Baylor walked into Jacksonville facing a top-five Florida team and left with a win that said plenty about this group, even if it came in an exhibition. Scott Drew’s team spent the first half trading punches in a sloppy game, then found its footing after the break, survived Boogie Fland’s three that tied it and pushed the game to overtime, and still finished with an 82-76 victory over the Gators.
The biggest offensive spark came from Kayden Mingo, who looks like he could be part of Baylor’s scoring backbone this season alongside Isaac Williams. The Penn State transfer led all scorers with 31 points and went 11-of-15 at the line.
He only knocked down two threes, but he kept attacking the lane and creating offense with contested jumpers. Mingo also pulled down eight rebounds.
Williams added 17 points and hit 3-of-4 from deep, giving Baylor another efficient scoring punch against what should be one of the better defenses in the country. That was the kind of production the Bears needed to offset Florida’s size and pressure.
Inside, Baylor knew it was going to have a fight, and that battle showed up on the glass. The Bears started freshman Elijah Williams at the ‘4’ to open things up next to Juslin Bodo Bodo, but Florida still controlled the boards for most of the night.
The Gators finished with a 46-41 rebounding edge, and their 26 offensive rebounds stood out even more. Baylor’s late work in overtime narrowed the final margin, but the rebounding issue was obvious.
The Bears didn’t get much scoring from Brett Decker Jr. or Elijah Williams, who finished with three points and two points, respectively. That didn’t sink them because Baylor had answers elsewhere. Isaac Celiscar scored seven points, Evan Chatman added six, and Maikcol Perez chipped in five.
The cleanest separator was Baylor’s bench, which overwhelmed Florida’s reserves 33-3. The Gators went just 1-for-14 from the field off the bench, a number that reflected how well Baylor defended once the game started to open up.
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Baylors Defense Did Its Job But This Offense Is Becoming A Problem
For long stretches at McLane Stadium, Baylors defense did enough to give the Bears a real chance. TCU was held to 327 total yards and just 33 on the ground, and the Horned Frogs had to lean on timely plays rather than sustained dominance, including Jordan Dwyers 67-yard completion that helped tilt the field in their favor.
The problem for Baylor was on the other side of the ball, where 310 yards of offense never turned into enough points to keep pace in a 17-6 loss. The defense did its job well enough to keep the game within reach, but the Bears are left searching for answers on an offense that could not finish drives or generate the kind of production needed to capitalize on a strong defensive effort. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Volleyball Just Made The Statement Fans Have Been Waiting For
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What made the result especially notable was the way Baylor handled the pressure against a top-10 opponent on the road, turning a conference match into one of its clearest wins of the year. For a team trying to build momentum deep into league play, this was the kind of performance that can change how the rest of the Big 12 views the Bears, and it came with a finish that carried plenty of late-set tension. [Read more 🡒]
Baylor Gets An Immediate Chance To Answer For That TCU Loss
Baylors loss to TCU was the kind that lingers, especially when the offense never really found its footing and quarterback DJ Lagway was limited by an ankle injury. The Bears have had little time to sit with it, though, because the schedule has already handed them a quick chance to reset and show whether that performance was an outlier or a sign of deeper trouble.
Kansas comes in at 2-4 with Isaiah Marshall now installed as the starting quarterback, and he has already thrown for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns this season. For Baylor, the matchup is less about style points than response, with an opportunity to get back on track against a Jayhawks team that can move the ball and will ask plenty of questions of a defense still trying to steady things after the TCU game. [Read more 🡒]