Baylor
Sam Houston
No. 12 MBB Set for Home Opener Against Sam Houston
11/11/2024 12:59:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Bears will honor Carroll Dawson on Tuesday
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12/14 BAYLOR BEARS (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
12/14 BAYLOR (1-1, 0-0 Big 12) vs. SAM HOUSTON (1-1, 0-0 CUSA) Nov. 12, 2024 • 7:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: John Morris (pxp), Pat Nunley (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: Pete Sousa (PBP), David Kaye (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 200 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
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SAM HOUSTON STATE BEARKATS (1-1, 0-0 CUSA) Location: Huntsville, Tex Conference/Affiliation: CUSA Head Coach: Chris Mudge (Texas, 2006) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – Scott Drew doesn't have to look too far back to remember a loss that no one saw coming.
Six years ago, Texas Southern overcame a 17-point second half deficit to beat a Baylor team, 72-69, that made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and won the national championship two years later.
"No one likes to be overlooked," said Drew, whose 12th-ranked Bears (1-1) will host defending C-USA champion Sam Houston (1-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Foster Pavilion.
"People might not see a ranking next to their team, but this is a really quality team. if you can win a conference championship, you're doing something really well. Six of their top seven are seniors. Those teams scare you. Anyone you play scares you, because you can get beat any night. Especially a team like that, because a lot of fans might not know just how good they are."
Sam Houston, which won the league championship in its first year in C-USA under rookie head coach Chris Mudge, lost a three-point game at Ole Miss last season, was within two points midway through the second half in a 91-75 loss at Nevada and then blew out Tarleton, 91-62, on Saturday.
"(Tarleton coach) Billy Gillepsie's teams don't lose by 30 at home often," Drew said. "Arkansas was a good prep for this game, because Sam is really aggressive defensively, really athletic on the perimeter. From a coaching standpoint, the first three games, we'll definitely know a lot more about our team after that. Because one showed we can handle some adversity. Now, can we handle some success?"
Blown out by Gonzaga, 101-63, in the season opener, the Bears bounced back to knock off then-No. 16 Arkansas, 72-67, Saturday night at American Airlines Center. Miami transfer Norchad Omier recorded his 69th-career double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman VJ Edgecombe had 11 points, eight rebounds and a team-high five assists.
"To me, the biggest difference was our defense," said junior forward Josh Ojianwuna, who is perfect from the field so far, going 5-for-5. "If you look at the game against Gonzaga, the defense wasn't that good. But I think the few days we had to sit down and talk, not just with the coaching staff, but we had a meeting with the players just talking about everyone has to buy in on defense if we want to win, if we want to go far."
It was a get-right game for Edgecombe, who had season highs for points, rebounds and assists after a difficult college debut against the Zags, when he had just four points on 2-for-11 shooting.
"One of VJ's biggest strengths is that he affects the game in every aspect and facet and way," Drew said. "Defensively, he can be an all-conference defender. He can lead us in rebounds, he can lead us in steals, he can lead us in assists, he can lead us in points. So often, players that are as highly touted as him get wrapped up and focused on just points. He's one of those guys who's just as happy if he scores two points as if he scores 20. It's really about the win."
Edgecombe said he's excited about playing his first game at Foster, because "I've only seen the Foster on TV, when they first opened it up" last January.
"Seeing how loud it was, I just want to be part of the atmosphere," he said. "I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how loud they're going to be in there, for sure."
Since the team didn't move from the Ferrell Center to Foster until this summer, Drew said this will be like "the first game for all of us."
"Last year, we just came over for shootaround and then came back to our offense. And then came over to the game," he said. "This will be the first game for all of our new guys, first game for all of our staff, where we actually come over in the morning, you're at your place, you go to shootaround. Anytime it's the first time to do anything, it's exciting."
The Bearkats are led by returning all-conference guard Lamar Wilkerson and Kansas State transfer Dorian Finster, who are both averaging 13.0 points per game.
"Especially with only one returning starter, until we get Langston (Love) back, there's so many new faces. Just making sure the pace of play is what we want and how we want," Drew said. "The execution, communication. Again, we've got a really good group of guys, but it tkes some time to get chemistry with one another."
Tuesday's game theme is "Foster After Dark," with all fans encouraged to wear black or anthracite. The Bears will also honor the late Carroll Dawson, a former Baylor player, assistant and head coach (1973-77) who went on to a 27-year career as an assistant coach and general manager in the NBA with the Houston Rockets.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and Hall of Fame inductee Pat Nunley calling the action.
Story lines
• No. 8 Baylor is set for its home-opener on Tuesday night against Sam Houston, with John Morris and Pat Nunley calling the action on ESPN+
• The Bears have won five-straight home openers and are 19-2 in home lid lifters under Scott Drew
• Baylor beat Sam Houston in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, giving Drew his first NCAA tournament win at Baylor and the Bears' first NCAA Tournament win in 60 years
• Tuesday's game theme is "Foster After Dark" where fans are encouraged to wear black or anthracite
• Baylor will honor the late Carroll Dawson on Tuesday night. An all-conference selection at Baylor in 1960, Dawson later coached at BU as an assistant in 1963, taking over as the head coach in 1973
• Dawson went on to a 27-year career as an assistant coach and general manager in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, helping Houston to back-to-back NBA Titles in 1994-95
• BU is coming off its first win of the season, a 72-67 win over No. 16 Arkansas where the Bears never trailed
• Saturday was the first time since Jan. 1, 2022 (No. 8 Iowa State) Baylor never trailed in a game against a ranked opponent
• The win over the 16th-ranked Arkansas was Baylor's earliest win over a ranked opponent in program history. The previous best was Nov. 15, 2016, when BU beat No. 4 Oregon 66-49, en route to the program's first-ever No. 1 ranking two months later.
• With the win, Drew improved to 3-1 all time against Arkansas head coach, John Calipari
• The Bears are now 21-11 against the SEC during the Drew era, including 16-7 since 2012-13
• Norchad Omier has led the way for Baylor in its first two games of the season, averaging 15 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games against ranked opponents last week
• The NCAA's active leader in career double-doubles, Omier added one more to his illustrious career (69) with 15 points and 12 rebounds in a win over No. 16 Arkansas, earning "4PT Dallas Duel" MVP honors
• Omier is the NCAA's active leader in career rebounds (1,336) and double-doubles (69), while ranking 10th in career points (1,848)
• With his 12 pts and 6 assist on Monday, Robert Wright became the first freshman in the Drew era with 10+ points and 6+ assists in their debut, and the first Baylor player since Manu Lecomte in 2016 with those numbers in a Baylor debut.
• Baylor is one of just four teams to win at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of the last five tournaments.
• The Bears are one of four programs to be ranked inside the top-10 in each of the last six seasons
• The Bears are the only team in the country with a top-19 pick in each of the last four NBA Draft, and one of just two programs with a top-20 pick in fourth-straight drafts (Duke)
• Baylor welcomes nine new faces to the 2024-25 squad, aiming to replace four of their five starters off of last year's team, including a pair of first-round draft picks in Ja'Kobe Walter and Yves Missi
• Additionally the Bears brought in experienced transfers Jalen Celestine (Cal), Omier (Ark. St. and Miami) and Jeremy Roach (Duke) to help replace 71.4% of the scoring, 68.3% of the rebounding and 78.8% of the assists.
• Roach and Omier bring Final Four experience, as Roach helped his Duke team to the 2022 Final Four, while Omier led Miami to it's first-ever Final Four in 2023.
