The Hornets were heavy underdogs going into their game on Tuesday, Dec. 2 against Baylor, who are headlined by likely 2026 NBA Draft first-round picks redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Carr and freshman guard Tounde Yessoufou.
At the start, however, the Hornets played a competitive game against the Bears, even leading the game for much of the first half. At the end of the opening period, Sac State was down by just five points, 52-47.
From then on, it was downhill for Sac State. The Bears had three double-digit scorers in the second half en route to outscoring the Hornets, 58-41, in the closing 20 minutes, ending the game at 110-88.
Sac State saw a similar fate in their previous game against University of the Pacific. For a second straight game, the Hornets were outscored in the second half by 14 or more points.
“They played great in the first half,” head coach Mike Bibby said. “They’re gonna have to put together a full game. They haven’t put together a full game yet.”
There was a drastic decline in shooting efficiency after the break, with the Bears’ field goal percentage decreasing from 46.7% to 31.6% and the Hornets’ 3-point percentage dropping from 41.2% to just 20%. This allowed Baylor to run away with the win, as they improved their shooting throughout the game.
“When you’re not making shots, you cannot not play defense either,” Bibby said. “That’s what we did tonight, and it got out of hand.”
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The Hornets were also killed down low, with the Bears scoring 60 points in the paint compared to Sac State’s 26.
“We just had little breakdowns and gave up too many layups,” Bibby said.
It wasn’t all sour for the Hornets, as the team did have some noteworthy performances. Senior guard Prophet Johnson ended the game with 21 points and seven rebounds, continuing his streak of high-tally rebounding performances at the guard position.
Tying him in points was sophomore guard Mikey Williams, who scored 10 of 21 shot attempts from the free-throw line. He shot 5-for-19 from the field and had seven turnovers, with the latter leading the game.
Bibby said that, while they weren’t able to pull out a win, his guys aren’t hanging their heads low, and the team is still gelling together.
“I’m proud of these guys, we’re working on getting better. Accountability is coming in now,” Bibby said. “We’re all on the same page, we’re all on the same team and I want to see them do good.”
Yessoufou, Baylor’s leading scorer, ended the game with 27 points. He was narrowly trailed by his teammate Carr, who had 25. Senior Bears guard Michael Rataj had 18 points for himself, alongside 10 rebounds and four assists. Baylor had three other players with double-digit scoring.
The Hornets were also hounded on the boards by the Bears, getting outrebounded, 40-30. While Sac State managed to pull in 19 offensive rebounds, they struggled on the defensive glass, earning just 11. The rebounding issues are high up on Bibby’s list of things for his team to fix.
“We gotta perfect the things we’re working on,” Bibby said. “One-on-one defense, team defense rebounding and always shooting.”
The Hornets have a long break before their next game, as they travel to take on California Baptist on Dec. 20 in Riverside. The Lancers are currently 7-2 after losing to BYU on Dec. 3.
