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It might’ve been an exhibition game, but Baylor basketball showed its mettle early and proved the Bears could be a force this season. Going up against a top-five Florida Gators team, we didn’t know what to expect from Scott Drew’s team.
Despite a sloppy first half that found Baylor trailing by three, the Bears got their offense rolling the second half. Florida guard Boogie Fland would hit a three to tie the game and send it to overtime, but the Bears weren’t going to be denied in Jacksonville.
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Baylor fought and clawed its way to an impressive 82-76 win over the Gators. Here are three takeaways from the game.
Isaac Williams/Kayden Mingo were bucket-getters
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It was Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou last season. While it’s an extremely small sample size, the scoring duo might be Kayden Mingo and Isaac Williams this season. The Penn State transfer led all scorers, scoring 31 points, while knocking down 11-of-15 free throw attempts.
Mingo only made two three-pointers, but he did his work driving the lane and making contested jumpers. His eight rebounds can’t go without notice, too.
Isaac Williams was second on the team, scoring 17 points. He made 3-of-4 three-pointers and was active on the offensive side of the court. Florida should be among the better defensive teams this season, and what Baylor did against the Gators was quite impressive.
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Concerns on the boards
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One of our storylines heading into the game was how Baylor’s bigs would handle the Gators. Florida has one of the top frontcourts in the country and has the size to compete. The Bears opted to start freshman Elijah Williams at the ‘4’ to give them some spacing alongside Juslin Bodo Bodo.
But Baylor was outmanned on the boards. The final number was Florida 46-41, but that’s largely because of the Bears’ rebounding numbers in overtime. The Gators, for most of the game, dominated the glass.
Florida also had 26 offensive rebounds. That’s…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/3-instant-takeaways-baylor-basketballs-204459674.html
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Publish date : 2026-10-18 20:44:00
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