PROVO, Utah – In a showcase matchup dripping with NBA talent, Baylor freshman VJ Edgecombe showed exactly why he's considered pretty much a lock lottery pick.
 
But it was the "other" freshman, point guard Robert O. Wright III, that got the Bears to overtime by scoring 14 of his 22 points in the last 5 ½ minutes of regulation in Tuesday's game at the Marriott Center.
 
Wright knocked down a pair of free throws with 4.3 seconds left that knotted the game at 78-78, but the BYU Cougars (14-6, 5-4) scored the first five points and never trailed in the overtime period to pull out a 93-89 victory before a crowd of 17,297 at the Marriott Center.
 
"Rob, when the game gets really competitive, that's when he's going to be at his best," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team fell to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in the Big 12. "Second half, he really did a great job of making plays for himself and making plays for others. Getting to the free throw line, those are clutch shots. Really proud of him. He's another winner."
 
Trailing by as many as 13 and down by 10 at halftime, 44-34, the Bears whittled away at the deficit and made it a one-possession game, 51-48, on a dunk by Josh Ojianwuna off a dish from Edgecombe, who finished with 28 points, five assists, four rebounds and a block in 43 minutes.
 
"To be honest, I don't pay attention to all that," Edgecombe said of all the NBA scouts in the house to watch a group of talented freshmen that included BYU's Egor Demin and Kanon Catchings. "I focus on the game, focus on winning the game. I don't pay attention to who's here or not."
 
Edgecombe finished off a 7-1 run with another 3-pointer – he was 6-of-8 from outside the arc – to make it a one-point game, 59-58, with 9:25 left in regulation.
 
"VJ's a winner, so he's not going to be happy with a loss," Drew said. "And he's not going to be happy with a couple of plays. That's why I love him. At the same time, he did a lot of great things. He's a great player, a great teammate."
 
Wright heated up down the stretch, making a pair of 3-pointers, two more buckets and 4-of-4 from the line just to get the game to the OT period.
 
Edgecombe, who didn't score in the last nine minutes of regulation, said playing their second game in altitude on the back end of a two-game, four-day road trip through Utah didn't affect him or the rest of the Bears.
 
"We knew we were coming into a tough environment, a really loud environment," he said. "So, we know we have to be at our best. We know we have to stay connected."
 
Taking control in the first minute of the five-minute OT period, BYU scored on a Trevin Knell layup off the tip and then went up five on a Dallin Hall 3-pointer. Baylor did manage to get it back to a one-point game on Edgecombe's sixth 3-pointer of the night, but the Cougars were 6-of-6 from the line over the last two minutes to seal the win.
 
"Today was two great teams fighting it out to the end," Drew said. "Got to give BYU credit for making a couple more plays down the stretch. I know the crowd does a great job giving them a home-court advantage. I was proud of our guys' effort and fight and giving ourselves a chance to have a chance down the stretch."
 
While Demin had 15 points and six assists, the difference in this one was the 6-9 Catchings. Coming in averaging 5.8 points in conference play, he was a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor, 4-of-4 from outside the arc and scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Cougars.
 
Wright had 22 points, six assists and four rebounds with only two turnovers in 38 minutes. Norchad Omier and Jayden Nunn scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, but both missed a pair of free throws at crucial times.
 
"I definitely gave up some plays," Edgecombe said. "To not spin back and crash the boards, doing something I'm supposed to. But BYU is a good team, a great team, a well-coached team. They executed."
 
In a balanced attack, Richie Saunders had 17 points before fouling out in the overtime period, while Knell added 11 points, three rebounds and two steals.
 
Ojianwuna added nine points and seven rebounds, with Cal transfer Jalen Celestine hitting two 3-pointers and scoring seven points off the bench. With Jeremy Roach and Langston Love still out and not making the trip, the Bears had a seven-man rotation for the third-straight game.
 
"That's hard to do, second game of a road trip, altitude, down two players," Drew said of the comeback. "But winners and competitors are going to fight to the end. Some shots are going to go in, some are not, but we're getting much better as a team. And that's great to see."
 
Back home after the two-game swing through Utah, Baylor will face 11^th-ranked Kansas (15-5, 6-3) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Foster Pavilion in a game televised by ESPN. Bouncing back from a double-OT loss to Houston, their second homecourt loss of the season, the Jayhawks held off UCF, 91-87, Tuesday night in Lawrence.