Bears Can’t Dig out of First-Half Hole, Fall to #11 Tennessee in Bahamas

Friday, November 22

Nassau, Bahamas

8:30 PM

Baylor

4-2,0-0Big 12

Tennessee

6-0,0-0SEC

Tennessee

Baylor

Bears Can’t Dig out of First-Half Hole, Fall to #11 Tennessee in Bahamas

11/22/2024 11:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

NASSAU, Bahamas – Digging a first-half hole for the second-consecutive night, trailing by as many as 28 points, the 13^th-ranked Baylor Bears couldn't pull off another dramatic comeback like the night before in a 99-98 double-overtime win over 22^nd-ranked St. John's.

Led by Chaz Lanier, who hit a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored all 25 of his points in the first half, led the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers (6-0) to a 77-62 win over the Bears Friday night in the final of the Baha Mar Hoops Bahama Championship.

Playing in his native Bahamas, freshman VJ Edgecombe scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, while Miami transfer Norchad Omier recorded his second-straight and fourth double-double of the year with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

After shooting just 31.0% overall and 2-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half, Baylor (4-2) outscored the Vols, 42-30, in the second half and made 16-of-30 from the floor. The Bears also won a tight rebounding battle, 29-28, and had three fewer turnovers (15-12), but were outscored 30-7 in bench points.

Lanier hit five 3-pointers in the first four minutes to help Tennessee get out to a quick 16-2 lead, and Cade Phillips had a tip-in dunk that put the Vols up 44-16. After a rare miss, Lanier drained a 3-pointer right before intermission for a stunning 47-20 lead at the break.

Led by Omier and Edgecombe, Baylor was able to whittle away at the deficit and got within 17 on a dunk by Omier off an assist from Edgecombe at the 5:40 mark. The closest the Bears got was on the last shot of the game, when Duke transfer Jeremy Roach hit a pull-up jumper.

While Lanier was scoreless in the second half, Jordan Gainey scored 10 of his 16 points in the last 20 minutes, knocking down a 3-pointer and going 7-for-8 from the line. The Vols went through lengthy droughts from the field, but they made it by hitting 14-of-18 from the line in the second half and 17-of-22 for the game.

Playing arguably the toughest schedule in the nation to this point, Baylor has already played four ranked teams, including both games at the Baha Mar Resort. The Bears are now 2-2 versus ranked teams, beating Arkansas and St. John's and losing to Gonzaga and Tennessee.

Baylor returns home to face New Orleans in a 1 p.m. matinee the day before Thanksgiving, followed by a Dec. 4 game on the road at two-time defending national champion UConn.

n the words of former Baylor football coach Grant Teaff, "It's over, baby!"

Teaff voiced those words after the Bears' first win over Texas in Austin in 38 years.

This time, redshirt freshman running back Bryson Washington totaled four touchdowns for the second-consecutive game and led the Bears (6-4, 4-3) to their first-ever win at Milan-Puskar Stadium, beating the West Virginia Mountaineers (5-5, 4-3), 49-35, Saturday to become bowl eligible for the 11^th time in the last 14 years.

Winless in six previous trips to Morgantown, Baylor put up 35 first-half points and then put the game away with fourth-quarter touchdown runs of nine yards by Washington and 15 by Dawson Pendergrass, the second one coming after Corey Gordon's third interception of the year.

Quarterback Sawyer Robertson threw for a career-high 329 yards, completing 26-of-36 and tossing TD passes of 22 yards to Washington, 43 to Josh Cameron and a beautiful 40-yarder to Monaray Baldwin.

Coming off a career-high 196 yards and four touchdowns rushing in a win over TCU, Washington recorded his fourth 100-yard day of the season and third in his last four games, finishing with 123 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. He also had five catches for a career-high 59 yards.

Garrett Greene passed for 237 yards and two touchdowns and added a game-high 129 yards and two TDs on 22 rushing attempts, but was picked off once and sacked four times.

In a wild ending to the first half, the two teams combined for five touchdowns in the last 4 ½ minutes as Baylor had a 35-28 lead going into intermission.

With the two teams locked in a 14-14 deadlock through the first 25 minutes, the Bears regained the lead on Robertson's 40-yard TD pass to Monaray Baldwin and went up two scores, 28-14, when Washington sprinted 51 yards up the gut after a short punt by the Mountaineers.

When Baylor failed to recover the ensuing onside kick with 2:13 left in the half, it took West Virginia just three plays and 26 seconds to score on a CJ Donaldson 23-yard run that cut it to 28-21.

Far from done, Robertson went 4-for-5 for 44 yards on a drive that was capped by another Washington touchdown from eight yards out, coming with just 47 seconds left on the clock.

Using all three timeouts and every bit of those 47 seconds, the Mountaineers closed the half with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that included a 44-yard pass from Greene to Hudson Clement, Greene sneaking in from the 1 on a play that was reviewed and upheld.

The two teams combined for 673 yards total offense in the first half, with Robertson throwing for 240 yards and three touchdowns and Washington picking up 134 yards and three TDs on 13 touches.

Baylor goes back on the road next week, facing the Houston Cougars (4-6, 3-4) on Saturday, Nov. 23, at TEDECU Stadium in Houston. BU's former Southwest Conference rival, Houston had a two-game winning streak snapped in a 27-3 loss to Arizona Friday night in Tucson.

Kickoff time and television information is expected to be released either late Saturday or early Sunday.