Carr Leads Baylor Basketball Past Creighton 81-74 to Open Players Era Championship

LAS VEGAS — Baylor Men’s Basketball (4-0) remained undefeated on the young season as they kicked off “Feast Week” with an 81-74 win over the Creighton Bluejays in the first game of the Players Era Championship.  

Cameron Carr continued his ascendance to the go-to guy for the new-look Bears with 21 points and 9 rebounds to lead all players. Carr also threw down a key alley-oop late in the game from guard Obi Agbim and registered 11 of the Bears’ final 15 points. 

Scott Drew’s squad was dominant on the boards at both ends today, winning the rebounding battle 45-28, including a 22-8 advantage in offensive boards. The Bears converted those 22 offensive rebounds into 27 second-chance points. The Bluejays only managed seven of those. 

Back to Agbim, the Wyoming transfer launched the Bears’ hot start with 10 of the team’s first 25 points. That start included Baylor hitting its first five three-pointers. The Bears would only go 2-13 from distance after that, finishing at a 39% for the day.

Overall, the Bears shot 43% from the field and hustled hard to overcome Creighton’s better shooting day at 47% with 11 made threes. At one point, when they tied the game at 58-58, the Bluejays were 11-22 from three before going 0-7 down the stretch.

Michael Rataj and Dan Skillings played big roles, helping the Bears re-establish a lead after that point in the second half, with Rataj posting 10 points off of composed shot selection and Skillings out-working everyone on the boards to earn his 14 points and 8 rebounds. 

Skillings did take a hard fall late in the game but stayed on the court through the final horn. Backup guard JJ White was forced to leave the game in the first half with a right foot issue and did not return.

Baylor plays again tomorrow afternoon against the No. 14 St. John’s Red Storm. That game is set to tip off at 3:30 p.m. CT and will again be televised on TruTV.