Short-handed Baylor takes aim at Cincinnati's stingy defense

Baylor and Cincinnati will aim to recover after dropping from the AP Top 25 poll when they square off Tuesday night in Waco, Texas.

The Bears (9-4, 1-1 Big 12) were routed 74-55 at No. 3 Iowa State on Saturday to lose their No. 25 ranking, while the Bearcats (10-3, 0-2) squandered their No. 16 mark after a 72-67 setback at Arizona on Saturday that followed a three-point loss at Kansas State.

Baylor is battling injuries and played with a seven-man rotation against Iowa State because Langston Love and Jalen Celestine were sidelined with ankle issues. Love and Celestine were listed as day-to-day on the team's X account on Saturday.

"I wish we would have been at full strength because I would have liked to have seen what we needed to grow from there," Bears coach Scott Drew said. "But I'm proud of our guys to shoot that way and not lose by 40, to be real."

The 55 points were a season low for Baylor, as was its 29.7 percent overall shooting clip. Jeremy Roach led the Bears with 16 points, while top scorer Norchad Omier (15.5 points per game) was held to nine points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Baylor will try to improve against a Cincinnati defense that allows just 60.5 points per game, the second-fewest in the Big 12 entering Monday.

Bearcats forward Dillon Mitchell said the team's defense was key in helping them erase a 19-point deficit in the second half against Arizona. Even though the comeback fell short, simply getting back into the game was a positive.

"It starts on the defensive end," Mitchell told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Offensively, even if we're not making shots, we eventually will, we've got great scorers on our team. It just started with the defense. That's something we've got to continue to lock in on. That's the main thing."

It was an unusually frustrating day on offense, though. Cincinnati shot just 12-of-23 from the free-throw line and 5-of-25 from 3-point range.

Simas Lukosius leads the Bearcats with 13.6 points per game. Lukosius opened the season with 10 consecutive games in double figures but hasn't reached that mark in the last three games.

Dan Skillings Jr. has emerged as the top scoring threat of late for Cincinnati, posting back-to-back 18-point performances against Kansas State and Arizona. Skillings averages 12.4 points per game and Mitchell contributes 11.8 ppg.

--Field Level Media