FORT WORTH, Texas — Baylor Men’s Basketball (13-12, 3-9 Big 12) slipped further from NCAA Tournament contention with an 82-71 loss to the No. 24 Louisville Cardinals (19-6, 8-4 ACC) in a brief reprieve from Big 12 play at Dickies Arena on Saturday.
Tounde Yessoufou was held to 16 points on 5-for-16 shooting and Cameron Carr missed tying his season-low, scoring just five points.
For the Cardinals, Mikel Brown Jr. led the attack from downtown in the first half and from inside the arch in the second half on his way to a game-high 29 points.
J’Vonne Hadley also had an efficient 20 points for Louisville as the Bears could not hang tough in the second half.
Baylor shot poorly from everywhere except the free-throw line on the day. The Bears went 2-for-22 from three on their way to a 37% day from the field. The Green and Gold did hit 25-30 free throws, but it was not enough to keep up with the Cardinals, who shot 56% from the field and 44% from three.
With the Bears’ stars and outside shooting struggling so much, Isaac Williams was the bright spot for Scott Drew’s team offensively. The sophomore guard scored 20 points, almost all in the paint.
Elsewhere, Michael Rataj had his first double-figure scoring game since the Bears’ trip to Oklahoma State a month ago. He finished with 11 points and no turnovers.
James Nnaji also had a season-high seven points as the mid-season addition continues to look more comfortable with each week.
Baylor is now almost out of room for losses in their last gasp quest to make the NCAA Tournament. With six regular-season games remaining, Baylor likely has to win five as well as advancing a couple of rounds in the Big 12 tournament to get not only into the bubble conversation, but onto the right side of the bubble.
That turnaround can be started on Tuesday in Manhattan, Kansas, as the Bears will go try to get Scott Drew his second win against former assistant Jerome Tang. That game is set to tip off at 8 p.m. on Tuesday and will be broadcast on ESPN 2.
