Relentless Ball Pressure Fuels Scott Drew’s High-Scoring Baylor

Wave after wave of green-and-gold defenders jumped passing lanes inside Waco’s noisy Foster Pavilion on Tuesday night, turning live-ball deflections into effortless transition layups as junior guard Brett Decker Jr. poured in 18 points and Isaac Williams IV dished five assists to guide Baylor past perennial Ivy League pest Yale 90-61. Across forty relentless minutes, head coach Scott Drew’s rebuilt perimeter rotation made a disciplined mid-major visitor look completely overwhelmed by lateral speed.

Through three games of the 2026-27 season, unbeaten Baylor (3-0) owns a +107 cumulative point differential—tops among all 16 Big 12 programs—after earlier Foster Pavilion routs of Northwestern State (87-65) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (109-53). Averaging 95.3 points, 43.3 rebounds, and an astonishing 14.0 steals per contest while holding opponents under 60 points a night, the Bears now head down Interstate 35 to San Antonio for a marquee Sunday collision with No. 7 Texas.

Isaac Williams IV, Brett Decker Jr., and the Mingo Brothers Spark Waco

Drew’s best Waco teams have always thrived on interchangeable, downhill guard play, and Baylor’s 2026-27 backcourt already showcases four distinct creators capable of taking over a game. Junior guard Isaac Williams IV (6-foot-1, 192 pounds) delivered the signature outburst of opening week, erupting off the bench for a career-high 26 points and six assists in the 109-53 demolition of Arkansas-Pine Bluff before handing out a team-high five assists in the 29-point win over Yale.

Alongside Williams, 6-foot junior guard Brett Decker Jr. paced the scoring column with 18 points against Yale, while sophomore guard Kayden Mingo (17 points, seven rebounds versus Northwestern State) and 6-foot-4 freshman guard Dylan Mingo (six assists against Northwestern State, six boards versus Yale) provide relentless two-way energy. Supported by senior guard James Goodis, sophomore Drew Perry, and 6-foot-7 sophomore wing Andre Iguodala II, Baylor is dishing 18.3 assists against 11.3 turnovers per game—a clean 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio, measuring assists created per giveaway.

95.3 PPG Despite 27.2% Three-Point Shooting: The Scary Upside

Digging beneath Baylor’s 95.3-point scoring average reveals the single most encouraging metric on Drew’s stat sheet: the Bears have scored 286 points across three games while shooting a frigid 27.2 percent from three-point territory. How does a college offense approach 96 points a night without perimeter jumpers falling? By forcing 14.0 steals per contest, dominating the glass at 43.3 rebounds per game, and converting high-percentage paint finishes to sustain a 49.7 percent overall field-goal clip.

Defensively, Baylor has surrendered just 59.7 points per game (65 to Northwestern State, 53 to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and 61 to Yale) while swatting 5.0 blocked shots per night. On the interior, Drew rotates deep, athletic size featuring 6-foot-11 senior center Juslin Bodo Bodo, 6-foot-9 senior center Caden Powell, 6-foot-10, 234-pound sophomore center Mayo Soyoye (six rebounds versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff), and 6-foot-9 freshman Tegra Makabu, flanked by versatile forwards Evan Chatman, Isaac Celiscar, Maikcol Perez, and freshman Elijah Williams.

Half-Court Spacing and Free-Throw Polish Before High-Major Length

As exhilarating as 14.0 steals per game and transition runouts look against mid-major foes at Foster Pavilion, Drew’s staff harbors zero illusions about what awaits against top-20 power-conference size. When elite opponents take care of the basketball and force Baylor to execute against a set half-court wall, shooting 27.2 percent from beyond the arc and 67.3 percent at the free-throw line creates cramped driving lanes.

Against physical frontcourts that pack the paint with seven-footers, Decker, Williams, and the Mingo brothers will have to knock down open kickout triples to keep Bodo Bodo, Powell, and Soyoye from facing crowded rims on the offensive glass. Lifting that 67.3 percent foul-shooting clip into the mid-70s is equally vital before tight Big 12 finishes arrive in January 2027.

Neutral-Floor Crucible: No. 7 Texas, No. 18 Alabama, and Memphis

Baylor’s poll exclusion and national respect will be settled decisively over the next three weeks. On Sunday, November 15, the Bears travel down Interstate 35 to San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center for a neutral-court showdown against former conference rival No. 7 Texas (3-0, +129 differential). After returning to Waco to host Jackson State on November 18, Baylor heads to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on November 25 to battle No. 18 Alabama (3-0, +78 differential).

A December 5 home clash at Foster Pavilion against athletic Memphis and a December 10 date with Queens round out the early winter slate before 16-team Big 12 play tips off. Inside a league stacked with No. 8 Houston, No. 12 Arizona, No. 15 Kansas, No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 23 BYU, unbeaten TCU, and defensive powerhouse Iowa State, banking neutral-court wins over Texas or Alabama would give Waco massive bracket leverage for March 2027.

2026-27 Big 12 Contention Horizon and Tournament Verdict

Routing a well-coached Yale team by 29 points while shooting poorly from deep underscores just how high Baylor’s athletic baseline sits in 2026-27. Very few coaching staffs in America develop perimeter shooting and half-court spacing across a season more reliably than Drew’s program in Waco.

Once perimeter jumpers regress positively toward the mid-30s to complement 43.3 rebounds, 5.0 blocks, and relentless perimeter disruption, Baylor has the rotational depth and four-guard dynamism to crash the AP Top 25 and contend for an upper-tier Big 12 seed heading into the 2027 NCAA Tournament. Teams that manufacture fourteen extra possessions via steals while controlling the glass give themselves a wide margin for shooting cold spells away from home.