Bears Clamp Down: Baylor’s New-Look Defense is Bringing the Joy Back to Waco

WACO, Texas – For the first time in what feels like a while, Baylor basketball feels enjoyable to watch again, and it starts on the defensive end.

Whether it was a Caden Powell block, Dan Skillings drawing a clutch charge or Cameron Carr’s long-reaching close-out that forced an air ball in the final minutes, Baylor’s defense undeniably helped propel the Bears to a 78-69 win over Washington on Sunday at Foster Pavilion.

In their first real test of the season, Scott Drew’s squad held tough, limiting the Huskies to 41% shooting (28-68) from the floor and 15% beyond the arc (3-20) while forcing 12 turnovers. Washington was led by guard Zoom Diallo (15 points), who scored most of his points on difficult, contested mid-range jumpers over the outstretched arms of Baylor defenders.

“Washington has a lot of talented players who have done it at the Division I level and Power Four level, but we knew we wanted to make things difficult for them,” Drew said post-game. “For the most part, we were able to do that.”

The Huskies, a projected preseason bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, had issues all evening with Baylor’s length — a stark contrast to the past few years, when the Bears were undersized against virtually every Power Four team they played.

Another key factor is that Baylor is finding early success with its new pack-line defense under first-year associate head coach Ron Sanchez, who came to Waco after spending most of his coaching career as an assistant under Tony Bennett at Virginia, churning out top-25-caliber defenses. Through just two games, the Bears are No. 22 in defensive rating on KenPom.

“One thing we talked about is that this team has a chance to be really good on the defensive end,” Drew said. “It might not be sexy. It might not be pretty. We haven’t been beaten up on the glass like that in our previous games, but if we don’t turn the ball over and we defend like that, we give ourselves a chance to be really competitive, especially if we rebound well.”

It’s also evident that the effort and intensity are much improved from the past few seasons on the defensive end, as it was on full display with Texas A&M Corpus Christi sophomore transfer Isaac Williams IV, who was diving all over the floor to make hustle plays in Sunday’s win.

“Just go get it — simple as that,” Williams IV said of his mindset when he sees a loose ball. “We say, ‘first to the floor.’ See the ball. Go dive on it. Get the ball. It’s a battle of who wants it more.”

Williams IV was a phenomenal find in the transfer portal this offseason and is the exact junkyard-dog type of player this team needs at point guard. With a 12-point (5-8) and two-steal performance against the Huskies, he’s already vying for more playing time, according to Drew.

“He got some 50-50 balls. He got on the floor. He made some layups. He puts pressure on the defense,” Drew said of Williams IV. “He’s very athletic, and he’s someone who will continue to get better and better the more he plays.”

The Bears also got nice contributions off the bench from Waco native and senior center Caden Powell, who collected a double-double with 12 points (5-8) and 10 rebounds, while chipping in two blocks.

“I’m really happy for Caden,” Drew said. “He’s somebody that’s such a great teammate. He’s a pillar in the community. Everyone who knows him loves him. Seeing the team celebrate his double-double is really cool. You can always tell who the players really think is a great teammate because it’s really easy to cheer for those guys.”

When asked about his big performance, Powell deflected the praise, saying, “Credit to my teammates. They found me when I was open. I just wanted to do whatever I could on the defensive end to fit in and help us win. Credit goes to them because they put me in the spots I needed to be in. … Whatever we had to do to get that win, I was willing to do it.”

From Waco to the World Stage: Caden Powell Finding His Role for Baylor, Team USA

Ever since Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua went down with an injury in February 2022, Baylor’s really struggled to find a savvy veteran center that almost always makes the right play, and Powell seems to fit that team-first, high-IQ mold perfectly.

ESPN commentator Fran Fraschilla noted on Sunday’s broadcast, “The underrated X-factor tonight for Baylor has been Caden Powell. Think of him like an NBA 10-year veteran that a playoff team picks up.”

While Williams IV and Powell both had big games for the Bears off the bench, it was an all-around game on offense overall, as four other players scored in double-figures: Carr (16 points), Skillings (12 points), Tounde Yessoufou (13 points) and Michael Rataj (11 points).

Carr, for the second straight game, stole the show with 16 points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep and six boards. Through two games, he's averaging 22 points (62% FG), 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals and is shooting up NBA Draft Boards. KenPom listed Carr as the second-most impactful player in the country across the first week of the season.

“Cam is one of those guys who looks really good, and when it’s cooking, it’s fun to watch,” Drew said. “With Cam, the great thing at Tennessee and since he’s been here, is the consistency. He’s very skilled. He’s as athletic as any player we’ve had here, but it’s his overall toughness and ability to make winning plays. … As far as dunking-wise, he's as good as anybody we’ve had, and we’ve had some elite ones.”

Although it’s still super early, players who want to make winning plays seem to be a trait of this team, which is a welcome change after last year’s struggles with chemistry. This offseason, Drew set out to restore the program’s ‘Culture of JOY,’ focusing on bringing in the right personalities as he rebuilt the roster from the ground up. So far, he’s been thrilled with how this group has come together, both on and off the court.

“One thing about this team is they’ve really embraced Baylor’s four pillars,” he said. “Spiritually, we’ve had four players baptized. We had a GA baptized. Academically, we’re on track to possibly have the best GPA in men’s basketball history for a semester.”

Although it’s been mostly positive regarding early-season takeaways, something to monitor is the health of High Point transfer center Juslin Bodo Bodo (6-foot-11), who suffered an offseason injury and has yet to play, despite being expected to be one of the key pieces on this year’s roster.

The Bears are currently bringing Powell off the bench and are having to start games small with Rataj (6-foot-8) at the five. Baylor is also without Italian freshman Maikcol Perez (6-foot-8), who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in practice, and freshman Mayo Soyoye (6-foot-10), who is electing to redshirt.

“Honestly, he’s somebody that I can’t tell you when it could be the whole season or it could be in two weeks,” Drew said to the Matt Mosley Show last Friday when asked about Bodo Bodo’s health.

Drew added, “Every day, he’s progressing and doing a good job, but it was a serious injury, and it’s a matter of how well he can keep progressing. Literally, it could be the whole year, or it could be a few weeks. He’s made great strides in the past few weeks, and that’s exciting and encouraging. … He’s not doing contact. But non-contact, he’s basically doing everything — shooting, dunking — he’s alive.”

The Bears (2-0) resume play at 8 p.m. this Friday, Nov. 14, at Foster Pavilion against Tarleton (1-2). The game will be streamed on ESPN+.