Takeaways from Baylor's loss to St. John's

Following their wire-to-wire victory in their first game of the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, the Bears ran into a buzzsaw, losing to 14th-ranked St. John's, 96-81, in a game they never led. The Red Storm, whose two losses this season came against top-25 opponents in Alabama and Iowa State yesterday, was the first opponent of the season to be more talented than the Beats, and that showed itself often.

This was the second time in as many years that the Bears and the Jonnies faced off in a pre-conference tournament, with last year's matchup ending in a walk-off three-point buzzer by Jeremy Roach, giving the Bears a one-point win after two overtimes.

Pitino and Drew represent two of college basketball's largest figures still standing, with the recent retirements of Jim Boeheim, Roy Williams, and Mike Krzyzewski. Drew and Pitino have combined for three NCAA championships and almost 1,400 career wins, so the matchup against a Pitino team provided a real glimpse of how the Bears measure up against a potential national championship contender. With that, what exactly did we learn with Baylor dropping their first game of the season against St. John's?

Carr continues to carry

When St. John’s had the potential to turn this game into a blowout, the Tennessee transfer was the only reliable source of points for the Bears. Cameron Carr scored almost half of Baylor’s 34 first-half points with 14 and led the Bears in scoring for the second straight game, finishing with 22 points. He showed impressive range, hitting three three-pointers and displaying impressive touch around his athleticism, continuing to look like Scott Drew’s best offseason acquisition.

Ejiofor held in check

On the surface, the biggest mismatch going into the game was how the Bears would contain Big East Preseason Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor, without starting a traditional center. Even with Waco native Caden Powell being the first sub off the bench, the Bears made sure that Ejiofor saw multiple bodies in the post, holding him to just three points in the first half and 9 for the game.

That hustle and scrap continued to the other side of the ball despite Baylor’s poor shooting, with the Bears totaling a whopping 17 offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes, led by Michael Rataj’s 10 offensive boards on the day. Now, Baylor’s bothersome day on Ojifor came at the sacrifice of open shooters, as Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins led all scorers with 26 points, and he hit three of St. John’s 11 threes on the day as Pitino's squad shot over 50% from deep. While the outcome wasn't desirable, it was a good stress test to see the Bears keep a standout post player in check.

Concern for Tounde Yessoufou?

With Carr’s rise, it may be time for some alarm bells to sound off for Baylor’s five-star freshman from California. Yessoufou was Baylor's second-leading scorer with 15 points, but posted his fourth straight game shooting below 35 percent from the field, and his inability to create clean looks for himself was apparent in the first half, getting stripped twice for turnovers in the first half. He’s been dynamic in transition, and he's consistently been able to work himself into games with his physicality on the boards and the defensive end, but even just five games in, Yessoufou has to begin to show improvement in his shot selection and efficiency if the Bears want to reach their ceiling this year in the Big 12 and the NCAA Tournament.