Baylor
Utah
MBB Begins Road Trip at Utah
1/24/2025 8:29:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Bears aim to sweep the season series from the Utes
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RV/RV BAYLOR BEARS (12-6, 4-3 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF ) |
RV/RV BAYLOR (12-6, 4-3 Big 12) vs. UTAH (11-7, 3-4 Big 12) Jan. 25, 2024 • 3:30 p.m. CT Salt Lake City, Utah • Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,000) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN2 Talent: Dave Flemming (pxp), Sean Farnham (analyst) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas and worldwide at centexsportsfan.com Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 386 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
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Utah Utes (11-7, 3-4 Big 12) Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Craig Smith (North Dakota, 1996) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
LOGAN, Utah – Baylor's conference-opening 81-56 win over Utah on New Year's Eve seems like a lifetime ago.
Now known simply as the good old days, that's the last time the Bears had a fully healthy lineup, using all 12 active players and splitting the majority of the minutes among a rotation of eight that included Langston Love, Jeremy Roach and Jalen Celestine.
Love hasn't played since then with a recurring ankle injury, Roach has been in concussion protocol since Sunday's loss to TCU and Celestine missed four games with an ankle injury before returning to play this week.
"We were a different team," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose Bears (12-6, 4-3) complete the season series with a game against the Utes (11-7, 3-4) at 3:30 p.m. CT Saturday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Logan. "That's the only game where we had everybody. And until we have everybody, and we start quick, you've only got so many bullets in the gun. So, we've got to have everybody firing."
This isn't the same Utah team, either. The Utes strung together three-straight wins over Oklahoma State, TCU and neighboring BYU before a 70-36 blowout loss on the road at No. 7 Houston.
"Getting ready for TCU, I saw their game against TCU," Drew said of Utah's 73-65 win over the Horned Frogs on Jan. 15 in Fort Worth. "They've really done a good job defensively, shoring up some things; offensively, their efficiency. That's why they won, I think, three in a row."
In that first matchup against Baylor, leading scorers Gabe Madsen (15.3 ppg) and Ezra Ausar (10.6 ppg) were a combined 2-for-15 from the floor and scored three points apiece. Hunter Erickson scored 13 points off the bench to lead the Utes, while freshman VJ Edgecombe led four players in double figures for the Bears with 19 points.
A projected top-five pick in the NBA Draft, Edgecombe (13.8 ppg, 5.4 rebounds) is coming off a career-best 30-point outing in Baylor's 70-62 win over Kansas State. That boosted his conference scoring average to 16.9 points per game, which is the seventh-most overall and first among freshmen.
Scoring 20 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, Edgecombe was asked if he was in the "Takeover Mode" that's used in the video game NBA2K.
"Nah, I definitely play 2K, though," said Edgecombe, who's averaged 19.0 points over the last six games, shooting 40.7% (11-of-27) from 3-point range. "I just think I was in the zone. I didn't show much emotion during that stretch. I just was in the zone, just hooping, having fun, being able to play the game of basketball. It's just a blessing."
Saturday's game will also be the second time transfers Miro Little (6.3 ppg, 3.8 assists) and Caleb Lohner (4.1 ppg, 3.1 rebounds) have gone up against their former Baylor teammates. Last year, Lohner and Little averaged 2.4 and 1.7 points, respectively.
Little said his objective is to "just keep it simple."
"Don't overshoot yourself," he said, "and treat it as another competitive game against a great team. I'm just understanding that it's my old team. But at the same time, it's just another game."
Cal transfer Jalen Celestine (8.5 ppg), who's shooting 40.3% from 3-point distance, is playing his sixth game against the Utes. He was 1-4 against Utah in his four years in Berkeley.
"They were a Pac-12 school, and I'm a Pac-12 transfer," said Celestine, who scored 18 points in the win over K-State. "They're a well-coached team. We're playing at their place now, they've got the altitude in their favor. What we learned from the last time, besides me getting hurt, was that it's a team effort. So many guys played, so many guys stepped up, and just did their part."
Saturday's game will be televised by ESPN2, with Dave Flemming and former Utah player Sean Farnham calling the action.
Completing their two-game swing through the state, the Bears will play BYU (12-6, 3-4) at 8 p.m. CT in Provo. The Cougars bounced back from a 73-72 loss at Utah to beat fellow Big 12 newcomer Colorado, 83-67, and will host Cincinnati at 9:30 p.m. CT Saturday.
STORY LINES
• Baylor wraps its regular-season series with Utah, aiming to sweep the Utes in a 3:30 p.m. CT tip on ESPN2
• Having not met in 64 years prior to this season, the Bears and Utes will play twice in the span of 25 days after BU opened conference play with an 81-56 victory over Utah in Waco
• In that last meeting, The Bears held Utah's leading scorer, Gabe Madsen, to just three points, limiting the Utah offense to just 56 points, the fewest allowed by Baylor in Big 12 play since surrendering just 54 to TCU on Feb. 26 of last season
• Last time out the Bears snapped a three-game skid against Kansas State, and former Scott Drew Assistant, Jerome Tang
• Baylor trailed by as many as 12 in the second half, marking the largest second-half comeback at home since erasing Texas' 13-point lead on March 4, 2024
• Wednesday was the second time this season BU came back from down double-digits in the second half (-16 vs. St. Johns)
• For the second-straight game the Bears notched a season-low in turnovers (5 against TCU, 4 against K-State)
• Baylor is 31-16 in Big 12 Road games since 2019-20, the best mark in the league in that span
• BU is 167-101 in Big 12 play in 15 seasons since 2010 after going 59-149 in the league's first 13 seasons
• Five of Baylor's six losses have come against teams that have been ranked in the top-10 at some point this season, while Gonzaga, Tennessee, UConn and Iowa State have been ranked in the top 3
• According to KenPom, BU has played the third-hardest schedule in the Big 12 entering the weekend
• Baylor is one of five programs to be ranked inside the top-10 in each of the last six seasons
• The Bears lead the conference and rank seventh in the Power-5 with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game
• Sitting at +3.7, BU is third in the Big 12 and 14th in the Power-5 in turnover margin
• Baylor is one of two Big 12 (ISU), nine Power-4, and 15 Division 1 teams with 5+ players averaging double figures
• Drew is one of just seven active coaches with at least 450 wins at their current institution (Mark Few, Tom Izzo, Bill Self, Greg Kampe, Randy Bennett, Matt Painter)
• One of six active coaches who have won a national title, Drew will see four of the five other coaches as a part of its regular-season schedule. Drew has wins against John Calipari & Rick Pitino, with his only loss coming to Dan Hurley in Dec.
• Norchad Omier enters Saturday as the NCAA's active leader in career rebounds (1,496), double-doubles (76) and rebound average (10.8), while sitting 10th in career points (2,085)
• The senior is just four rebounds from becoming the 13th player in NCAA history with 2,000+ points and 1,500+ rebounds
• VJ Edgecombe is averaging 19.0 points per game over his last 5 games, shooting 47% from the field and 41% from three.
• Averaging 16.9 Points per game in Big 12 play, Edgecombe ranks seventh in the league and first among Big 12 Freshman
• The Bears feature two of the top three scoring freshmen in the league in Edgecombe (13.8) and Robert Wright (11.8)
• Robert Wright ranks fifth among Power-5 freshmen averaging 4.8 assists per game
• With 87 assists Wright is on pace to set the freshman assists record held by John Lucas III (120)
