Baylor’s Season Ends in Big 12 Tournament Loss to Arizona State

Baylor and Arizona State opened the Big 12 men's basketball tournament Tuesday morning. Both teams outside the bubble heading into the tournament were going to have to do a lot in Kansas City for an NCAA tournament bid. Both teams started slowly, with only 15 points scored between them through the first eight minutes.

The game was generally sloppy at the start, with Baylor turning the ball over five times in the first ten minutes. This is why Baylor went down 21-10 to start this game. Baylor slowly worked their way back when Arizona State's Andrij Grbovic was off the court. He recorded a staggering 11 +/- while on the court and had twelve points in the first half. The first half ended 44-35 in favor of Arizona State, leaving Baylor with a lot of work to do if they wanted to keep their season alive.

Cameron Carr and Will Kuykendall hype the team up before the game. | via @BaylorMBB on X

The second half was more of the same. Baylor was outdone physically on every level. While Caden Powell played well in spurts, he simply had too much of a job to do in the paint with no relief from anyone on the Baylor roster. James Nnaji played less than three minutes once again, meaning Baylor often went small, and that just didn't work. The game ends 83-79 in favor of the Sun Devils, who move on and play Iowa State tomorrow. Here are some takeaways as the Baylor Bears' 2025-2026 campaign comes to an end.

Issac Williams IV has to be a Baylor bear next year

In my opinion, Isaac Williams IV is the prototypical Baylor guard that Baylor fans have loved since the Scott Drew era began. He fights on defense like no one else on this year's roster, controls the pace and speed of the game like James Akinjo did in 2022, and attacks the rim aggressively when the offense isn't firing. He's a sparkplug. Pair him alongside a talented shooting guard, and Baylor could have a sneaky top 15 backcourt in the nation next season.

Fired up from deep 🔥#SicEm | #CultureofJOY pic.twitter.com/yymLUnnPOI
— Baylor Men’s Basketball (@BaylorMBB) March 10, 2026

Cam Carr, go do great things in the NBA

Cam Carr has been far and away the best player for Baylor this season. Last season, a lot of Baylor fans were disappointed in the season Baylor had, but they had a lot of love for the effort and passion that Norchad Omier and VJ Edgecombe played with and I believe a lot of Baylor fans will have a similar sentiment when they talk about Cam Carr. From his defensive effort, the athletic dunks, and the NBA range three pointers, he was just a joy to watch, and he should be a top-20 pick come the 2026 NBA draft.

Cam doing Cam things.

He's up to 15 points in the first half!#SicEm | #CultureofJOY pic.twitter.com/8ChYRib8Lk
— Baylor Men’s Basketball (@BaylorMBB) March 10, 2026

Baylor fans taken out of their misery

The worst season in Baylor history since 2006-2007. Baylor goes .500 for the first time in 19 years. Baylor missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018. Scott Drew built this program up from nothing and is by no means on the hot seat, but this season was a stain to the magnificent "new-blood" program he built. Scott Drew has a lot of work to do heading into the 2026-2027 season, both with staff construction and roster construction. This new era of college athletics has challenged Baylor and Scott Drew, but I trust that good times are ahead for Baylor basketball.