No. 20 Baylor Downs Auburn in Opener with Huge Debut from Ja'Kobe Walter
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The No. 20 Baylor Men’s Basketball team (1-0) overcame the physical play of the Auburn Tigers (0-1) to win its fifth straight season opener, this time 88-82.
The neutral site game gave a largely new roster of Bears a chance to work through early struggles before toughing things out in the second half. Specifically, freshman Ja’Kobe Walter went for a game-high 28 points while also leading the team in playing time with 33 minutes. The preseason Big 12 freshman of the year shot well from deep hitting 4-of-7 threes while also earning and hitting 10 free throws.
Walter was not alone though, with fellow freshman Yves Missi bringing the energy to help Baylor finally retake the lead in the second half with a steal-and-slam, an emphatic block and knocking down a pair of free throws. Missi finished with 10 points in 18 minutes.
Other double-digit scorers for the Bears were RayJ Dennis with 15, Jalen Bridges with 13, and Langston Love with 10.
The first half was not a half to remember for Baylor and specifically not for new point guard RayJ Dennis. The Toledo transfer accounted for seven of the Bears’ 11 first-half turnovers.
Baylor did win the boards in the first frame, including nine offensive rebounds. However, the turnovers mixed with 12-for-32 shooting left the Bears in a 43-34 halftime hole.
The break and reset worked wonders for Baylor. Walter scored six straight to open the second half and the Bears made a 10-2 run to cut the Auburn lead to one, but the Tigers wouldn’t give up the fight.
An 8-1 Auburn run would put more pressure on the new Baylor team, but Langston Love led a Baylor counter to keep things tight.
That’s when Missi and his athleticism took over for a few plays in a row as noted earlier.
Dennis would also rebound from his early turnovers to help guide the Bears down the stretch with clutch buckets and free throws. Baylor only gave away four second-half turnovers as a team and Dennis committed none of those.
Jayden Nunn, also getting his first start in green and gold, was solid defensively down the stretch too.
Up Next — vs. John Brown on Thursday November 9th (11 AM CST on ESPN+, *Future Bears Game*)