Game Thread: Drew, Baylor Aim to Upset No. 2 Arizona in Waco

Really bad luck. Our turn to get some luck.

Bears now 17-11 against P5 opponents since the opening of Foster, a winning percentage of 60.7%.

bear2be2 said:

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boognish_bear said:

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The difference in defense really rearing its ugly head here at the end.

Starting at about the six minute mark they really clamped down on defense and we had many possessions where we could not get a clean look. On the other end Arizona was continuing to get clean drives to the basket and open three-pointers..

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We were completely gassed in the second half. We've got to get a deeper rotation if we ever want to play better defense.

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Feels like we've been stuck on a 6 to 7 man rotation forever

rileyroo said:

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Loved our effort tonight. Too bad we couldn't have played that way all season. Gave Arizona way too many easy lanes to the basket. Watching this game, I just kept thinking how good this team could have been with a better big. Oh well, nice job Carr and Williams. In my opinion, Tounde hurt us tonight with his lack of defense and not blocking out on rebounds.

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Yep...we gave up some killer rebounds on defense in that one. Felt like Arizona converted every extra possession.

GruntTuff said:

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Really bad luck. Our turn to get some luck.

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I think it's too late for that. We're headed for 5-13 in Big 12 play -- maybe 6-12 if we can pull off the upset at UCF.

rileyroo said:

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Loved our effort tonight. Too bad we couldn't have played that way all season. Gave Arizona way too many easy lanes to the basket. Watching this game, I just kept thinking how good this team could have been with a better big. Oh well, nice job Carr and Williams. In my opinion, Tounde hurt us tonight with his lack of defense and not blocking out on rebounds.

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I agree about Yessoufou. Everyone seemed to at least put forth effort on the defensive side, even if the efforts were fruitless-except Yessoufou.


It's almost as if he has never played defense in his life and at the age of 19, his coaches are trying to teach it to him for the first time.

We've had a few games in Big12 play where it's like "if we just play like this we'd be a lock for March" but then we lay an egg against someone like KSU. The only consistency has been the inconsistency. Frustrating year but good to see the team put up a great fight tonight. Maybe can make a little noise in the Big12 tourney.

1. Any team that has total roster turnover is going to have some issues, especially early on.
2. At some point CSD has to get the defense back to at least mediocre right… right?
3. Most of the team at some point has flashed Big12 level basketball. Another year as a group and I think they'd have a shot to be a tough out like they showed tonight. Wouldn't hurt to get a true PG though. I'd love to see Agbim work his natural 2, dude clearly could be a weapon there when he's stroking.

It's tough to look at the standings and see Ok State, TCU and WVU in particular with 7 conference wins (TCU is about to pick up #8) and not think we should have been at least at that level.

Edited to add: said Ok State but meant Cincinnati

That's what my post above is saying which is one reason why it's frustrating. This team has March talent (not saying a deep run but qualifying) and they just haven't been able to put it together for full games.

As you mentioned or someone else, it's tough to play full games with 6-7 dudes every week. Throw in the lack of cohesion when guys are constantly in and out of the lineup and that can't help. Already a team with little experience playing together.

Big12Fan2024 said:

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It's tough to look at the standings and see Ok State, TCU and WVU in particular with 7 conference wins (TCU is about to pick up #8) and not think we should have been at least at that level.

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We should but we're 0-4 against TCU, Cincinnati and Kansas State. Good teams don't lose those games -- or at least they don't lose all of them .

This team's good isn't terrible. But it's bad is Big 12 basement level. And our yoyo spends more time at the bottom than the top.

bear2be2 said:

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Honestly, I've got no major complaints about this game in a vacuum. We get blown by for easy buckets way too often on defense, but that's not changing this late in the year.

All in all, we competed hard and gave it everything we had. We just lost to a better team tonight.

If we had played like this all year, our Big 12 record would be much better than it is.

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Totally agree. We'd probably have 6 Big 12 wins by now which would make us a tournament team. We'd still probably get smashed in the first round, but still.

bear2be2 said:

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rileyroo said:

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Loved our effort tonight. Too bad we couldn't have played that way all season. Gave Arizona way too many easy lanes to the basket. Watching this game, I just kept thinking how good this team could have been with a better big. Oh well, nice job Carr and Williams. In my opinion, Tounde hurt us tonight with his lack of defense and not blocking out on rebounds.

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Powell plays his ass off. He's just playing about 10 more minutes per game than he should be. If Bodo Bodo had been able to play this year, our post rotation would have been really solid on the defensive end.

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Powell and Williams are my favorite players on the team. They put out more effort than the rest.

boykin_spaniel said:

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That's what my post above is saying which is one reason why it's frustrating. This team has March talent (not saying a deep run but qualifying) and they just haven't been able to put it together for full games.

As you mentioned or someone else, it's tough to play full games with 6-7 dudes every week. Throw in the lack of cohesion when guys are constantly in and out of the lineup and that can't help. Already a team with little experience playing together.

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This is why I hope we can keep a nucleus from this group. Returning Williams and Agbim (if he gets his JUCO years back) would be a nice start to next year's guard rotation, and Bodo Bodo and Nnaji (with a whole offseason to integrate into the program) wouldn't be a terrible starting point for the post mix. And I still have really high hopes for Perez if he heals well.

I want to watch these guys grow together a little bit. If we're starting completely over again, I'll just be depressed. Give me something to invest in. Please.

I had no idea Nnaji was going to be this raw. I thought we'd at least be getting 8 to 10 minutes a night from him. Hope he makes a lot of growth in the off season.

Guitarbiscuit said:

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bear2be2 said:

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rileyroo said:

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Loved our effort tonight. Too bad we couldn't have played that way all season. Gave Arizona way too many easy lanes to the basket. Watching this game, I just kept thinking how good this team could have been with a better big. Oh well, nice job Carr and Williams. In my opinion, Tounde hurt us tonight with his lack of defense and not blocking out on rebounds.

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Powell plays his ass off. He's just playing about 10 more minutes per game than he should be. If Bodo Bodo had been able to play this year, our post rotation would have been really solid on the defensive end.

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Powell and Williams are my favorite players on the team. They put out more effort than the rest.

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I don't think it's an effort issue for any of them necessarily ... except maybe Carr occasionally on defense. He's already playing the NBA game of saving energy on that end to keep it on offense. And Yessoufou cheats and gambles waaaaayyyyyyy too much to be a good defensive player.

The rest of these guys play hard IMO. They're just not good enough.

I hope the staff takes a long look at Bodo Bodo and Perez in relation to the injuries. If they're fully healed, have clearance and can play at the level expected when we signed them, then move forward. If not, then part ways. It's a business now, not a charity. We've held on to injury prone players like Langston and injury related players the past few years, and then act shocked when they suddenly are out for stretches and we are stuck with a minimal rotation.

boognish_bear said:

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I had no idea Nnaji was going to be this raw. I thought we'd at least be getting 8 to 10 minutes a night from him. Hope he makes a lot of growth in the off season.

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I don't see that happening.

boognish_bear said:

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I had no idea Nnaji was going to be this raw. I thought we'd at least be getting 8 to 10 minutes a night from him. Hope he makes a lot of growth in the off season.

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I think we underestimated how difficult it would be to join a team in the middle of the season and contribute -- especially for a guy who hadn't even been training because of injury rehab.

He wasn't in playing shape physically and didn't have a basic understanding of what we're trying to offensively or defensively. It's probably wasn't even fair to expect minutes in hindsight.

But the dude has tools. I hope he sticks around and allows our staff to develop them. With a full offseason, he could be a completely different player in a year's time.

Guitarbiscuit said:

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boognish_bear said:

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I had no idea Nnaji was going to be this raw. I thought we'd at least be getting 8 to 10 minutes a night from him. Hope he makes a lot of growth in the off season.

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I don't see that happening.

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He could absolutely be a plus defender and rebounder with a full offseason IMO. The guy has all the physical gifts in the world. He just needs to integrated into the program in a way that's fair to him as a player.

Guitarbiscuit said:

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boognish_bear said:

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I had no idea Nnaji was going to be this raw. I thought we'd at least be getting 8 to 10 minutes a night from him. Hope he makes a lot of growth in the off season.

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I don't see that happening.

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He seems to get gassed really quickly even though he looks to be in great shape....in addition to just generally looking lost out there

boognish_bear said:

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Guitarbiscuit said:

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boognish_bear said:

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I had no idea Nnaji was going to be this raw. I thought we'd at least be getting 8 to 10 minutes a night from him. Hope he makes a lot of growth in the off season.

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I don't see that happening.

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He seems to get gassed really quickly even though he looks to be in great shape....in addition to just generally looking lost out there

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He hadn't been playing at all for like a year before he signed with us because he was rehabbing a back injury. Get him fully healthy and in playing shape, and he'll look like a different guy IMO.

He won't contribute much beyond dunks on offense, but he can be a good rebounder and rim-protector in time.

Next opponent: UCF, who leads BYU in Provo at the half by a score of 52-28.

Big12Fan2024 said:

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Next opponent: UCF, who leads BYU in Provo at the half by a score of 52-28.

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When we had the home game against BYU i thought that could potentially be a turning point for the team...nope

You're not the only one, boog! Unfortunately, I've thought that several times this year and it hasn't happened. We haven't won 3 consecutive games against P5 opponents all year long, which is why I don't see any run coming in the Big 12 tourney either. This team is just too inconsistent to make it happen.

I mean...Carr is 100% gone...right?

.@BaylorMBB gave No. 2 @ArizonaMBB all it wanted before finally faltering in the final minute. Even in a losing effort, that's the best game BU has played all season. Would be great to hold onto Carr & Issac Williams.

— Matt Mosley (@mattmosley) February 25, 2026

I'm still not convinced we could afford Carr, even if he decided not to declare. Schools like Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana, Florida, UNC, Alabama, Kansas, dare I say BYU again, all would be able to give him double what our max offer would be. We can't give the whole budget to him and then surround him with a bunch of mid-major guys. That would serve no purpose. So I'm not sure what would keep him here either way.

Would be a great starting point for next year. Any building blocks would be nice. Even just a block

UCF led by 30+ at one point until they put in reserves and end with a 97-84 victory over BYU in Provo.

UCF moves to 20-7 overall and 9-6 in the Big 12 for 6th place. With that Quad 1 victory they are squarely in the NCAA Tournament.

UCF returned 2 walk-ons. That's it. They went out and signed 11 transfers and 2 freshmen.

Maybe it's time for us to get off the excuse train of saying it's impossible to win when you turn over your roster. It's apparent our issues run a little deeper than just roster turnover.