By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
WACO, Texas – As a top-4 seed in each of the four previous NCAA Tournaments, the Baylor Bears were "the hunted," losing to lower seeds three-straight years after winning the 2021 national championship.
 
On the bubble just to make it into this year's NCAA Tournament before a win over Kansas State at the Big 12 Tournament, the Bears (19-14) were selected as the No. 9 seed in the East Region and will take on more of the hunter role when they face eighth-seeded Mississippi State (21-12) at 11:15 a.m. CT Friday in a first-round game at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C.
 
"When you're the 9 seed, you're doing the hunting," said Drew, whose team also had down-to-the-wire losses to third-ranked Houston and No. 9 Texas Tech in the span of a week. "At the end of the day, that's reality and that's facts. If we're blessed to (keep winning), every game we play, people will probably be seeded higher than us. That's the motivation in itself."
 
Baylor has played shorthanded pretty much all year, but particularly when 6-10 redshirt junior center Josh Ojianwuna suffered a season-ending knee surgery in the Feb. 8 game at home versus UCF.
 
The Bears are only 4-6 since then, but that includes three two-point losses and a pair of three-point wins over West Virginia and TCU. In a 76-74 loss to Tech in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, freshman VJ Edgecombe missed a running 3-poiinter at the buzzer that would have won it.
 
"I would tell you that we would have personally loved to have won all those games by 20 and not lost any close games," Drew said. "The reality is, in postseason, you're probably going to be in close games. And the more you're in those games in the regular season, the more coaches know what to do, what not to do.
 
"With us, the margin of error has been less. I think we've competed really (well), we haven't come out flat. We've competed hard. And because of that, we put ourselves in positions to win. We haven't won every game, but I've been proud of this team's effort. We all know, fatigue makes cowards of us all. We haven't come out being shorthanded and just laid eggs."
 
Playing a seven- and sometimes six-man rotation, the Bears will get one of their key pieces back with the return of 6-5 redshirt junior guard Langston Love, who sat out the Tech game at the Big 12 Tournament.
 
"He's waited a long time to play in March," Drew said of Langston, "and I know he's going to be out there if he can. And we expect that. I know that's one thing several Big 12 coaches did. Guys that maybe could go if it was NCAA Tournament time, they made sure they weren't put in harm's way, so they could be ready for the NCAA Tournament."
 
The only returning starter off last year's team that lost to sixth-seeded Clemson in the second round, senior guard Jayden Nunn (9.0 ppg) is playing in his third-straight NCAA Tournament after starting as a sophomore at VCU in 2023.
 
But the Bears are also blessed with Final Four experience. A first-team All-Big 12 pick in his first year at Baylor, 6-7 forward Norchad Omier (15.9 ppg, 10.9 rebounds) helped Miami make the Final Four in 2023, while Duke transfer Jeremy Roach (10.3 ppg, 2.7 assists) was on the Blue Devils' Final Four team in 2022.
 
"A lot of times, they say you've got to knock before you enter," Drew said. "So, definitely having some of that wisdom (helps). And players listen to players more than they listen to coaches. They talk in the locker room, and that advice that Jeremy and Norchad gives them matters. That's part of why we brought them here, that Final Four experience and the fact that they were able to help teams get there. That's where we want to be this year."
 
Starting with Mississippi State in the first round, that road won't be an easy one for the Bears. With a NET ranking of 34 (four spots below Baylor), the Bulldogs finished ninth in the SEC and has impressive wins over 16^th-ranked Memphis, 14^th-ranked Texas A&M and a sweep of the home-and-home series with in-state rival Ole Miss.
 
Making its third-straight NCAA Tournament under coach Chris Jans, Mississippi State is led by 5-11 sophomore guard Josh Hubbard, who is averaging 18.7 points and 3.2 assists per game.
 
"He's been putting up crazy numbers all year long, and he's really fun to watch," Drew said of Hubbard. "Hopefully, he's not fun to watch on Friday, but he's been fun to watch on the highlights and throughout the year."
 
If Baylor is able to advance, the Bears' likely second-round opponent on Sunday is a top-ranked and No. 1-seeded Duke team (31-3) that swept the ACC regular-season and tournament titles. After starting out 4-2, with losses to Kentucky and Kansas, the Blue Devils have won 27 of their last 28 games.
 
Duke opens against the winner of Wednesday's First Four matchup between American and Mount St. Mary's. The Blue Devils are expected to get back 6-9 freshman Cooper Flagg (18.9 ppg, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists), who missed the last two games of the ACC tournament with an ankle injury.
 
Most projections have Flagg and Baylor's Edgecombe (15.0 ppg, 5.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists) as top-five picks in the 2025 NBA Draft.
 
"I'm sure that (showcase matchup) is something that people would be excited about, enjoy," Drew said. "At the same time, I know with us, it's a one-game season. And if you don't win your first one, there is no second one. So, I know we will be completely locked in, and rightfully so. Doesn't matter who you play, let alone a team seeded higher, and a team with a ton of success this year."



WACO, Texas — Baylor men's basketball was selected to its 13^th-straight NCAA postseason as a No. 9 seed in the East Region of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, announced Sunday on CBS.
 
Baylor (19-14, 10-10 Big 12) will open on Friday against No. 8 seed Mississippi State (21-12, 8-10 SEC) at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C. The winner of that game will then play a second-round matchup on Sunday against the winner of Friday's first-round game between No. 1 Duke and the winner of the American and Mount St. Mary's matchup in the First Four.


 
Tip-off times and TV networks and are to be determined. The East Regional semifinal and final will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., with the Final Four to be held in San Antonio, Texas.
   
BAYLOR NCAA NOTES:
• Baylor is 23-17 in 16 previous NCAA Championships trips, including a 20-11 record in the Scott Drew era
• Drew is one of eight coaches in NCAA history, and the only one since 1990, to have won an NCAA title and an NIT Title at the same school
• BU is one of just four teams to win at least one game in each of the last five NCAA Tournaments played dating back to 2018-19, joining Gonzaga, Kansas and Houston
• Baylor is 9-4 with six-straight wins in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament
• Baylor is 1 of 8 teams to appear in nine of the last 10 tournaments, joining Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan State, North Carolina and Purdue
• Baylor is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in the last 11 tournaments
• Baylor is appearing in the NCAA postseason for a school-record 13th-consecutive time (11 NCAA, 2 NIT).
• Baylor is making its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance in the modern tournament era. BU's first three NCAA Tournament appearances in 1946, 1948 and 1950 were in an eight-team bracket.
• BU's six-straight NCAA Tournaments are also a school record
• Baylor is 45-28 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 17 seasons
• BU is aiming to reach the Sweet sixteen for the sixth time in the Drew Era, and the second time since 2021. Out of the last 10 opponents who have eliminated Baylor in the NCAA Tournament, seven have made at least the Elite Eight, five have made the Final Four, three have made the National Title game and two have won the national title
• Baylor has played in three Final Fours (1948, 1950, 2021). The first two Final Four appearances were when it was an eight-team bracket.
• Baylor has played in two National Championship games (1948 lost to Kentucky, 2021 defeated Gonzaga).
 
 
2024-25 SEASON HONORS
VJ EDGECOMBE
Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year
Jerry West Award Watch List
Naismith Trophy Watch List
Wooden Award Preseason Top-50
Sporting News All-America Third Team
Lute Olson Award Early Season Watch List
Big 12 co-Newcomer of the Week (1/27)
Jerry West Award Midseason Top-10
Jerry West Award Finalist
Big 12 Freshman of the Year
Big 12 All-Freshman Team (Coaches)
All-Big 12 Second Team (Coaches)
AP All-Big 12 Second Team
 
NORCHAD OMIER
Preseason All-Big 12 Second Team
NABC Player of the Year Watch List
Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List
Karl Malone Award Watch List
Wooden Award Preseason Top-50
Lute Olson Award Early Season Watch List
Big 12 Player of the Week (11/25)
Oscar Robertson Midseason Top-50
Karl Malone Award Midseason Top-10
All-Big 12 First Team (Coaches)
AP All-Big 12 Second Team
 
JEREMY ROACH
Big 12 co-Newcomer of the Year
Preseason All-Big 12 Second Team
Bob Cousy Award Watch list
Naismith Trophy Award Watch List
Wooden Award Preseason Top-50
Lute Olson Award Early Season Watch List
 
ROBERT WRIGHT
Big 12 Newcomer of the Week (2/3)
All-Big 12 Honorable Mention