By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
Baylor men’s basketball has been plagued by injuries for the past couple of years, and it seemed to come to a point last season.
The Bears trudged through the 2025-26 season with a seven-man rotation as then-seniors center Caden Powell and forward Michael Rataj were the only ones in the frontcourt. That lack of depth for head coach Scott Drew’s squad resulted in a 17-17 record — the worst finish since it went 16-16 in 2006-07.
Baylor started out its 2026-27 campaign by putting the country on notice. It took down preseason No. 1 Florida 82-76 in overtime at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida
The improbable victory has left college basketball fans around the nation curious about the trajectory of the Bears’ season after a disappointing campaign.
Here are some takeaways from Baylor’s win Sunday afternoon.
The Mingos are here
Sophomore guard Kayden Mingo and his brother, freshman guard Dylan Mingo, were the highlights of the Bears’ offseason.
Kayden transferred to Baylor from Penn State as the No. 32 player in the portal, averaging 13.7 points per game along with 4.3 assists. He brought along Dylan, who was ranked as the 15th-best player and third-best combo guard in the nation out of Long Island Lutheran in Glen Head, New York.
The brothers made their presence known against the top-ranked Gators. Kayden exploded for 31 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists while Dylan tallied 12 points with 8 rebounds and 2 assists.
The duo were not scared to drive into the paint, finishing against bigger defenders and crashing the boards. They went 10-for-18 from inside the 3-point arc and combined to 39% of
Baylor’s rebounds.
The two also spent ample time as the Bears’ primary ball handlers with Kayden commanding the offense from the top of the key while Dylan dished out some passes off of drives.
The electrifying brother connection can be a catalyst for another year of Baylor guards making noise.
Depth is the key to success
The exhibition win displayed exactly what last year’s team was missing. The 2025-26 squad struggled with only two rotation players on the bench.
Baylor utilized nine players on Sunday with eight of them seeing the court for over 10 minutes.
Drew brought four guards, four forwards and senior Juslin Bodo Bodo as his lone center.
Junior Liberty transfer Brett Decker Jr. and junior Isaac Williams join the Mingos to form a solid guard core.
“We have more depth than we had last couple of years,” Drew said. “Our ability to create at the point guard positions a lot greater than it was last year, just depth-wise, numbers-wise.”
The Bears had the advantage with its bench. All nine in green and gold scored while three of the nine Gators to play were held scoreless,
shooting 0-for-10.
They found the clutch gene in overtime
The second half of the Bears’ win proved to be a back-and-forth affair with neither side grabbing a lead greater than four points.
They found their stride in overtime after falling behind 72-70, outscoring Florida 12-4 the rest of the way.
Baylor played an aggressive brand of offense, going to the free throw line five times across the final period. The Bears made nine of their 10 shots from the charity stripe to lift them over the Gators.
The nailbiting win was refreshing for Baylor, who went 6-9 in games decided by 10 or fewer points last season, including a 3-9 record against
conference opponents.
The frontcourt needs to score better
While Baylor put up a respectable 82 points against Florida, the frontcourt did not contribute to much of that effort.
The four forwards and one center combined for only 21 points. They shot 6-for-18 with junior forward Isaac Celiscar led the group with 7 points.
Scoring from the inside was a noticable issue for Baylor. Powell and Rataj averaged 14.1 points per game between the two
last season.
The unit worked on the lower block defensively with 18 total rebounds.
The 3-point sharpshooting is back
Baylor embraced its history of strong 3-point shooting under Drew. The Bears strayed away from that tradition a year ago, ranking 187th in the country with a 33.9% 3-point percentage.
Working from behind the arc played a major factor in Baylor’s win. The Bears shot 7-for-17 from 3 to finish with a 41.2% rate while the Gators could not get the long ball to hit. They hit only four of 29 3-pointers for a frustrating 13.8%.
Williams contributed the most to Baylor’s success from downtown by nailing three of four attempts on Sunday.
There is plenty of newfound hope for Baylor after a strong showing against the Gators, but there is a long season ahead.
