Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – As you would expect, there was no peel-the-paint-off-the-wall, fiery halftime speech from Baylor coach Scott Drew when the Bears trailed 11^th-ranked Kansas by 19 Saturday afternoon at Foster Pavilion.
 
Miami transfer Norchad Omier said the players came together after the coaches left the locker room and said, "We've got to believe. If we don't believe, nothing is impossible."
 
Then, they went out and pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in program history, rallying from a 21-point first-half deficit to defeat the Jayhawks, 81-70, before a packed house of 7,500.
 
"I'm just telling you, I've been here 22 years," Drew said, "and I don't know if I've ever been more proud of a group. Down 21, limited numbers, VJ (Edgecombe) is out. What that group was able to do, I'm glad it's on YouTube. I'll watch that again someday."
 
This is one that you really did have to see it to believe it.
 
Freshman point guard Robert O. Wright III led the comeback, scoring 20 of his career-high 24 points in the second half, while Omier recorded his 10^th double-double of the season with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
 
Baylor (14-7, 6-4) had to play the last 14 ½ minutes without Edgecombe, who appeared to roll his ankle on a drive to the basket and didn't return to the floor until the postgame celebration.
 
"We just fought to the end," said Wright, who scored 14 of his points after Edgecombe left the game. "Guys went down, VJ went down. People probably doubted us even more, but we just stayed together and kept praying, and then let God do the rest."
 
Drew said the Bears "were all embarrassed" by a first half that saw Kansas have its own way on both ends of the floor in taking a 40-21 lead. The Jayhawks (15-6, 6-4) shot a sizzling 57.6% from the floor and forced 12 first-half turnovers while limiting Baylor to a dismal 27.6 shooting percentage.
 
"This is God's victory, but we were all embarrassed," Drew said. "We didn't want that feeling for the second half."
 
Looking nothing like their first-half selves, the Bears scored the first nine points of the second half and outscored the Jayhawks, 26-6, in the first six-plus minutes, taking a 47-46 lead on a pair of Wright free throws with 13:55 left.
 
"My teammates just kept telling me that they trusted me, and that it was my turn just to take over the game," Wright said. "Just those guys trusting me and me just making the plays and trusting myself."
 
Even after erasing the 19-point halftime deficit, though, Baylor got down double digits again when Kansas answered with a 13-2 run that included a pair of Zeke Mayo 3-pointers and a three-point play by Dejuan Harris Jr. KJ Adams' second-chance jumper put the Jayhawks up 59-49 with nine minutes remaining.
 
With the Bears still down by eight with under six minutes to go, Wright had a driving scoop layup that ignited the decisive 17-0 run. Cal transfer Jalen Celestine hit one of his four 3-pointers to give Baylor the lead for good, and Omier capped the run with a pair of free throws that made it 72-63.
 
"The atmosphere was special," Wright said. "We were going off (the fans), their energy. It was our sixth guy on the court, especially with guys up. I think it was a big part of what happened on that, for sure."
 
Over the last seven minutes, Baylor went 7-for-7 from the floor and 13-of-14 from the line to complete the comeback. It was the largest blown lead in Kansas basketball history, and the 21-point deficit was the biggest margin the Bears have erased since coming back from 22 down to beat Louisville in the 2016 Battle "4" Atlantis championship game.
 
"If you don't believe in miracles," said Drew, who was playing shorthanded again with both Jeremy Roach and Langston Love sidelined and then losing Edgecombe a little over five minutes into the second half. "As far as the guys that were able to play, so proud of their effort and their heart and just how much they competed and what they put out there."
 
In addition to the depth issue, the Bears had to survive with three players in foul trouble for most of the second half. Omier, who scored 17 second-half points after netting just one in the first 20 minutes, picked up his fourth foul with 10 ½ minutes left.
 
"I think about it this way. When the other team thinks I'm going to get softer, I just get smarter," said Omier, who played the last nine-plus minutes without fouling. "That's how I look at it: be smarter but not less aggressive."
 
Edgecombe had 14 points and five rebounds before leaving the game with the injury. Celestine had 12 points, going 4-for-8 from 3-point range, while Josh Ojianwuna had 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
Kansas, which went almost five minutes without scoring during the Bears' 17-0 run, was led by Hunter Dickinson with 20 points, Harris with 12 points and eight assists and Rylan Griffen with 11 points off the bench.
 
Baylor won the rebounding battle, 40-27, scored 24 points off the Jayhawks' 14 turnovers, heated up to shoot 58.6% in the second half (17-of-29) and was a phenomenal 25-of-28 from the free throw line.
 
Going back on the road, Baylor will face 22^nd-ranked Texas Tech (17-4, 8-2) and former BU assistant coach Grant McCasland at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Lubbock in an ESPN2 broadcast. The Red Raiders have strung together six-straight wins, including Saturday's 82-81 upset of sixth-ranked Houston on the road, when Chance McMillian hit two free throws with 16 seconds left in OT.