Baylor Basketball

Gameday Thread: Baylor Travels to Ohio to Take on Defensive-Minded Cincinnati

Baylor (11-8; 1-6) travels to take on Cincinnati (10-10; 2-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 5:30 p.m. CT.
By Ashley Hodge
January 27, 2026
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Photo by Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365.com

CINCINNATI, Ohio – Baylor (11-8; 1-6) travels to take on Cincinnati (10-10; 2-5) on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 5:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on FS1.

Computer Models

  • Torvik: Baylor (63), Cincinnati (49)
    • Prediction: Cincinnati 77, Baylor 71
  • KenPom: Baylor (52), Cincinnati (59)
    • Prediction: Cincinnati 75, Baylor 73
  • Haslametrics: Baylor (65), Cincinnati (68)
    • Prediction: Cincinnati 76, Baylor 73
  • Evan Miyakawa: Baylor (48), Cincinnati (46)
    • Prediction: Cincinnati 77, Baylor 72

Projected Lineups

Baylor Starters

  • Guard: Obi Agbim (5Sr.) 6-3, 185 (11 ppg; 3 asst)
  • Guard: Tounde Yessoufou (Fr.) 6-5, 215 (18 ppg; 6 reb; 2 steals)
  • Guard: Cameron Carr (RSo.) 6-5, 175 (20 ppg; 5 reb)
  • Forward: Michael Rataj (Sr.) 6-8, 230 (9 ppg; 6 reb; 3 asst)
  • Center: Caden Powell (Sr.) 6-9, 225 (7 ppg; 7 reb)

Baylor Bench

  • Forward: Dan Skillings (Sr.) 6-7, 200 (10 ppg; 7 reb; 3 asst) 
  • Guard: Isaac Williams IV (So.) 6-1, 190 (10 ppg; 3 asst)
  • Center: James Nnaji (Fr.) 7-0 250 (2 ppg; 4 reb

Cincinnati Starters 

  • Guard: Day Day Thomas (Sr.) 6-1, 190 (11 ppg; 4 asst)
  • Guard: Jizzle James (Jr.) 6-3, 205 (10 ppg; 3 asst)
  • Guard: Sencire Harris (Jr.) 6-4, 180 (7 ppg; 3 reb)
  • Forward: Baba Miller (Sr.) 6-11, 225 (14 ppg; 10 reb)
  • Forward: Moustapha Thiam (So.) 7-2, 250 (11 ppg; 6 reb; 2 blks)

Cincinnati Bench

  • Forward: Jalen Celestine (Sr.) 6-7, 220 (6 ppg; 3 reb)
  • Guard: Kerr Kriisa (Sr.) 6-3, 185 (7 ppg; 3 asst)
  • Forward: Tyler McKinley (Fr.) 6-9, 245 (2 ppg; 3 reb)
152 Comments
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Gameday Thread: Baylor Travels to Ohio to Take on Defensive-Minded Cincinnati

12,029 Views | 152 Replies | Last: 1 mo ago by Bearwhiz
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7:44p, 1/28/26
57 points? Bad game for Carr to look terrible. This one was winnable. Interesting that Williams played so little.
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IvanBear
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In reply to Big12Fan2024 • 7:44p, 1/28/26
Big12Fan2024 said:
So what do you do to solve it?

Assuming Yessoufou and Cam are gone either to the NBA or a much higher NIL package, Rataj's, Skillings and Powell's eligibility expire.

Does bringing back Williams, Nnaji, Agbim (assuming a JUCO ruling), White (who underwhelmed during the time before his injury), and then throwing in 3 guys we've never seen play at a Big 12 level in Bodo Bodo, Soyoye and Igaudola and then the freshman Williams suddenly catapult this team talentwise to the top half of the Big 12?



Only way to fix this is a sea change of recruiting strategy. Go find guys who do things you need them to do well. Not the hot names in the portal. Guys you can develop and then pay for them to come develop and be willing to spend to keep them. We need good talent evaluation and a better scheme. I don't hear it said much but I really think we miss the mind of Jakus.


Can Drew do those things? Not by himself he's got to purge his staff quick then hire quick before the portal eats him alive again.
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BluesBear
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7:46p, 1/28/26
Here is what Drew needs to do:

- Bring Tang back as soon as he gets canned from KSU
- Hit the international market hard - min. 2 year deals
- Hit the portal to fill the gaps. Min 2 year deals
- Snag 1 or 2 " top tier one and done" players
- Bring in 2-3 Freshman who fit his long term need for program and would be good role players.


Likely, next year would be a wash of a season but you'd have figured out the right mix of player types.

I'd be working that right now. Hell, I might even ask Sicem fan to aid in the "research" to get a larger pipeline of kids to select from.
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Big12Fan2024
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In reply to IvanBear • 7:49p, 1/28/26
I think that's some of the things bear2 was talking about, and I agree wholeheartedly with that. I'm just saying I have a difficult time trusting our talent evaluation process right now and feel like that's largely what got us here so I'm a bit untrusting at this point with the guys we have that I haven't seen play at this level yet. I think you also provide some interesting thoughts.
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Big12Fan2024
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In reply to BluesBear • 7:53p, 1/28/26
I thought this year was supposed to be the "wash" season, Blues. We're basically playing with mostly mid-major talent other than Yessoufou and Carr. Are you telling me I'm gonna have to go through this again next year?
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IvanBear
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7:55p, 1/28/26
I don't want tang back. Look I love what he did for us, but the dumpster fire at k state proves he's got all the same problems Drew has with navigating the current state of recruiting and coaching in the NCAA. We need new voices in the room, not more homer hires.
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PaperBear89
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In reply to Big12Fan2024 • 8:07p, 1/28/26
Big12Fan2024 said:
I think that's some of the things bear2 was talking about, and I agree wholeheartedly with that. I'm just saying I have a difficult time trusting our talent evaluation process right now and feel like that's largely what got us here so I'm a bit untrusting at this point with the guys we have that I haven't seen play at this level yet. I think you also provide some interesting thoughts.


It's one thing to misevaluate high school talent. You haven't seen them play vs grown ass men. But transfers? You literally have seen (or damn well have better seen) them playing college basketball. No excuse! And before we start saying mid majors different than P4, I call bullcrap. We did just fine evaluating those types of players in the run-up to 2021 (Freddy Gillespie, Macio Teague)
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bear2be2
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In reply to Big12Fan2024 • 8:23p, 1/28/26
Big12Fan2024 said:
bear2be2 said:
Big12Fan2024 said:
So what do you do to solve it?

Assuming Yessoufou and Cam are gone either to the NBA or a much higher NIL package, Rataj's, Skillings and Powell's eligibility expire.

Does bringing back Williams, Nnaji, Agbim (assuming a JUCO ruling), White (who underwhelmed during the time before his injury), and then throwing in 3 guys we've never seen play at a Big 12 level in Bodo Bodo, Soyoye and Igaudola and then the freshman Williams suddenly catapult this team talentwise to the top half of the Big 12?

You forgot Perez, who should be a solid Big 12 player.

There are some building blocks. We need to keep as many of them as we can because both freshmen and transfers are usually better in Year 2 than they were in Year 1. And then add some difference makers around that core.


I hear what you're saying, but I also heard how "solid" a Big 12 player Rataj was gonna be. Agbim was gonna be. And previously Asemota. And Celestine. And list over the past few years could go on and on.

Not saying you did, by the way. All fan bases have a habit of just assuming someone is gonna be great. None of us have seen Perez suit up in college basketball so far. We have some mixtape highlights.

I used to be confident and buyoff on it because I feel like we had proper talent evaluation in place so I could trust it. I'm not sure we do any longer based on the past few years. I finally don't feel like I can give them the benefit of the doubt.

Perez was a top-100 national recruit out of high school -- one of only four on our roster.

Rataj and Agbim started their careers at a bad PAC-12 program and at the JUCO/Mountain West level for a reason. Neither is exceptionally gifted.

If we can't develop and win with players like Perez, we're probably done winning.
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bear2be2
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In reply to IvanBear • 8:30p, 1/28/26
IvanBear said:
I don't want tang back. Look I love what he did for us, but the dumpster fire at k state proves he's got all the same problems Drew has with navigating the current state of recruiting and coaching in the NCAA. We need new voices in the room, not more homer hires.

The Drew-Tang clan obviously worked very well. We have two decades of evidence of that.

I don't care what Tang did as a head coach at Kansas State. If he can come back and fill the same role he did during his time at Baylor for a second stint, I'd take him back in a heartbeat.
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Smashmouth
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In reply to PaperBear89 • 8:32p, 1/28/26
PaperBear89 said:
Big12Fan2024 said:
I think that's some of the things bear2 was talking about, and I agree wholeheartedly with that. I'm just saying I have a difficult time trusting our talent evaluation process right now and feel like that's largely what got us here so I'm a bit untrusting at this point with the guys we have that I haven't seen play at this level yet. I think you also provide some interesting thoughts.


It's one thing to misevaluate high school talent. You haven't seen them play vs grown ass men. But transfers? You literally have seen (or damn well have better seen) them playing college basketball. No excuse! And before we start saying mid majors different than P4, I call bullcrap. We did just fine evaluating those types of players in the run-up to 2021 (Freddy Gillespie, Macio Teague)
Add Flager to that list (Presbyterian)
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bear2be2
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In reply to Smashmouth • 8:40p, 1/28/26
Smashmouth said:
PaperBear89 said:
Big12Fan2024 said:
I think that's some of the things bear2 was talking about, and I agree wholeheartedly with that. I'm just saying I have a difficult time trusting our talent evaluation process right now and feel like that's largely what got us here so I'm a bit untrusting at this point with the guys we have that I haven't seen play at this level yet. I think you also provide some interesting thoughts.


It's one thing to misevaluate high school talent. You haven't seen them play vs grown ass men. But transfers? You literally have seen (or damn well have better seen) them playing college basketball. No excuse! And before we start saying mid majors different than P4, I call bullcrap. We did just fine evaluating those types of players in the run-up to 2021 (Freddy Gillespie, Macio Teague)

Add Flager to that list (Presbyterian)

And Royce O'Neale, who's still playing heavy minutes in the NBA.

That's the irony. Finding those diamond in the rough transfers used to be a major strength for our program. Now we're finding rough in the diamonds.
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Bearwhiz
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9:49p, 1/28/26
Glad I didn't watch this ****show.
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