Baylor's Balanced Scoring Leads to Fast Start, Runaway Victory Against Colorado

Baylor basketball is building some momentum, winning its second consecutive game, with a big home win over the Colorado Buffaloes. Here are our takeaways from Wednesday's big win.

Jan 7, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears head coach Scott Drew reacts to a play during the first half against the Iowa State Cyclones at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

The Baylor Bears returned to their home floor looking to build on the momentum from a monumental victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon.

At 27 in conference play, Baylor needs to start stacking together some wins if they want to make a run at the NCAA Tournament.

They were facing a Colorado team that got off to a good start this season, but has been scuffling of late, losing six of their last seven games.

Baylor did what they’ve struggled with in games they’ve lost. They got off to a fast start on the strength of a 8-0 run to take an early 13-4 lead.

That lead stretched to 26-14 late in the first half, which was impressive considering their best player, Cameron Carr did not score a point until a pair of free throws finally put him in the scorebook.

Baylor got contributions and scoring slack picked up by one of its usual suspects, and another guy who has been inconsistent at best.

More on that later.

Ultimately, the story of the first half was Baylor’s suffocating defense and ability to take advantage of Colorado’s mistakes. They were red hot from three point land early, and they led by as many as 24 in a first half that had plenty of fireworks.

The second half was a complete runaway with Tounde Yessoufou leading the way, and getting plenty of help from those around him.

Baylor is now 3-7 in conference play, and one game away from what fictional Cleveland Indians manager Lou Brown would call a winning streak.

Here are our takeaways from Baylor’s big win on their home floor.

Early Hot Hand Leads to Balanced Scoring

As Baylor got off to a hot start from the field on Wednesday night, their success could be traced to the right hand of Obi Agbim. Agbim was a big part of Baylor’s win over West Virginia on Saturday, and he carried that into Wednesday night with eight early points and two three-pointers.

Baylor came into play on Wednesday at 8-2 when Agbim reached double figures, so he is a straw that can stir the drink as a secondary scorer next to the brilliance of Tounde Yessoufou and Cameron Carr.

His hot start was a big part of Baylor building an early lead, and they could use more of that from him.

Short handed

Before the game started it was noted that Baylor was going to be short in its rotation. Dan Skillings Jr. had started the last three games in place of Michael Rataj, but was sidelined for Wednesday’s game.

That caused Scott Drew to roll with four guards and a center to start the game. The Bears were fortunate to get early scoring contributions from Yessoufou and Agbim to build an early lead.

As the game went on, the short rotation did not seem to show much of an impact. Hopefully Skillings can get right before the end of the season, as this is the second time he’s had to miss a game.

Fast Start Formula

I’ll continue to hammer this point home until the trend dies. When Baylor starts fast, they’ve won, as evidenced by wins over Oklahoma State and West Virginia prior to tonight’s game against Colorado.

Baylor’s fast start in tonight’s game was as good as they’ve played at any point this season with three players in double figures.

That marks Baylor’s third straight win where they have not fallen behind early. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but early confidence goes a long way, and it looks like it is going a long way for this year's version of the Baylor Bears.

The Brilliant Mr. Yessoufou

Last but certainly not least, the brilliance of Tounde Yessoufou. Yes, Baylor has Cameron Carr as its best player, and they are fortunate to have him. This night, however, belonged to the electric freshman, who felt like he could not miss for various stretches of the game. He was impressive off the bounce. He was impressive from beyond the arc. He made big plays on defense and on the glass.

Baylor has a potential dynamic duo if Yessoufou is able to consistently find his way as he did on Wednesday night.

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