CONWAY, S.C. – No. 24 Baylor used three big runs to pull away from Ohio 76-53 in the opening round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational on Thursday at the HTC Center.

The Bears (3-1) took the lead with 11 straight points early in the first half, scored 12 straight points late in the first half to turn a three-point lead into 15 points, and they scored 15 in a row late in the second half to pull away, turning a nine-point advantage into 24.

"They showed they're a top-20 team in the country," Ohio coach Jeff Boals said. "We knew coming in we had a small margin for error. We had to block out, we had to take care of the basketball and make some shots and we didn't do that and give them credit for that."

Freshman Lunden McDay led the Bobcats (3-2) with a career-high 16 points, while Jason Preston had 12 points and three assists but also six turnovers. Jordan Dartis and freshman Ben Roderick, making his season debut, each knocked down three 3-pointers and scored nine points.

Jared Butler had 19 points and five assists, and Macio Teague tallied 17 points to lead Baylor. Freddie Gillespie had a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds as Baylor had racked up 17 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second-chance points.

Dartis’ second 3-pointer gave Ohio a 13-6 lead six minutes into the game, but Baylor answered back with the next 11 points over five minutes to go ahead 17-13.

The Bobcats tied the game 17 and trailed 23-20 on a Preston fast-break layup off of a steal by Roderick with 4:55 left in the first half. The Bears then had another dominant stretch, pushing the lead all the way to 35-20 on a Mark Vital layup only 1:19 before halftime.

Ohio’s biggest run of the game trimmed Baylor’s 18-point lead to 57-48 with 8:19 remaining in the game. Jared Butler made two free throws a few seconds later, and that was the beginning of Baylor’s sting of 15 straight points to go ahead 72-48 with 3:13 to go.

Turnovers were a problem for the Bobcats, who committed 19 of them while only forcing 10. Baylor also had six more offensive rebounds than Ohio and held the Bobcats to 35.8% shooting, allowing it to win big despite shooting 42.4%. The Bobcats were just 6 of 12 at the foul line, while the Bears were 22 of 28.

The Bobcats take on Utah at 7:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN News.