Key Takeaways from Robert Wright Getting the Last Laugh Over Baylor

Baylor basketball knew their assignment, they are running out of time to make a run at the NCAA Tournament.

Tuesday night’s game saw them return to their home floor against the BYU Cougars led by their superstar AJ Dybantsa.

There was also extra motivation as Tuesday marked the return of Robert Wright III.

The crowd was fired up at the beginning at Scott Drew’s behest, creating a hostile environment for the Cougars and Wright, who was booed whenever he touched the ball early in the game.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, and the score was an appropriate 41 apiece at the break. Baylor needed to find a way to break that tie in their favor in the final 20 minutes for a statement win.

Instead, the lack of scoring outside of their top two players caused trouble in the second half as BYU’s defense suffocated players not named Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou.

As seems to be the norm these days, Baylor had a spirited comeback late in the game, but it was too little, too late.

Here are our takeaways from Baylor’s disappointing loss at home to BYU.

The Return

There’s no question what the top storyline was coming into this game, It was the return of former Baylor point guard Robert Wright III. Wright was slated to be a key contributor to the 2026 team, and was even noted to have signed a contract to be Baylor’s point guard. Instead, he entered the transfer portal in April, and signed with BYU.

Scott Drew asked for a hostile environment, and he got it to some degree. Wright was booed early when he touched the ball, and Baylor’s defense was intense against him.

Wright finished with 15 points in the first half, and 30 for the game. He seemed to relish the hatred being thrown his way by the Baylor crowd, including chants of “traitor” late in the second half.

It was hard not to envision what this game could have looked like if Wright were wearing green and gold instead of blue. BYU led the points off turnovers battle 24-0 at one point in the second half, and point guard play was a big reason for that.

While Dybantsa was the best player on the floor for the Cougars tonight, Wright was a close second, and got the upper hand in this revenge game between a player and coach with some bad blood between them.

Next Level Good

Sometimes, it does not matter how good your defense is if the other guy is just better on offense. AJ Dybantsa is a perfect example of that. His first half was one that saw the Bears try a multitude of looks to slow him down, but it didn’t matter. At the four minute mark, Dybantsa had more points than the rest of his teammates put together.

IF there were a player who looked like a future NBA star on this night, Dybantsa certainly lived up to the billing.

Anytime the Bears made a run in the second half, Dybantsa seemed to have an answer.

He finished the night with 36 points

It’s easy to see why he could be in the conversation as the first pick of this summer’s NBA Draft.

Where is the Balance?

This is usually the case when Baylor takes the floor, but the scoring load was handled largely by sophomore Cameron Carr, and freshman sensation Tounde Yessoufou. On a night where they had to match the brilliance of Dybantsa, Yessoufou and Carr combined for 33 points on 12 for 20 shooting, including five three-pointers.

The problem? The rest of the team only had eight points. Asking Carr and Yessoufou to carry a load that heavy felt like they were asking for problems as the game moved into the second half.

Perhaps that was why Scott Drew had a play drawn up for Yessoufou to create a shot for Caden Powell to open the second half.

Despite that, it was hard to find much scoring outside of Carr and Yessoufou. Obi Agbim did not do anything of significance and neither did Michael Rataj. As a result, Baylor fell behind early in the second half after going into the break tied at 41.

With just two players to really focus on defensively, BYU was able to put the clamps on Baylor’s offense in the second half.

Yessoufou finished the game with 37 points.

Carr finished with 24, but just nine points in the second half.

The rest of the team combined for 33 points across three other scorers, there just is not enough firepower.

Here are the key remaining games for @BaylorWBB to finish the seasonhttps://t.co/Hc87zZt5H2
— Baylor Bears On SI (@BaylorBearsOnSI) February 10, 2026

The Return

Next Level Good

Where is the Balance?

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