February 24, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA; Baylor Bears guard Tounde Yessoufou (24) drives toward the basket against Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) during the first half at Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images Baylor coach Scott Drew doesn’t have the team he wants this season, but that hasn’t stopped him from respecting other Big 12 teams.
The Bears (15-15, 5-12 Big 12), who are on the verge of losing for the first time since 2006-07, will meet Utah (10-20, 2-15) in Waco, Texas, on the 28th to close the regular season.
“Every year in the Big 12… that’s why it’s the best conference in the country.” Drew said after Wednesday’s 77-64 loss to No. 7 Houston. “There are no off days. You can’t surround a team and say, ‘We’re going to win by 30.’ Especially this year, the teams at the top. There are so many teams that have a chance to win a national championship or get to the Final Four.
“I’ve always wanted to see three or four teams from the Big 12 in the Final Four, and this year we got that opportunity.”
The Bears are led by Cameron Carr (18.9 ppg) and Tounde Yessoufou (17.7), who have combined to score 44.6% of Baylor’s points, ranking sixth and ninth in the conference, respectively.
Yessoufou piled up 20 points and 12 rebounds against Houston for his 11th 20-point game and first double-double.
The Utes are led by Terrence Brown, who has 598 points this season. The guard is on the doorstep of becoming the fifth Utah player to score 600 points in a season, joining Keith Van Horn, Andrew Bogut, Jakob Poeltl and Branden Carlson.
Brown’s 19.9 points per game ranks fourth in the Big 12, and his 112 assists also lead the Utes. He also leads the team in steals (42), field goals (209) and free throws (148 of 193).
Utah fell behind 51-25 at halftime in a 92-78 home loss to Colorado on Wednesday, positioning the Utes as the No. 16 seed for next week’s Big 12 Tournament.
“I told them they had an obligation to play better than that,” Utah coach Alex Jensen said. “I told them it was a shame. The people who are out there watching you and cheering you on deserve better. They owe it to their parents and the people who helped them get here. They owe it to the person next to them. The difficult thing is that we keep making the same mistakes over and over again.”
–Field level media
