Waco, Texas: Baylor Pulls Away From Yale 90-61 as Decker Scores 18

Baylor used a second half surge to beat Yale 90-61 on Tuesday night at Foster Pavilion in Waco, collecting a third straight win by more than 20 points to open the season.

Brett Decker Jr. led the Bears with a season high 18 points, 14 of them after halftime. Freshman Dylan Mingo scored 16 and sophomore Kayden Mingo scored 15, and the starting guard trio combined for 49 points on 19 of 29 shooting. Junior forward Isaac Celiscar added 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists against his former team, his most as a Bear. It was the first time since January 24, 2026, against TCU that Baylor had four players score 15 or more points in one game.

A slow start, then control

Yale, the reigning Ivy League champion, scored first on a three pointer. It was the first time Baylor had trailed this season, and a Bulldog three later gave the visitors an 18-15 lead. The Bears answered inside. Kayden Mingo made each of his first four shots from inside the arc, and Baylor reached halftime ahead 41-30 after scoring 28 points in the paint in the first half. The Mingo brothers had 21 points between them at the break on 9 of 11 shooting.

Decker settled the game early in the second half. After Yale hit three of its first five shots from deep, Decker made three straight three pointers to push the lead to 58-41. He added another three and a layup to reach 18 points as Baylor opened a 67-45 lead. Celiscar then sparked an 8-0 run in 41 seconds with a three and a layup off a Yale turnover, and the Bears finished the night at 90-61, their largest lead of the game.

Won in the paint

Baylor outscored Yale 48-18 in the paint, shot 53.2 percent from the field against 40.7 percent for Yale, and won the rebounding count 37-28. The Bears recorded 12 steals and forced 17 turnovers, which turned into 24 points. Riley Fox and Courtney Wallace led Yale (1-2) with 13 points each, and Fox added 6 rebounds.

The win evened the short series. The only previous meeting was Yale's 79-75 upset of Baylor in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, and head coach Scott Drew said that history was part of the preparation. "We knew they weren't going away. We knew it would be a close game," Drew said. "The last time we played Yale it was the NCAA Tournament and it wasn't a great experience."

Baylor (3-0) extended its non-conference home winning streak to 55 games, the second longest active streak in the nation, and won each of its first three games by 20 or more points for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Next comes the first real test. Baylor plays No. 7 Texas, also 3-0, on Sunday in San Antonio, with tipoff at 2 p.m. at the Frost Bank Center.