By Dylan Fink | Sports Writer, Brooke Cranford | Broadcast Reporter
Something of a Super Tuesday came back to Waco as the Foster Pavilion was packed with NBA names for the Bears’ 110-88 win over the Sacramento State Hornets.
LTVN’s Brooke Cranford takes you curtsied
The Hornets (4-6) came to Texas with a roster that consists of former ESPN top 20 recruit and national phenom guard Mikey Williams, a redshirt sophomore; senior forward Shaqir O’Neal, the son of Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal; and freshman guard Taj Glover, the son of former Atlanta Hawk Dion Glover.
Sacramento State head coach Mike Bibby played 14 years in the NBA, and Shaquille O’Neal serves as the program’s general manager.
“All our guys wanted to know where Shaq was sitting, because no one ever wants to have to box him out,” head coach Scott Drew said. “We have a lot of NBA relations as well, from Cam [Carr]’s dad and [Andre Iguodala II]’s dad, so most of these guys are used to this, but it is always exciting.”
The Bears have yet to demonstrate a strong start at home this season. Drew was forced to call the first timeout of the game after a 14-5 opening run for the Hornets.
“Normally, when you’re coming back from a three-game tournament, the first half can be rusty,” Drew said. “Defensively, we were not very good, and offensively, we were just trying to settle for a lot of quick threes and not getting inside enough.”
With 7:42 to go in the first half, the Bears still trailed 31-27. Amid struggles with the three-ball and points left at the foul line, a nonstop referee whistle kept the green and gold from finding a rhythm, and the Hornets were comfortable with their free throws.
“We always come in prepared, knowing that there’s going to be hard times and just need to be ready for it,” Yessoufou said. “I know we all put our hands up and we shouldn’t complain, but yeah, it was tough early on.”
At the end of the first half, the score stood 52-47 in favor of Baylor. Sophomore guard Isaac Williams IV made a layup through contact and missed the ensuing free throw — but Yessoufou rose for a putback to close out the half.
“We all know we’re really talented offensively,” senior forward Michael Rataj said. “We needed to improve our defense and hold them to below 39% or less field goal percentage, which is always one of our goals.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Carr, the No. 8-ranked player in On3’s National Player of the Year rankings, turned what had been a quiet Foster Pavilion into an eruption of fans on their feet, swishing a logo 3-pointer to put the Bears up 15.
“Honestly, the outside [media] noise means nothing, and we’re not paying attention to none of that,” Yessoufou said. “All we guys got is our teammates and our coaches, and that’s all that matters to us.”
Baylor took command of the game in the second half, quickly stretching its lead to 20, but posting only 75% from the foul line and 12 turnovers against a Big Sky conference team that exposed the Bears’ early flaws.
“I think 75% is a good number for this point,” Drew said. “I do believe we’re good enough to be a single-digit turnover team. At the end of the game, I think we had two that were throwaways, and that’s what makes analytics hard. What happens in the last 30 seconds becomes just as important as what happens in the first 30 seconds.”
Freshman guard Drew Perry added a flair of style late, as a steal in the post led to the Dallas native finding his way to the foul line for the first points of his college career.
“It’s amazing to see our teammates succeed,” Yessoufou said. “They’ve been on the sideline and big motivators for us … it was really a blessing for us to see them succeed and be happy just as much as we all are together.”
Standouts in the 110-88 victory included Carr, who totaled 25 points on the night, and Yessoufou, who finally had his much-awaited breakout game with 27 points, six rebounds and four steals. Rataj and senior forward Dan Skillings each posted a double-double on the outing.
Rataj had his best game in the green and gold thus far, totaling 18 points and 10 rebounds on the night.
“We’ve shown that our offensive potential is through the roof,” Rataj said. “I think we’re number 11 in the country offensively right now … so if we can just lock in on defense and fix that area, I think we’re going to be a very hard team to beat.”
The Bears will travel to the Home of the Blues for their next matchup at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Memphis. The game will be broadcast on CBS.
