Cameron Carr scored 17 of his 27 points in an efficient first-half, and four other players reached double figures for Baylor, as the Bears defeated Tarleton State 94-81 in Waco, Texas.
In staking the Bears to a 55-42 lead at the break, Carr made seven of his eight shots from the field, scoring a point per minute as the Bears shot 57.6% as a team.
Isaac Williams scored 16 for Baylor (3-0), Dan Skillings Jr. contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Obi Agbim scored 14 and Tounde Yessoufou added 12.
Dior Johnson was a constant source of pain for Baylor, keeping Tarleton State (2-3) in the game with a sensational 42 points to lead all scorers.
The Texans’ Freddy Hicks reached double digits in scoring for the fifth straight game to open the season, scoring 13.
Carr got going early, scoring five straight at one point to give Baylor a 15-9 advantage 4:45 into the contest.
The Bears opened up their largest lead in the opening stanza, 48-30, when Carr punctuated a 9-2 run with a slam-and-one, 3-point play with 4:27 left.
Agbim (11) and Skillings (10) joined Carr in reaching double digits in the first half. Johnson paced the Texans with 14.
Tarleton State twice got the lead down to single digits early on in the second half, with Johnson cutting it to 65-56 with 13:09 to play on a short jumper.
Baylor quickly answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from JJ White and Carr to regain control. A Williams’ 3-pointer with 10:14 left gave the Bears their largest lead at 77-58.
But the Texans remained pesky, twice more getting the margin down to single digits via Johnson scoring plays.
A Skillings’ 3-pointer with 4:16 left to make it 84-72 essentially shut the door.
Johnson hit 17 of 24 shots from the floor, 2 of 3 from behind the arc and 6 of 7 from the charity stripe. The junior competed at UCF in 2024-25.
–Field Level Media
