No. 9 BAYLOR BEARS (20-14, 10-10 Big 12) Location: Waco, Texas  Conference/Affiliation: Big 12 Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF )	No. 9 BAYLOR (20-14, 10-10 Big 12) vs. No. 1 DUKE (32-3, 19-1 Big 12)  March 23, 2025 • 1:40 p.m. CT Raleigh, N.C. • Lenovo Center (20,000)  LIVE STATS: NCAA.com WATCH: CBS Talent: Ian Eagle (PBP), Bill Raftery (analyst), Grant Hill (analyst), Tracy Wolfson (reporter) LISTEN: Baylor Sports Media Network via ESPN 1660 AM / 92.3 FM in Central Texas  Talent: John Morris (PBP), Pat Nunley (Analyst) LISTEN: Westwood One Talent: Jason Benetti (PBP), Sarah Kustok (Analyst) SIRIUS XM: SiriusXM 208, 201 or on the SXM App Baylor Social Media:
	No. 1 DUKE BLUE DEVILS (32-3, 19-1 ACC) Location: Durham, N.C. Conference/Affiliation: ACC Head Coach: John Scheyer (Duke, 2010) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
RALEIGH, N.C. – It's hard to imagine a ninth-seeded Baylor basketball team actually playing Cinderella four years after winning a national championship. But that's where we are.
 
In an unusually quiet NCAA Tournament that has seen only one double-digit seed (10^th-seeded Arkansas) make it to the Sweet 16 to this point, the Bears (20-14) will try to pull off one of the biggest upsets when they face top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Duke (32-3) in a second-round matchup at 1:40 p.m. CT Sunday at the Lenovo Center.
 
"The great thing about social media and media, you guys do a great job of making my job a little easier when it comes to motivation," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team is trying to make the Sweet 16 for the sixth time in the last 15 NCAA Tournaments.
 
"With that being said, we all know it's a 40-inute game. Anything can happen in a 40-minute game. March Madness is March Madness for a reason. You don't see many weaknesses with Duke. You don't see many losses with their program. You see a lot of success. For us, we have to play a really good game, and we're capable of playing really good games."
 
In Friday's opening-round game against eighth-seeded Mississippi State, freshman Robert O. Wright III and VJ Edgecombe both hit a pair of free throws in the last 45 seconds and combined for 33 points in a 75-72 win over the Bulldogs.
 
"We believe that we can beat anybody," said 6-5 redshirt junior guard Langston Love, who had 15 points in his return after missing the Big 12 tournament quarterfinal with an ankle injury. "Going through this year, we had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of inconsistencies. So, just to have some consistency right now, it's huge for us. We're a team that hasn't even peaked yet, and we haven't played our best ball yet. So, why not do it this next round?"
 
There are some intriguing storylines in this matchup, including Duke transfer Jeremy Roach (10.1 ppg, 2.6 assists) going against his former Blue Devil teammates. The 6-2 fifth-year senior was named to the West Regional all-tournament team when he helped Duke reach the Final Four in 2022.
 
"I don't want to get into, 'I used to go to Duke' or anything like that," Roach said. "Just focus on what Baylor has to do – personnel, scout, stuff like that – getting me ready mentally and physically. So, not trying to put too much into it."
 
Third-year Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said he has "nothing but love for Jeremy, and our relationship is strong. He'll be a Duke guy forever."
 
"He, to me, will look back on his time at Duke just being the connector with Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) and myself and that transition. Four amazing years," Scheyer said.
 
Roach said 6-6 junior guard Tyrese Proctor (12.2 ppg) has "been really setting the tone" for the Blue Devils, who have reeled off 13-consecutive wins since a 77-71 road loss at Clemson.
 
"He's just always put in the work," Roach said. "He's always stayed true. This year, he's blossoming. He's been a great leader for them. He's been through the war, so the right guy to have. Super happy for him and super excited to match up against him tomorrow, too."
 
The game will also be a reunion for Wright and 6-9 Duke All-American freshman Cooper Flagg (18.75 ppg, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists), who were high school teammates last year at Montverde Academy in Florida. Considered one of the best-ever prep teams, Montverde's roster also featured three other current Division I players – Derik Queen, Maryland; Asa Newell, Georgia; and Curtis Givens, LSU.
 
After missing the last two games of the ACC Tournament, Flagg returned to score 14 points with seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in 22 minutes in Duke's 83-49 win over Mount St. Mary's.
 
Flagg is the centerpiece of a talented lineup that includes four other starters between 6-6 and 7-2. Sion James is a 6-6 grad transfer from Tulane who is averaging 8.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists, while 6-7 freshman Kon Knueppel and 7-2 freshman center Khaman Maluach checks in at 8.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and shooting 70.2% percent from the floor.
 
Baylor's only true inside presence is 6-7 Miami transfer Norchad Omier, who is averaging 15.8 points and 10.9 rebounds per game while recording a program-record 22 double-doubles and 90 for his five-year collegiate career, the second-most all-time in NCAA history.
 
"Look, he was putting up crazy numbers in Miami," Scheyer said. "He was a handful then, and he's a handful now."
 
Sunday's game will be broadcast by CBS, with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, former Duke All-American Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson calling the action.
 
The Baylor-Duke winner advances to the East Region semifinal in Newark, N.J., to face either fourth-seeded Arizona (23-12) or fifth-seeded Oregon (25-9).  


Story lines

• No. 9 seed Baylor will looks to advance to its sixth Sweet 16 in school history when it faces off against No. 1 seed Duke at 1:40 p.m. CT on CBS

• This is the third meeting between the Bears and the Blue Devils, with the last meeting coming at Madison Square Garden in Dec. of 2023 

• In that meeting, Duke won 78-70 behind 21 points from Duke's Jared McCain and 18 from current Baylor guard Jeremy Roach

• This game is a rematch of the 2010 South Regional Final in Houston, a 78-71 Duke win 

• Holding a two-point lead with under five minutes to play, the Blue Devils closed on a 15-3 run, to beat BU en route to the 2010 national championship

• This matchup features the only two schools with a top-20 NBA draft pick in the last four NBA drafts, while the Bears are the only team with a top-19 pick in each of those four drafts

• Baylor is seeking it's second-ever win over a No. 1 team, its last coming in the 2021 National Title game against No. 1 Gonzaga

• Baylor's 35 wins against ranked opponents over the last six seasons are the second-most in the nation

• With a win over Mississippi State on Friday, Baylor won its sixth-straight opening-round game in the NCAAT

• The Bears are one of just three teams to win at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of the last six years it's been held (Gonzaga & Houston)

• In a win over Mississippi State on Friday, freshman Rob Wright poured in 19 points, becoming the first freshman in the modern tournament era to lead the Bears in scoring in an NCAAT game

• VJ Edgecombe contributed 14 points, combining with Wright to become Baylor's highest-scoring freshman duo in an NCAAT game

• Edgecombe continues to leave his mark in the Baylor history books, scoring the fourth-most points by a BU freshman (479) and enters Sunday tied with Keyonte George for the fourth most points per game by a Baylor rookie (15.0), while also setting the Baylor freshman record with 67 steals

• Norchad Omier scored 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his team-record 10th-straight double-double and his 22nd this season, which is alsoa team record 

• Omier's double-double is Baylor's first in an NCAAT game since Jeremy Sochan had 15 points and 11 rebounds against North Carolina in the second-round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament

• With 10 more boards on Friday, Omier moved into 10th place in NCAA history in career rebounds (1,685)

• The win against the Bulldogs got BU to the 20-win plateau for the seventh-straight season and the 13th time in the last 14 seasons

• BU is 2-1 all-time as a No. 9 seed, holding a 4-5 in NCAA Tournament games as the lower/same seed, though four of those five losses were to top-2 seeds

• BU is 5-4 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament under Scott Drew

• The Bears are 24-17 in 16 NCAA Championship appearances and 21-11 under Drew

• BU 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 on a school-record streak of 13-consecutive postseason appearances, the nations fifth-longest active streak

• Baylor is 46-29 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 17 seasons

• Including a 6-1 mark this season, the Big 12 is a combined 28-7 in the First Round over the past five seasons

• Six Conference teams have advanced to the Round of 32 for the third time in five years and fourth time overall (2009, 2021, 2022, 2025), matching the Big 12 record

• The Bears have lost 38 games and counting due to injuries this season: Langston Love (15), Jeremy Roach (6), Jalen Celestine (4) VJ Edgecombe (2) and Josh Ojianwuna (11)