Box Score WACO, Texas – No. 22/22 Baylor opened the second half on a 23-2 run to turn what had been a close game with the Norfolk State men's basketball team into a 26-point lead. The Bears never led by less than 23 the rest of the way in a 92-51 win over the Spartans on Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center.
 
Royce O'Neale hit five 3-pointers during the first five minutes of the second half to help the Bears break out. He finished the night with 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, as Baylor improved to 11-1.
 
Junior Jeff Short led the Spartans with 23 points on 6-of-11 shooting as NSU fell to 9-6. He was aided by a 9-of-12 effort from the free throw line, giving him his fourth straight game with at least 23 points.
 
It was a tale of two halves, as Baylor outscored the Spartans by just five in the first stanza.
 
The Bears converted a pair of 3-point plays early in the game, but Short hit a pair of 3-pointers and a baseline jumper as NSU held a 13-12 lead five minutes in. Junior D'Shon Taylor drained his second trey of the half, and junior RaShid Gaston's layup at 11:34 of the first half put the Spartans ahead 19-14.
 
The Bears went on a 9-0 run over a three-minute span to go ahead by four, 25-21, with a little less than six minutes left in the first half. After a couple more buckets back-and-forth, Taurean Prince sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Baylor a 32-27 lead at the break.
 
Baylor outscored NSU 60-24 in the second half. The Bears hit 22-of-32 in the second half, finishing the game at exactly 50 percent at 34-of-68 shooting. They had assists on 28 of those 34 buckets.
 
The Spartans, meanwhile, connected on just 25 percent in the second half (8-of-32) to finish 18-of-54 (33.3 percent) for the game. They also shot 5-of-17 from the 3-point line, compared to 8-of-19 for Baylor.
 
The Bears had a big edge in points in the paint, 48-20, while outrebounding the Spartans 46-31, with exactly half of those boards (23) coming on the offensive end. Baylor also had a huge edge in points off turnovers, 30-9, thanks to 18 NSU giveaways.
 
The 41-point margin marked NSU's worst loss since a 47-point, 103-56 setback at UNLV on Dec. 18, 2006. The Spartans gave up their most points since a 104-84 loss to Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 3, 2014.
 
Taylor was the only other scorer in double figures for NSU, as he finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Senior Malik Thomas added seven points, while Gaston tallied six points and 10 boards, all in the first half. He extended his streak of double-digit rebounding games to 10 straight.
 
Rico Gathers tallied a double-double of 13 points and 11 boards for Baylor. Prince and Al Freeman both scored 13 off the bench.
 
NSU will play its second straight game against a high-level opponent when it takes on Georgia on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Athens, Ga.