Baylor Falls Behind Early, Cannot Complete Comeback Against Cincinnati

There was a new starting lineup, but it was the same old story for the Baylor basketball team, as they fell to 1-7 in conference play.

Jan 10, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears guard Dan Skillings Jr. (0) dribbles the ball upcourt against the Houston Cougars during the second half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

The Baylor Bears entered Wednesday night’s game in desperate need of a victory. They had lost three straight games coming into action, and could feel their season slipping away from them.

Cincinnati was struggling as well, at just 2-5 in conference play coming into the night. Getting a win on the road is never easy, but Wednesday night was a prime opportunity for Baylor’s basketball team to start building some momentum heading into the late part of the season.

Ultimately, this game looked like more of the same for the first half for the Bears. They fell behind early, they shot poorly from the field and got into early foul trouble.

As a result, they trailed by seven at halftime, and needed to rally in the second half. Coming into Wednesday’s game, Baylor was 0-7 when they were trailing at the break, so it was a trend they needed to snap to score a big win.

Instead, it was more of the same, and Baylor dropped to 1-7 in Big 12 play, and their path to the NCAA Tournament continues to dwindle.

Here are takeaways from Cincinnati's 67-57 win over Baylor.

Lineup Change

Michael Rataj Jr was someone we highlighted after Baylor’s latest loss to TCU as someone that could see their role change.

We also talked about some of the issues that face the team when he does not play well.

For Wednesday’s game, Rataj saw himself coming off the bench, being replaced by Dan Skillings Jr. in the starting lineup.

The desired effect was not there as Skillings had two points on just 1-7 shooting in the first half, and Rataj only scored two points in the first half as well as Baylor fell behind at halftime.

Overall, Baylor just shot 35 percent in the first half, and turned the ball over six times, as the slow starts and halftime deficits continued.

Credit to Scott Drew for trying something different, as his team is struggling, but for tonight’s game at least, not much changed.

Skillings did find his footing by starting the second half as well, and helped get Baylor on track in the early going.  

Fading Star?

One bad game is not going to kill the stock of anyone on the team, and if anyone has earned the benefit of the doubt, it’s sophomore guard Cameron Carr. Carr came into Wednesday’s game averaging 20 points per-game, and has emerged as the team’s go-to player.

The first half of Wednesday’s game, however, was not Carr’s finest moment. He was 0-5 shooting, missed both of his three point attempts, and did not register in the scorebook.

Baylor’s defense is not equipped to have slow nights from Carr, and that’s probably an unfair burden to him. That’s the reality of the situation, though, and it was a big reason Baylor fell behind early.

In total, Carr was held scoreless until the just before the six-minute mark of the second half.

In basketball, the best player is a lot like a quarterback. When a team wins, they probably get too much credit, and when they lose, they likely get too much blame.

In this case, however, not finding his way into the scorebook until late in the second half s not helping to say the very least.

Carr needed to be better tonight, and he was not.

Same Second Half Story

As previously mentioned, Baylor was 0-7 when they were trailing at the break. With a team desperately needing to start stringing wins together, Baylor needed to find a rally in their bones

The start of the second half was not promising as Baylor went on a 7-2 run in the early going of the second half to force Scott Drew to take a quick timeout as the deficit grew to 12.

Any run that Baylor went on was answered by a timely jumper from Cincinnati, or an offensive rebound that was converted into a basket, taking away a potential stop for more momentum in the Bears’ favor.

Baylor never cut the lead to a point where it truly felt like they were within striking distance. Baba Miller continued to beat them up throughout the night with a double-double, killing Baylor’s defense both in the paint and on the glass.

A bit of a turning point came just before the eight minute media timeout when Baylor forced a missed shot, but Dan Skillings was tagged for what turned into a flagrant foul.

Baylor was only down 10 at the time and had a chance to cut the lead to single digits.

Instead, two free throws were made by Miller, and followed up with what felt like a dagger three from Jizzle James to put UC up by 15.

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