No. 2 Baylor still undefeated after 84-72 win over Auburn

WACO, Texas (AP) — Davion Mitchell had 13 points and seven assists against his former team, Matthew Mayer soared for a couple of highlight dunks and No. 2 Baylor stayed undefeated with an 84-72 win over Auburn in the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday.

Mitchell swished a 3-pointer with 11 1/2 minutes left to extend Baylor’s lead to 59-43, getting the pass from Jared Butler and making the shot right after coming out of one of his shoes.

Five players scored in double figures for Baylor (16-0), which has gone deeper into a season without a loss only one other time — a 17-0 start in 2011-12. Adam Flagler, another transfer, led the Bears with a season-high 19 points, while Butler had 16, MaCio Teague 15 and Mayer 13. Flo Thamba was scoreless in 17 minutes, but had 11 rebounds.

Jaylin Williams had 17 points to lead five players in double figures for Auburn (10-8), which had won four of its previous five games and, like Baylor, had a 100-point game in the past week. Freshman Sharife Cooper added 15 points, and JT Thor finished with 13. Allen Flanigan scored 11 and Devan Cambridge 10.

Mitchell was coming off a career-high 31 points in Baylor’s 107-59 win over Kansas State on Wednesday night. He played 34 games at Auburn as a freshman in 2017-18 before transferring to Baylor, and Butler was initially enrolled at Alabama, though he never played for the Crimson Tide.

The one-shoe shot by Mitchell came during a 3 1/2-minute span when Mayer had 10 points — two 3s, and his big dunks. Mitchell made a nifty pass to Butler, who missed the 3 that Mayer rebounded in midair and slammed home. Mayer then drove the baseline for a two-handed slam before he followed an Auburn miss with a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 66-45 lead midway through the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: Cooper, a freshman playing only his seventh game, had scored 25 points twice and had scored or assisted on half of Auburn’s points in his first six games. He finished 6-of-17 shooting (1 of 5 on 3s), with seven rebounds and five assists. The Tigers are 2-4 in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, and are now 1-26 on the road against top-five teams.

Baylor: The Bears trailed for only 61 seconds against Auburn, and have trailed only 45:21 of 640 minutes played this season. Baylor is 7-1 in Big 12/SEC Challenge games, the best record by any team in either league in the annual showdown. The Bears have won their last 18 nonconference games overall, one short of the school record set during that 2011-12 season.

UP NEXT

Auburn looks for a regular-season sweep when it hosts Georgia on Tuesday night. The Tigers beat the Bulldogs 95-77 on Jan. 13.

Baylor travels about 100 miles south to play No. 5 Texas on Tuesday night.

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