Baylor takes the court Friday afternoon against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in its second game of the 2026-27 season, and the focus is already on whether Juslin Bodo Bodo can keep building after his first meaningful outing back. Baylor opened with an 87-65 win over Northwestern State on Monday night, a result that looked comfortable on the scoreboard but was less clean than the margin suggested.
The matchup matters now because Baylor has already shown both its ceiling and its loose stretches. It led Northwestern State 50-32 after 20 minutes, then won the second half 37-33, a reminder that the Bears were able to control the game without putting it away completely. That is part of why Friday’s game has a sharper edge than a routine early-season date: Arkansas-Pine Bluff comes in after a 106-61 loss to Arkansas, so Baylor should have a clear talent advantage if it plays with the same first-half pace it showed on Monday.
Bodo Bodo is one of the storylines worth watching. He did not play last season after sustaining a season-ending injury, yet he was back on the floor for 15 minutes in Baylor’s opener, when he did not attempt a shot but still grabbed three rebounds. For a player who was the Big South Defensive Player of the Year in both his freshman and sophomore seasons, those minutes mattered more than the box score. They showed Baylor can bring him along without rushing him, and they gave the Bears a paint presence they did not have a season ago.
There is still a small question hiding inside that progress. Arkansas-Pine Bluff has a 6'8" forward, and Baylor has already shown it can let an opponent hang around once the game settles. If Bodo Bodo looks closer to full form on Friday, Baylor’s second game should look a lot more like the first half of its opener than the second.
What happens next is simple: Baylor gets another chance to establish how quickly its frontcourt can matter, and Bodo Bodo gets another test of whether his return is moving from encouraging to real.
