By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer
Baylor beat Creighton 81-74 Monday afternoon to claim an impressive win in its first matchup of the Player’s Era tournament in Las Vegas.
Baylor (4-0) set the tone from the tip as redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Carr, playing on his birthday, blocked Creighton’s (3-2) first field goal attempt in the paint. The block turned into a mid-range pull-up from graduate guard Obi Agbim to get the scoring going for the Bears.
Agbim refused to look back after his first bucket, scoring 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first 12 minutes of the Monday-afternoon battle. Creighton head coach Greg McDermott attempted to make first-half adjustments as Creighton cut the lead from 10 to four.
The Bluejays’ efforts were quickly silenced as freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou hit a 3, followed by a steal and a forced foul to bring the lead back up to 10. The Bears led 34-24 at the five-minute mark.
Carr, Baylor’s leading scorer, was quiet for the first 17 minutes of the afternoon before finding eight straight points, including six on three straight pull-up jumpers from the right elbow.
Creighton got the last bucket of the first half as senior guard Nik Graves splashed a logo three as the clock ran down to put the Big East school within striking distance.
Baylor led at the halfway point, 44-36.
Creighton opened up the second half strong, forcing three straight turnovers and cutting the Bears’ eight-point lead down to two in the first minute. The Bluejays’ initially aggressive second-half attack was silenced by senior center and Waco native Caden Powell, who found a violent and-1 in the paint to get the Bears’ first bucket in the second half.
Creighton was unwilling to be put down, as a barrage of 3-pointers knotted the Bluejays and Bears at 58. The pace of the game shifted into a back-and-forth shootout.
Birthday boy Carr eventually put the Bluejays to bed with a string of impressive dunks which could put the nation’s No. 8 scorer back on the SportsCenter Top 10 for the second time this season. Carr finished the game with 21 points and 9 rebounds.
The Bears never gave up the lead to McDermott’s squad, finding a complete win at the hands of an impressive pack line defense and all five positions crashing the offensive glass with fury.
Head coach Scott Drew’s team won the rebound battle 45-28 with 23 offensive boards, the most offensive rebounds accumulated by a Baylor team since 2023.
The Bears will face No. 14 St. John’s at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday on truTV.
