INDIANAPOLIS — In the program's first NCAA Tournament game as a No. 1-seed, the Baylor Bears need a while to find their rhythm, but once they did it was game on.
No. 1-seed Baylor beat No. 16-seed Hartford 79-55 inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Friday's first round of the NCAA Tournament South Region.
MaCio Teague led the way for Baylor with 22 points in the win, shooting 4-of-8 from 3 and 9-of-17 from the floor.
“We were in the hotel for quite a few days. This was our first time competing against somebody else. I feel like we got in a rhythm and once we got in a rhythm we stayed there," Teague said.
Mark Vital was in foul trouble early, with two fouls in the first two minutes of the game. He fouled out with 14 minutes left in the game when he was called for a foul trying to block a shot and a technical foul immediately after.
Jared Butler added 13 points and Davion Mitchell 12 for the Bears with Matthew Mayer cleaning up the glass for BU, with 9 rebounds Friday.
Coach Scott Drew said, "Defensively, we’ve worked really hard to trying to get back to form and how we were playing pre-pause days. I thought for most of the night, defensively, we were really good and much improved.”
The Baylor defense forced a single-game NCAA Tournament program-record 15 steals as part of 24 Hartford turnovers.
The win means Baylor has advanced in three-straight trips to the NCAA Tournament.
The Bears will play Sunday against the winner of No. 8-seed North Carolina and No. 9-seed Wisconsin, which tips at 6:10 p.m. central Friday.