Love's Return Sparks MBB Win Over UCF, 91-76

Saturday, February 8

Waco, Texas

1 PM

Baylor

15-8,7-5Big 12

UCF

13-10,4-8Big 12

UCF

Baylor

Langston Love shoots the three against UCF

Love's Return Sparks MBB Win Over UCF, 91-76

2/8/2025 3:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Five Bears in double figures in convincing victory

Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Just when the Baylor men got back to full strength for the first time in over five weeks, the snake-bit Bears took another serious blow Saturday afternoon, losing redshirt junior forward Josh Ojianwuna less than five minutes into the game versus the UCF Knights.

But with the rest of the eight-man rotation back on the floor, Langston Love scored 16 points in his first game back since the conference opener on New Year's Eve and just his ninth game of the season to help the Bears (15-8, 7-5) defeat UCF, 91-76.

"Prayers go up to Josh, we'll found out about the MRI," Baylor coach Scott Drew said of the 6-10 Ojianwuna, who was helped off the floor at the 15:10 mark with a left knee injury. "We serve a God of miracles, so hopefully he's not out for the season. . . . It was great having Langston back. He deserved the game ball for all that he's gone through and how he's persevered. He gave us a huge lift today as well."

Freshman VJ Edgecombe also came back after missing the previous game with an ankle injury and scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half after picking up three first-half fouls. He spared a 16-0 second-half run with a bucket, two free throws, a steal and a pair of assists, helping the Bears stretch the lead out to 66-45.

"Coming into the second half, we just wanted to keep it going," Love said. "We started off the second half a little slow, but we knew that we were going to hit our mark. We just kept playing hard. VJ was out there making great plays for us, and everybody was just rolling off of him."

After Ojianwuna went out, Baylor got 3-pointers from Love, Cal transfer Jalen Celestine and senior guard Jayden Nunn to get the Bears out to a 17-11 lead. And then, after the Knights (13-10, 4-8) went up 25-21 on a 3-pointer by 7-2 freshman Moustapha Thiam, the Bears reeled off nine unanswered points and an extended 19-4 run to go in up 45-36 at the break.

Nunn, coming off the bench for just the second time in his Baylor career, was 3-for-5 in the first half and scored 10 of his 12 points in the first 20 minutes.

"First half, I thought we did a good job of contesting shots," Drew said of UCF picking up just one assist on 11 first-half buckets, "but at the same time, leaving them in (isolation) situations. Guys were guarding them one-on-one and doing their job, and help wasn't needed as much."

UCF made it a five-point game twice in the first few minutes of the second half, but Love started that decisive 16-0 run with a jumper, followed by a bucket by Miami transfer Norchad Omier and a pair of free throws by Edgecombe.

Omier, who recorded his 12^th double-double of the season and 80^th of his career to move up to a tie for the eighth-most in NCAA history, scored on a floater in the lane and then fed Edgecombe for a highlight-reel dunk. Edgecombe then capped the run with a steal and dish to Nunn for a layup.

"That was just a fun three-minute run right there," Drew said. "If we could bottle that up and do that every game, that would be a heck of a thing to coach."

Both teams cleared their benches by the end of the game, with Baylor playing 12 players in a game for the first time since that 81-56 conference-opening win over Utah on December 31.

With Celestine contributing 12 points and five rebounds, Baylor's bench outscored the UCF reserves by a mind-boggling 40-14 margin.

UCF, which lost its fourth in a row, was led by Keyshawn Hall with 19 points and eight rebounds. Thiam added 18 points, hitting 3-of-4 from outside the arc.

When Drew was asked about the plans for the center position if Ojianwuna isn't able to come back, he said, "I'll have to get with the staff and figure some things out. But we'll see if God performs a miracle first."

"If Josh is out for the year, it'll give an opportunity for someone to step up and we'll figure out who that is," Drew said. "At least we're at seven (in our rotation), and Jason (Asemota) has played enough minutes now and has enough experience. Especially at home, he's done some good things. Some of the guys who haven't played much, they've practiced enough and been involved enough where they at least have a feel and experience for things."

In a quick turnaround, the Bears travel to face fifth-ranked and first-place Houston (19-4, 11-1) at 8 p.m. Monday at the Fertita Center. Since having their 13-game winning streak snapped and losing their first game at home in more than two years in an 82-81 overtime loss to Texas Tech, the Cougars have bounced back to beat Oklahoma State, 72-63, and Colorado,