Baylor
New Orleans
No. 17 MBB Hosts New Orleans in Wednesday Matinee
11/26/2024 9:29:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BU enters 15-1 against the Southland in the Scott Drew Era
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17/18 BAYLOR BEARS (4-2, 0-0 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF ) |
NEW ORLEANS (2-4, 0-0 Southland) vs. 17/18 BAYLOR (4-2, 0-0 Big 12) Nov. 27, 2024 • 1:00 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 198 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
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NEW ORLEANS PRIVATEERS (2-4, 0-0 Southland) Location: New Orleans, LA Conference/Affiliation: Southland Head Coach: Stacy Hollowell (St. Edwards, 2001) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – With Baylor facing double-digit first-half deficits in three of its first seven games, Scott Drew said that maybe the 17th-ranked Bears can just "start it with the second half."
Short of that, Baylor (4-2) will "adjust what we do in warmups," said Drew, whose team will face New Orleans (2-4) Wednesday afternoon in a 1 p.m. matinee at the Foster Pavilion.
"We'll adjust schematically maybe a little bit what we do to try to get us going more," Drew said. "Maybe start (pregame) warmups at 60 (minutes) instead of 55 on the clock. Try to adjust whatever we can to see what we can do."
In two of those three games, the Bears were blown out by Gonzaga, 101-68, and fell to No. 11 Tennessee, 77-62, unable to dig out of early holes. They split two games last week in the Bahamas, beating St. John's, 99-98, in double-overtime on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Duke transfer Jeremy Roach.
"Great win, and just so much excitement, enthusiasm after a win like that," Drew said. "A game you thought you might win in regulation, a game you thought you might win in OT, and then you thought you might lose. Anytime you're down five with eight seconds to go and pull of a win, that says something. I think that was really good for our team."
Against Tennessee, the Bears turned it off three times in the first two minutes and got down 16-2 before the first media timeout. Falling behind by as many as 28, Baylor outscored the Vols, 42-30, in the second half behind a combined 33 points from Miami transfer Norchad Omier and freshman VJ Edgecombe.
"Veteran guards, especially, and old guards are hard to compete against early in the year," Drew said. "What it does is it teaches you just what you've got to do. With our talented team, there's still no substitute for experience. Opportunities like those allow you to grow and mature and know what you've got to do to be successful in those games."
Omier (16.5 ppg, 10.0 rebounds) and Roach (12.7 ppg, 4.2 assists) were named to the Baha Mar Championship all-tournament team, while Omier was named Big 12 Player of the Week after recording his third and fourth double-doubles of the year.
"Things are different. Used to be, your leaders were fourth- or fifth-year guys, and you had more of them than new guys," Drew said. "Nowadays, you have fewer returners. And we're really blessed. We have a good group, a good mix of players. We've got guys who respect one another, like one another, learn from one another. As long as you have that, you've got a chance to be successful."
Playing four of their next five non-conference games at home, the Bears draw a New Orleans team next that is coming off a 93-87 overtime win on the road at Tulane behind a 31-point performance from UAB transfer James White. Through their first six games, the Privateers have been led by White (20.7 ppg, 8.5 rebounds) and 6-3 sophomore guard Jah Short (14.2 ppg).
"That's a heck of a road win. Tulane's a great team; Coach (Ron) Hunter does a great job," Drew said. "The other team that we're familiar with, Kansas State, they led K-State at halftime. . . . They've gotten better the more they've played. A lot of athleticism and a lot of speed, quickness that make it hard to force them into a bunch of turners and get separation."
Continuing an early-season trend that has seen Baylor play four ranked teams in the first three weeks, the Bears will face two-time defending national champion UConn (4-2) in the Big 12-Big East Battle at 5:30 p.m. CT next Wednesday, Dec. 4, in Storrs. After a 4-0 start, the second-ranked Huskies have lost back-to-back games to Memphis and Colorado.
Wednesday's game against New Orleans will be streamed by ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bears" John Morris and Baylor Hall of Famer Pat Nunley calling the action.
Story lines
• No. 17/18 Baylor returns home for its second all-time meeting with the New Orleans Privateers
• The only other meeting between these teams was an 84-44 Bear victory in Waco on Dec. 29, 2018
• Baylor's Jayden Nunn will be honored prior to the game for scoring his 1,000th-career point last week against Tarleton
• Scott Drew is 15-1 against current Southland Conference teams during his 22 seasons at Baylor. The Bears lost to TAMU-CC in Drew's second season, but have won 14-straight against current Southland Conference teams.
• Drew is one of six active coaches who have won a national title, beating two of the other five already this season (Calipari & Pitino). Drew and the Bears will play two more in the regular season (Hurley & Self)
• BU enters Wednesday winners of four-straight at Foster Pavilion and coming off back-to-back 100-point outputs in front of the home fans
• In 22 years, Drew has never lost more than two games in the month of November
• Eclipsing the century mark against Sam Houston and Tarleton, the Bears put together back-to-back 100-point games for the first time since 1989
• In it's last home game, BU beat Tarleton by 63 points, the just the second 60+ point win over a D1 team (and fourth overall) for BU since 1980
• The Bears are coming off a second-place finish at the Baha Mar Bahamas Championship, improving to 30-6 in its eight regular-season tournaments since 2013-14, going 3-1, 3-1, 3-1, 4-0, 4-0, 3-1, 3-0, 3-0, 1-1, 2-0 and 1-1
• Baylor is 43-14 in regular-season tournaments during the Drew era, including titles in four of the last 6 tournaments
• Norchad Omier led the way for Baylor, averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds against a pair of ranked opponents, earning a spot on the all-tournament team and Big 12 Player of the Week honors
• With two more double-doubles in the Bahamas, Omier now has 72 in his career, 10 ahead of Auburn's Johni Broom for the most among active players in the NCAA
• Omier is the first bear since Ekpe Udoh in 2009 to have four double-doubles in his first six games in a Baylor uniform
• The Miami transfer is one of just three players in the country with 1,500+ points and 1,000+ career rebounds
• Jeremy Roach also made the all-tournament squad averaging 14 points and 3.5 assists, highlighted by his game-winning buzzer-beater against No. 22 St. John's
• Roach's buzzer-beater was the first by a Baylor Bear since Lester Medford beat Texas Tech at the Gun in 2016.
• BU's 14-point halftime deficit was its largest in a comeback win since it trailed by 15 at the break against Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals in the Battle '4' Atlantis Championship in 2016.
• Second-half surges have the Bears outscoring their last five opponents by a total of 221-151 in the final 20-minutes, an average of 14.0 points per game
• BU has the toughest strength of schedule among power-five conference teams
• Ranked as the 8th-toughest schedule by Ken Pom, the next hardest schedule by a power-conference team is Alabama at No. 43.
