Yessoufou, Bears Drop a Century-and-Some on Sacramento State, Win 110-88

WACO, Texas — Baylor Men’s Basketball (6-1) rode efficient offense to a 110-88 victory over the visiting Sacramento State Hornets (4-6) on Holiday Hoops night at the Foster Pavilion. 

Freshman wing Tounde Yessoufou led all scorers with 27 points, a new career-high, as well as grabbing six rebounds and one turnover.

Cameron Carr followed closely behind with 25 points on 10-16 shooting. 

Mike Bibby’s Sacramento State team would not be pushed aside quietly, however, going blow for blow with the Bears’ offense in the first half. 

Former famed high school prospect netted 21 points on 19 shots and seven turnovers. Meanwhile, fellow guard Prophet Johnson also scored 21, going 6-15.

After the Hornets shot 47% from the field in the first half to stay within five points at the halftime break, the Bears’ defense stepped up and held their opponents to 32% shooting in the second half. 

At the other end of the court, Baylor's offense was humming all night, shooting 60% from the field and 76% from the free-throw line (but a poor 27% from three) while registering a huge 1.528 points per possession.

To reach those heights of production, more than Yessoufou and Carr had to step up. 

Michael Rataj had arguably his best game in green and gold, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists on 6-7 shooting.

Dan Skillings added a double-double of 12 points and 11 boards while point guards Isaac Williams and Obi Agbim scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. 

Even bench players Drew Perry and Will Kuykendall got in on the fu,n scoring three and four points each.

Baylor now has three days to prep for a trip to Tennessee to play the Memphis Tigers on Saturday. Penny Hardaway’s team has had a rough start to the year, going 2-4 against mostly Power 4 opponents, but they flashed great potential when they pushed No. 1 Purdue hard in the Bahamas during feast week. 

Tip-off for Bears at Tigers is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS.