After snapping a four-game losing streak with a gritty 63-53 win at West Virginia, Baylor is hoping that momentum can finally translate into something it hasn’t seen yet this season: a Big 12 home win.
That’s right - heading into Wednesday night's matchup against Colorado in Waco, the Bears are still searching for their first conference victory at Foster Pavilion. They're 0-4 at home in league play, and while the competition has been stiff - Iowa State, Houston, and Texas Tech all came in ranked in the top 15 - the sting of a 97-90 loss to TCU on Jan. 24 still lingers.
“Our Big 12 schedule at home hasn’t been easy,” head coach Scott Drew admitted. “We’re not a top-10, top-15 team. At the end of the day, we’d like to get there, but we’re not there.”
Still, Baylor (12-9, 2-7 Big 12) showed signs of life in Morgantown. The Bears locked in defensively, holding West Virginia to just 36% shooting from the field and a cold 5-of-19 from beyond the arc. That effort ended the Mountaineers’ 16-game home winning streak - no small feat in one of the tougher environments in the conference.
Cameron Carr led the way with 16 points and 12 rebounds, battling through seven turnovers to deliver a performance that embodied the kind of energy Drew wants to see.
“As a coach, you want guys playing as hard as they can and leaving it all out there,” Drew said. “And he did that today.”
Carr has been the engine for Baylor all season, averaging 19.4 points per game. He’s got help in the form of freshman Tounde Yessoufou, who’s putting up an impressive 17.3 per contest. But for Baylor to finally break through at home, it’ll need more than just individual brilliance - it’ll need the kind of collective effort that showed up in Morgantown.
Colorado (13-9, 3-6 Big 12), meanwhile, is coming off what might be its most complete performance of the season - a dominant 87-61 win over TCU on Sunday in Boulder. The Buffaloes were firing on all cylinders, shooting 55% from the field, drilling 11 of 23 threes, and dishing out 24 assists. It was the kind of offensive rhythm head coach Tad Boyle had been searching for - and he found it after shaking up his starting lineup to halt a six-game slide.
“We hadn’t seen that Colorado team in November, December or January, but we finally saw it on February 1,” Boyle said. “I told our team, better late than never. It just shows how good this team can be.”
Sebastian Rancik came off the bench to lead five Buffs in double figures with 17 points, a spark that could prove pivotal as Colorado tries to build on that momentum. Isaiah Johnson continues to be the steady hand, leading the team with 16.5 points per game.
Both teams are trying to climb out of the lower half of the Big 12 standings, and both are coming off confidence-boosting wins. For Baylor, the question is whether it can finally bring that same energy and execution back to Waco. For Colorado, it’s about proving that Sunday wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
Something’s got to give.