Tounde Yessoufou scored a game-high 23 points Tuesday night to lead five Baylor players in double figures as the Bears stopped Oklahoma State 94-79 in Stillwater, Okla., for their first Big 12 Conference win.
Michael Rataj added 19 points and seven rebounds while Cameron Carr chipped in 17 points and six assists for the Bears (11-5, 1-3 Big 12). Obi Agbim drained five of Baylor’s 13 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, and Isaac Williams IV came off the bench to tally 14, all in the first half.
Even though it cooled off in the second half, Baylor still converted 35 of 59 shots (59.3%) from the field and canned 52% of its 3-point attempts.
Four players finished in double figures for the Cowboys (13-4, 1-3). Parsa Fallah scored 16 of his 18 points in the first half before being hampered by an apparent groin injury after the break. Anthony Roy added 17 points, Vyctorius Miller hit for 14 before fouling out and Kanye Clary contributed 13.
The Bears led for all but 36 seconds of the game, pushing the margin as high as 67-43 with 15:58 left. Oklahoma State sliced the deficit to 80-70 with 7:44 remaining on a 3-pointer by Jaylen Curry but couldn’t crawl any closer.
The pregame storyline concerned Baylor’s ability to bounce back from dropping three straight conference games, including a 77-55 decision Saturday night at home against No. 7 Houston. The Bears averaged only 59.3 points in those contests.
Baylor led 57-39 at the break, giving itself the working margin it needed to make it through the second half. Oklahoma State wasn’t that bad on offense, shooting 46.9% from the floor in the opening half, but couldn’t get stops to stay close.
