Bridges and George Fitting In Just Fine With Baylor Bears
Any time a No. 1 seed from the NCAA Tournament returns three starters to their lineup, they are in good shape. If they insert two players like Jalen Bridges and Keyonte George into the starting lineup, they are in great shape, and the Baylor Bears know that for a fact.
George got the Bears going in the first half of an 87-70 win over the Norfolk State Spartans in a rematch of last year's round of 64 tournament matchup Friday. Before the first media timeout of the game, George had 7 points via two three-pointers, one of which being a four-point play.
For the freshman sensation, though, that start wasn't good enough, as he had to switch out his pink Nikes to a pair of white ones as soon as he could.
"The shoes weren't doing it for me," George said. "I like to feel comfortable playing the game I love."
No matter the shoes, George certainly looked comfortable Friday. The freshman led the all scorers and dishers with 23 points and seven assists, also tacking on five rebounds and a couple of steals on defense. Even at just barely 19 years old, this kid looks like he could be one of the best guards in the country.
Bridges, on the other hand, comes to Waco as a grizzled college basketball veteran, having played two seasons with the West Virginia Mountaineers.
In just his second game in a Bears uniform, Bridges looked like the most polished two-way player on the floor with 20 points, five rebounds and three assists.
It is tough to compare Bridges to a recent Baylor player because I'm not quite sure Scott Drew has had a player like him in recent memory. Bridges has the size, length and touch of Taurean Prince, but with a much different offensive game. Whereas Prince became a shooter who was a threat to slash to the basket, Bridges is the other way around.
The junior forward also has the tenacity of a King McClure, but the size of a Mark Vital. Any way you slice it, he is going to be a weapon for the Bears on both ends of the court this season.
It is also worth noting George and Bridges combined to go 8-15 from beyond the arc and Bears fans better get used to this volume of three-point shooting, as the Bears attempted 38 of their 57 total shots from deep Friday.
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You can follow Cameron Stuart on Twitter @RealCamStuart
Covering Baylor for Inside The Bears and the Locked on Baylor podcast. You can follow me for more Baylor content at @realcamstuart on Twitter. Originally from Rockland, Massachusetts and a Baylor alum, so I might mix the occasional bias and/or Boston sports tweet in there every once in a while.