 7 points, however Illini post Georgi Bezhanishvili socred 15 points of 7-of-10 shooting with four rebounds in Wednesday's affair.
BU forced a dozen Illinois turnovers Wednesday, including eight in the first half en route to the win.
What should have been Baylor's fourth-straight tough test to open the 2020-21 season was just the first after Scott Drew's recent positive COVID-19 test result forced shuffling of Baylor's schedule. The Bears' trip to the northeast with games against No. 18 Arizona State and No. 3 Villanova in Connecticut and a road game against Seton Hall was canceled.
Instead, before Drew re-joined his team in Indy, associate head coach Jerome Tang led the Bears against Louisiana and Washington in Las Vegas.
Next, the 3-0 Bears have the best game to this point in the college basketball season: a date with No. 1 Gonzaga on Saturday inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse.