Baylor basketball downs Grand Canyon in exhibition match, Yessoufou shines
Baylor basketball was back in action on Friday evening for its first game of the season. It was an exhibition game against Scott Drew's brother -- Bryce, and the Grand Canyon Lopes. With the Bears returning zero players from last year's squad, there were plenty of people interested to see and hear how Baylor looked.
Baylor got out to a 39-35 lead after the first 20 minutes of action. The Bears shot over 46% from the field and shot a fantastic 55% from 3. But Baylor also allowed GCU to shoot over 50% from the field in the first half, which allowed the Lopes to stay in the game. Dan Skillings was outstanding in the first half, leading both teams with 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds. The highly-touted freshman Tounde Yessoufou scored 10 points and nailed two 3s in the first 20 minutes of action.
In the final 20 minutes, it was the Yessoufou and Cameron Carr show. The talented freshman had 11 points, while nailing three more 3-pointers. Carr, the Tennessee transfer scored 13 points and hit two 3s in the final 20 minutes. Baylor shot an impressive 47% from deep in the second half.
After 40 minutes of play, Baylor won its exhibition against GCU, 79-74.
Starting lineup
High Point transfer Juslin Bodo Bodo was out against GCU and coach Drew said he could be out for a couple of more weeks. While many are expecting Bodo Bodo to start at center, Drew actually didn't have a typical center start in the contest on Friday.
The starting five for the Bears were:
- Obi Agbim
- Tounde Yessoufou
- Cameron Carr
- Dan Skillings Jr.
- Michael Rataj
There really isn't any surprises here, other than expecting Caden Powell to get the start at the five. But instead, Drew went with a smaller look in the opening exhibition game. As we know, this doesn't mean this will be the starting five when the regular season opens up, but it's clear Baylor expects these five to see plenty of playing time this season.
Box score
- Tounde Yessoufou: 6-of-15 (5-of-9 from 3) 21 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one turnover
- Cameron Carr: 6-of-11 (3-of-5 from 3) 20 points, three rebounds, and two turnovers
- Dan Skillings: 6-of-10 (2-of-3 from 3) 17 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and three turnovers
- Obi Agbim: 2-of-10 (0-of-3) five points, four rebounds, and six assists
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