MBB Unable to Overcome UConn in Big East-Big 12 Battle

Wednesday, December 4

Storrs, Conn.

5:30 PM

Baylor

5-3,0-0Big 12

UConn

6-3,0-0Big East

Baylor

UConn

MBB Unable to Overcome UConn in Big East-Big 12 Battle

12/4/2024 8:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Freshman Wright scores game-high 22 in Bears' 76-72 road loss

BaylorBears.com

STORRS, Conn. – Even more than the three losses on the season, all on the road to ranked teams, Baylor coach Scott Drew is frustrated that his 15^th-ranked Bears can't stay healthy enough to keep everybody on the floor.

With freshman VJ Edgecombe already sidelined with a hamstring injury, Duke transfer Jeremy Roach went down barely four minutes into the second half, as the Bears' late comeback fell short in a 76-72 loss to the 25^th-ranked Connecticut Huskies Wednesday night in the Big 12-Big East Battle at Gampel Pavilion.

"You've got to be healthy enough to develop," said Drew, who also had two of his seven-man rotation foul out. "We've been bit from the injury bug from the standpoint we're under five practices as a team together, and it frustrates the heck out of me as a coach, because I think we could be really good. Because if you can't practice together, you can't expect execution and you can't expect to be at your best."

Of course, the Huskies weren't at full strength, either. Leading scorer Alex Karaban, one of the few holdovers from UConn's back-to-back national championships, missed his second-straight game in concussion protocol.

Wednesday's game featured a reunion of Montverde Academy graduates Robert Wright III and the Huskies' Liam McNeeley, who led their teams with 22 and 17 points, respectively.

Playing every minute at point guard after Roach subbed out at the 15:41 mark in the second half, Wright finished with season highs in points and minutes (33), scoring three times and assisting on another in the last 42 seconds to take this one down to the wire.

"I just thank my teammates for trusting me enough to get me the ball in those situations," said Wright, who was 9-of-14 from the field. "It just allowed me to learn the team and stuff like that, with a couple of guys banged up."

The 6-1 freshman from Wilmington, Del., scored on a driving layup with 0.7 seconds left that made it a two-point game. But fouled immediately on the inbounds, Hassan Diarra calmly sank both free throws to ice the game.

"We've got a culture of JOY (Jesus, Others, Yourself), a lot of prayers going, making sure we stay healthy the rest of the year and get everybody back, so that we can be at our best come the end of the year," Drew said. "But we're a better team playing UConn. So much respect for Coach (Dan) Hurley and the program."

Part of Montverde Academy's undefeated Chipotle National Championship team, Wright and the 6-7 McNeeley "had talked about (this matchup) since we graduated, because we knew the game was scheduled," Wright said.

"Upset we lost, he gets to talk about that one," Wright said. "He'll probably call me later in the week about it. But just glad for the fact that we got to go against each other."

Already shorthanded, the Bears (5-3) had both Jalen Celestine and Norchad Omier foul out in the second half, when they were outscored 40-35 after being up by one at the break, 37-36. It was just the seventh time in 121 games over the last 14 seasons that Baylor has lost when leading at halftime.

Making the start in place of Edgecombe, who was out with a hamstring injury, redshirt junior guard Langston Love hit three 3-pointers and scored a season-high 16 points. Omier had 14 points and seven boards, while Josh Ojianwuna grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to help Baylor win a tight battle of the boards, 30-29.

McNeeley led the Huskies with 17 points and eight rebounds, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and going 5-of-5 from the line. Samson Johnson scored 13 points before fouling out, while Solo Ball hit three first-half 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.

Leading by as many as 11 early in the first half, the Bears never trailed until UConn took its first lead with 3:24 left, 29-28, on a pair of Johnson free throws as part of a 9-0 run.

Wright hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in a closing run that put the Bears up by one at the break, 37-36.

"I thought the start was really good. There were only two offensive rebounds (in the first half). Second half, we had 11. I thought we connected a lot better," Drew said. "That's hard, because we really only played seven guys. Normally, when you get fatigued, you stop making tough plays. So, I was proud of the guys for that. Why we played this schedule was to prepare us for Big 12 play."

Baylor returns home for four-straight games at the Foster Pavilion, including the Big 12 opener versus Utah (6-1) on New Year's Eve. The Bears play ACU (6-3) at 7 p.m. Monday and Norfolk State (6-3) at 11 a.m. Wednesday before an extended break for finals and the Christmas holiday.

-- BaylorBears.com --