Baylor and host Memphis will look to build on recent successes and continue to come together as new teams when they square off on Saturday.
The Bears and Tigers are two of the nation’s three high-major programs (Miami is the other) that retained zero players from last season.
Yet, while analytic studies suggest that roster continuity is crucial for success, Baylor (6-1) and Memphis (3-4) both appear to be on the right path.
The Bears prepared for their first true road game of the season with a 110-88 home win over Sacramento State on Tuesday. Freshman star Tounde Yessoufou scored a career-high 27 points to lead Baylor to its win — the Bears’ second straight — while Cameron Carr added 25 points and Michael Rataj (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Dan Skillings Jr. (12 points, 14 rebounds) amassed double-doubles.
Baylor turned a five-point halftime lead to an 83-63 advantage with nine minutes to play. The Bears outscored Sacramento State 60-26 in the paint while also producing their highest point total since 2022.
Yessoufou is projected as an NBA lottery pick in the next draft, but understands he has to continue to improve.
“I ain’t gonna lie, it’s been tough a little bit,” said Yessoufou, who hit just 23 of 65 shots (35.4%) from the field in the five games prior to his Sacramento State breakout.
“But I just feel like my teammates and my coaches keep pouring into me and (I need to) just let the game come into me, that’s the biggest adjustment.”
The Tigers are a little further behind on the new-team learning curve, but they have been better of late with double-digit home wins over Southern Illinois and New Orleans. In the 86-70 verdict over the Privateers on Wednesday, Quante Berry scored 17 points off of the bench while Simon Majok and Julius Thedford scored 13 apiece. All of Thedford’s output came in the first half as the Tigers built a 48-28 lead.
Memphis’ starting five was the fifth different group of the season, one more than the Tigers needed all last season.
Memphis was without injured starters Curtis Givens III (thigh bruise) and Ashton Hardaway (knee), then lost starting guard Thedford to a knee injury late in the first half.
“This week was really focused on what we wanted out of our offense and why we were running certain things, and that really helped us today,” Memphis coach Penny Hardaway said after the win. “We have to move on. If someone’s not ready in understanding what we’re trying to do, they will have to catch up.”
