No. 19 MBB Falls in Overtime to Kansas State

Saturday, January 7

Waco, Texas

5 PM

Baylor

10-5,0-3Big 12

Kansas State

14-1,3-0Big 12

OT 1

Kansas St.

Baylor

No. 19 MBB Falls in Overtime to Kansas State

1/7/2023 7:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Keyonte George led the team with his sixth game with 20+ points

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            There's a reason why Scott Drew had never played any of his former assistants that had left to become Division I head coaches. When you play family, someone's going home with a loss.
            Getting 32 points and 14 assists from point guard Markquis Nowell, first-year Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang got the best of his former boss, leading the Wildcats to a 97-95 overtime win over 19^th-ranked Baylor Saturday night at the Ferrell Center.
            "If we're going to lose, losing to Coach Tang is someone I would want to lose to," Drew said of Tang, who was part of 397 victories and the 2021 national championship in his 19 years at Baylor.
            "If we would have won, I would have enjoyed that more instead of losing, but I know it's still tough on the other person. That's why you don't want to play family. It's tough when they're in conference."
            The Bears (10-5, 0-3) suffered their second-straight heartbreaking loss at home – they had a 17-point first-half lead slip away in falling to TCU, 88-87, Wednesday night – and started 0-3 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2006 when Baylor played a conference-only season.
            "Super tough," said senior guard Adam Flagler, who had a team-high 23 points and seven assists. "We pride ourselves on not getting into these positions. We saw growth from the last game, but we've got to continue that. We've got to turn the page and get ready for West Virginia."
            Tang, who was greeted with a rousing ovation and presented a 2022 Big 12 championship ring before the game, said it was hard for him to celebrate with his team and even cried after the game.
            "This wasn't fun before, and wasn't fun after," said Tang, whose team improved to 14-1 and tied atop the Big 12 standings at 3-0 with its second-straight road win over a ranked team.
            "We're not trying to prove doubters. We're trying to just continue to believe in ourselves. Had we lost this game, it wouldn't change that we've made great strides as a team. And because we won, it doesn't mean we don't have room for improvement."
            In a back-and-forth first half that included 13 lead changes, Baylor took its biggest lead, 47-42, when Jalen Bridges knocked down a corner 3-pointer off an assist from LJ Cryer with 1:28 left in the half. Nowell tied it up with a 3-pointer and driving layup, then missed a floater in the final seconds.
            Fighting an uphill battle most of the game, the Bears got it into overtime when Bridges hit a 3-pointer with 20.7 seconds left in regulation to tie it up at 86-86.
            "I thought Jalen did some good things, 11 (points) and seven (rebounds)," Drew said of Bridges. "He's starting to take a step forward with his confidence, the guys' confidence. He's been through the wars of the Big 12, but we need him to be good and we need him to be special."
            Baylor scored the first three points of the OT period on free throws and was up by three, 91-88, with under two minutes left. Nowell tied it up with three free throws when he was fouled by Bridges on a shot from outside the arc, then tied it up again at 93-93 with a runner off the glass.
            After Flagler drove by Ismael Massoud for the go-ahead bucket with 46.5 seconds left, Massoud answered with a 3-pointer on the other end that proved to be the clinching dagger.
            "Execution down the stretch," Drew said, "we shouldn't have given up a 3. We've got to keep working on end-of-game execution. It's a great Big 12 environment. I want to thank our fans. I thought they were phenomenal. I want to apologize to them for two heartbreaking losses. I know it's not easy, but we'll find a way to get better."
            After the Wildcats forced a Flagler turnover, Baylor had another chance when Nowell missed the second of two free throws with 5.6 seconds left. Instead of calling a time out, the Bears tried to strike in transition, but Caleb Lohner missed a 3-pointer from the wing.
            "We could have used our time out, but we have confidence in everybody," Flagler said. "We'll learn from this and see if we can do something different the next time to execute and finish the game."
            Freshman Keyonte George scored 13 of his 22 points in the first half, with Flo Thamba and Langston Love adding 14 and 10, respectively, for the Bears.
            Complementing Nowell's second straight 30-point game, Keyontae Johnson had 24 points and nine rebounds and Massoud chipped in with 13 points. K-State shot 53% overall, including 11-of-25 from 3-point distance.
            Baylor goes back on the road to face West Virginia (10-5, 0-3) at 6 p.m. CST Wednesday in Morgantown, W. Va., with both teams looking for their first win in conference. The Mountaineers dropped a home game to third-ranked Kansas, 76-62, Saturday night.
            "We can't drop games like that," George said. "We're just going to focus on West Virginia and focus on each and every day."