Baylor
Oklahoma State
MBB Set for Senior Day Against Oklahoma State
2/28/2025 4:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BU enters on a four-game win streak against the Pokes
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BAYLOR BEARS (16-12, 8-9 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF ) |
Oklahoma State (14-14, 6-11 Big 12) vs. BAYLOR (16-12, 8-9 Big 12) March 1, 2025 • 7:00 p.m. CT Waco, Texas • Foster Pavilion (7,500) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast WATCH: ESPN+ Talent: Lowell Galindo (pxp), Scott Williams (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 380 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:    |
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OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS (14-14, 6-11 Big 12) Location: Stillwater, Okla. Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Steve Lutz (TLU, 1995) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
WACO, Texas – This is not your daddy's Senior Day. Shoot, this isn't even a Senior Day from three or four years ago.
When the Baylor Bears (16-12, 8-9) host the Oklahoma State Cowboys (14-14, 6-11) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Foster Pavilion, the four seniors being honored will have played a combined five seasons between them in a Baylor uniform.
A second-year transfer from VCU, Jayden Nunn (8.9 ppg) is the old head of the group, starting 56 of the 62 games he's played in two seasons with the Bears. For Norchad Omier (15.8 ppg, 10.4 rebounds), Jeremy Roach (10.5 ppg, 2.9 assists) and former Division III All-American Davidson Hubbard, this is their first and last year at Baylor.
"Senior Day used to be completely different," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose Bears are trying to snap a three-game losing streak. "You'd have a player for four or five years, and a lot more emotion goes into those situations on all parties.
"At the end of the day, though, I think Baylor University does a great job instilling our mission, our culture. People feel like it's home, even if it's only for eight months, 10 months, 12 months. It's a little different as a coach when you spend four or five years with one player. Obviously, you go through more together. When you see them come out for the last time and know that this is the only uniform they've put on, they get the Baylor degree, it is different."
Omier, for one, has made the most of his one year in Waco. The 6-7 forward is averaging a double-double and has dominated, whether he's been at his more natural power forward spot or transitioning to center as the Bears' only "big guy," when 6-10 redshirt junior Josh Ojianwuna suffered a season-ending knee injury.
"Norchad is doing a great job being that anchor for us," said Roach, who played in the Final Four with Duke in 2022. "Obviously, sometimes, he might get a little handsy on the defensive rebounds. So, it's just trying to keep his mind right that we need you on the floor . . . not to pick up any cheap fouls."
While Omier has only fouled out three times, he's had at least four fouls 17 times and has to play limited minutes when he gets into foul trouble. Now, more than ever, the Bears need him to stay on the floor as much as possible.
"He's somebody you want to be aggressive, you want him to play with that high motor," Drew said, "because he gets so many rebounds and does so many positive things. You just have to make sure he cuts down on the foolish fouls. Each game he's in foul trouble, there's probably one we could get rid of."
In Oklahoma State, the Bears are facing a bigger frontline with 6-10 Abou Ousmane (12.3 ppg, 5.4 rebounds, 26 blocks) and 6-7 Robert Jennings III (5.9 ppg, 3.7 rebounds), similar to the kind of lineup Baylor started before Ojianwuna's injury.
Ousmane is coming off a 25-point performance when he went 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the Cowboys' 74-68 upset of No. 9 Iowa State on Tuesday.
"They do a really good job getting it inside to Ousmane," Drew said. "Bryce Thompson (12.4 ppg), he's been around since the league was founded, seems like. Really good player, and still doing what he does, which is score and affect the game on both ends of the court. Coach (Steve Lutz) has done a really good job of blending so many new guys."
After back-to-back two-point road losses at Colorado and Cincinnati, "obviously, we're ready to try to get a win and get that feeling out," Drew said.
"I feel like it's not even the last play or last-minute stuff that's happened," Nunn said of a stretch when the Bears have lost three games by a total of 11 points. "For example, the last 10 minutes of the first half (outscored 22-4 by Cincinnati). . . . We've just got to put both halves together and be a 40-minute team, and we'll be okay."
Baylor has dominated the series with Oklahoma State of late, winning four in a row and 15 of the last 18 matchups, including last year's 75-70 overtime win in Stillwater when Langston Love scored 17 points off the bench.
Nunn and the other three seniors will be recognized during a pregame ceremony around 6:40 p.m. The game will be streamed by ESPN+, with Lowell Galindo and Scott Williams calling the action.
STORY LINES
• Baylor hosts Oklahoma State in the only regular-season meeting between these two in a Saturday night tip on ESPN+
• Saturday is Senior Day where the Bears will honor Davidson Hubbard, Norchad Omier, Jayden Nunn and Jeremy Roach in a pregame ceremony with tributes to follow postgame
• BU has dominated the series of late, winning 15 of the last 18 meetings and each of the last four
• Baylor's current four-game win streak matches BU's second-longest win streak in this series, trailing only a seven-victory stretch from 2016-19
• In the last meeting, the Bears outlasted a feisty Cowboys team in overtime 75-70, it was the second overtime game in the last four meetings between these two teams
• In that game, despite only hitting two three-pointers, the nation's leading 3-point shooting team out-rebounded the Pokes on the offensive glass 16-5
• Baylor dropped its last contest at Cincinnati on Tuesday night 69-67, Baylor's first loss of the season when holding a team under 70 points
• The Bears shot .473 from the field to Cincinnati's .463, dropping Baylor to 12-4 on the season when shooting a higher percentage than its opponent. Entering the year, they were 96-1 when shooting higher than the opponent dating back to 2019.
• Baylor looks to avoid just it's fifth four-plus game losing streak since 2007-08 and its first since 2018-19
• Against UC, BU's Norchad Omier recorded his 16th double-double of the season the most by a Baylor player since Rico Gathers had 17 in 2014-15.
• Omier's 16 double-doubles this season are tied with Epke Udoh for the fourth most in a season in program history and are just three away from the Baylor record of 19
• With 1,605 career rebounds, Omier moved past Elvin Hayes for 15th all-time and just two from passing Bill Russell for 14th all-time
• VJ Edgecombe is showing why he continues to climb draft boards, averaging a team-leading 18.1 points per game over his last 11 games, shooting 49% from the field, 43% from three and 85% from the line
• Edgecombe ranks seventh in the Big 12, averaging 16.8 points per game in conference play and with 14.8 points per game, he is on pace for the fifth-best scoring average by a freshman in BU history
• Robert Wright now holds Baylor's single-season freshman assist record (126), after setting the single-game freshman record of 13 against Norfolk State earlier this season
• Shooting .753 from the line, The Bears are on pace for their best year at the charity stripe since 1967-68 (.765)
• The Bears have lost 31 games and counting due to injuries this season: Langston Love (14), Jeremy Roach (6), Jalen Celestine (4) VJ Edgecombe (2) and Josh Ojianwuna (5) (Out for the season)
• Of the 1,145 minutes of game time this season, Baylor has had it's full complement of rotation players for just 189:56 (16.6%)
• Baylor has 8+ Big 12 wins for a 14th-straight season after winning 8+game just 3 times in the league's first 15 years
• The only team in the league with 11+ Big 12 wins in each of the last five seasons, Baylor is in search of its seventh-straight season with double-digit conference wins
• According to KenPom, BU enters the weekend with the fourth-toughest schedule in the country and the toughest in the Big 12
• Nine of Baylor's 12 losses have come against teams that have been ranked in the top-10 at some point this season, while Gonzaga, Tennessee, UConn, Iowa State and Houston have been ranked in the top 4. Ten of their 12 losses are Quad-1 losses (5-10)
