No. 18 Baylor christens new arena with 98 79 win over Cornell

WACO, Texas (AP) — Ja'Kobe Walter scored 23 points and had a team high nine rebounds, fellow freshman Yves Missi added 16 points while making all eight of his shots and 18th ranked Baylor christened the brand new Foster Pavilion with a 98 79 victory over Cornell on Tuesday night. Missi scored the first points in the Bears' new home when the 7 footer from Cameroon made a short jumper 30 seconds into the game.

After Sean Hansen made a 3 pointer on Cornell's initial shot, Walter put Baylor (11 2) ahead to stay in its nonconference finale with a jumper. RayJ Dennis had 18 points on 6 of 7 shooting for the Bears. The Bears moved about a mile from the Ferrell Center, where the 2021 national champions won 401 games over 35 years.

, which is part of a $700 million riverfront development in partnership between the school and the city of Waco. Nazir Williams had 17 points to lead Cornell (10 3). Isaiah Gray and Chris Manon each had 12 points. Baylor had its largest lead at 70 48 when Jalen Bridges made a 3 pointer with 16 minutes left.

The Bears then missed eight shots in a row and had four turnovers in a span of nearly seven minutes while Cornell went on a 15 0 run. Six players scored for the Big Red in that spurt, with Manon's breakaway layup getting them within 70 63. That was the closest Cornell got. Walter's 3 pointer ended the Baylor scoring drought with 9:07 left.

BIG PICTURE Two of the better shooting teams in the nation both played for only their fourth time since Dec. 6 because of exams and holidays. The Bears hadn't played since closing out the Ferrell Center with a 107 48 win over Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 22, when they shot a school record 67.2% from the field.

They had a good shooting night — except for that span in the second half — to open their new home in a final tune up before Big 12 play. Cornell missed a chance for its first 11 2 start since the 1964 65 season. BROTHERS ACT Baylor's Scott Drew and Cornell's Brian Earl are part of the five active sets of brothers currently in Division I basketball.

Drew's brother Bryce is the coach at Grand Canyon. Dan Earl is Chattanooga's coach. UP NEXT Cornell has a week off before its Ivy League opener at home vs. Columbia next Tuesday. Baylor plays its Big 12 opener at Oklahoma State on Saturday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season.

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