Baylor’s final home game at Foster Pavilion came with a little more resistance than the first two, but the Bears still handled Yale 90-61 on Tuesday night to move to 3-0. The reigning Ivy League champions made Baylor work, especially on the glass, in what was easily the Bears’ toughest early test of the season.
Rebounding was one of the biggest themes heading into the night, and Baylor had to earn this one against a Yale team that brought more fight than the Bears had seen so far. It was only the second meeting between the programs, and this time Baylor came through the early-season Ivy League challenge with a comfortable win.
Isaac Williams IV had a birthday to remember. The Bears’ leading scorer through the first two games added 9 points in 27 minutes on Tuesday, giving Scott Drew another birthday victory after Drew’s own 56th birthday exhibition win over Illinois. Williams’ night was part of a balanced Baylor effort that kept Yale from ever turning the game into anything more than a brief inconvenience.
One of the more notable individual performances came from Isaac Celiscar, the Yale transfer who had a strong showing against his former team. Late in the first half, Celiscar grabbed a Yale miss, pushed the ball the length of the floor and finished at the other end. He ended with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
Baylor’s shooting from deep remains the one glaring issue hanging around this hot start. The Bears finished 8-for-23 from three, good for 35%, but that number still sits well below their season mark of 24%.
Their three-point totals through three games have been 9-for-29, 5-for-29 and now 8-for-23. That kind of volume can be shrugged off in a blowout, but not when the game is still competitive.
At halftime, Drew addressed the shot selection problem directly: "We don’t just want to have the ball for five seconds and take the shot, we want to take great shots," He added, "Early games (like against Northwestern State or Arkansas-Pine Bluff) get a lot of possessions, and against Yale, those possessions have to count."
Brett Decker Jr. gave Baylor a major lift after the break. After opening the game by missing his first three attempts from long range, he caught fire and drilled three straight threes in the second half, then eventually made four in a row before finally missing again. He finished with a season-high 18 points and led the Bears in scoring on the night, going 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Kayden Mingo was just as important to the win. He made his first five shots and led Baylor at halftime with 11 points, showing off both his athleticism and his feel for the game.
He kept taking smart looks, attacked through contact and finished with 15 points. Baylor has usually looked its best when the guards are rolling, and Mingo gave them exactly that.
Dylan Mingo matched the energy from his brother’s side of the floor. He had 10 points by halftime and finished with 16 points, going 4-for-7 at the free-throw line. The Mingo brothers were the only Baylor players in double figures at the break, and both stayed active enough to help the Bears pull away.
Now Baylor turns its attention to its first road game, a matchup with Texas in San Antonio this coming Sunday.
In Other News...
Baylor Looks Dangerous Again With One More Big 12 Chance Ahead
With three weeks left in the Big 12 race, Baylor has quietly become one of the more interesting teams in the conference picture again. The Bears have shown real improvement under interim head coach Joe Klanderman, and their recent play has put them back in the conversation as a team capable of making life difficult for the leagues best as the regular season winds down.
The path ahead is still crowded, with Utah in strong position to control the championship chase and Colorado dealing with its own turbulence under Deion Sanders. But Baylors remaining chances matter because this is the kind of stretch that can change how the season is remembered, especially if the Bears can turn their improved form into an upset of one of the top teams still standing. [Read more 🡒]
Texas Is Sending An Early Message In The New AP Poll
The early AP womens basketball rankings are already giving the Big 12 a little more to talk about, with Texas climbing to No. 6 after opening the season with a pair of wins. For Baylor, that matters because the Longhorns are once again looking like one of the leagues most visible national contenders, and the first poll of the year is a reminder that the conferences top tier is going to be crowded from the start.
At the top of the poll, Michigan moved up to No. 2 and passed UConn, which slipped to No. 4 after a loss. The Huskies stumble was notable not just because of the ranking change, but because Geno Auriemma addressed his teams performance afterward, adding another layer to an opening week that already feels like it could shape the national conversation well beyond November. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Grinds Out A Gritty Big 12 Win With Texas Tech Next
Baylors postseason run kept moving with a hard-earned 1-0 win over No. 25 Houston in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, a result that had all the feel of a team willing to win any way it can. Natalie Vatter supplied the lone goal, and the Bears backed it up with the kind of disciplined effort that has carried them into the semifinals.
Michelle Lenards group now turns to a tougher test against No. 7 Texas Tech, a matchup that raises the stakes even further in tournament play. With Vatter and Azul Alvarez both part of the story after the quarterfinal win, Baylor heads into the next round with momentum, confidence and a chance to keep extending its season against one of the leagues top teams. [Read more 🡒]