No. 17 Baylor has played four ranked teams in its first six games of the season, balancing their pre-Big 12 Conference schedule between ranked opponents and opponents from non-power conferences.
After beating then-No. 22 St. John’s 99-98 in double overtime, followed by a 77-62 loss to then-No. 11 Tennessee in the final of the Baha Mar Hoops championship in Nassau, Bahamas, last Friday, Baylor (4-2) will face New Orleans on Wednesday afternoon in Waco, Texas.
Bears coach Scott Drew said the early season losses provide valuable experience.
“What you risk is you can lose confidence if you lose some games,” Drew said of the gauntlet of ranked opponents. “But if you stay together you gain a great team because diamonds are formed under pressure and we need to know what we’re going to get and what to expect from guys in these situations.”
Drew already has learned a lot about how his team responds to adversity. In the season opener, Baylor went on the road to face then-No. 6 Gonzaga, fell behind by 19 at halftime and couldn’t get back in the game, losing 101-63.
The Bears bounced back to beat then-No. 16 Arkansas 72-67 in Dallas before winning handily in home games against Sam Houston and Tarleton State.
They fell behind St. John’s by as many as 18 points in the first half and didn’t take their first lead until less than three minutes remained in regulation. Though the Bears came up short against Tennessee, they fought back from a 28-point first-half deficit and outscored the Volunteers 42-30 in the second half.
“We’re making strides,” said Drew, whose team has another notable pre-conference game coming up when it visits two-time defending national champion UConn on Dec. 4.
Baylor has five scorers averaging in double figures, led by forward Norchad Omier, a Miami transfer who’s averaging a double-double (16.5 points and 10.0 rebounds), and guard VJ Edgecombe, who’s averaging 12.5 points. Duke transfer guard Jeremy Roach chips in 12.7 points per game.
For New Orleans (2-4) of the Southland Conference, guard James White’s 31 points drove the Privateers to a 93-87 overtime victory at crosstown rival Tulane last Friday.
New Orleans led 39-27 at halftime and still held a 12-point lead with 1:35 left in the second half, but Vincent Jamond fouled the Green Wave’s Kaleb Banks on a 3-point attempt with 0.9 seconds left in regulation. Banks made all three free throws to force overtime.
In overtime, the Privateers finished with a 14-8 scoring edge to win.
“We had to get through a little adversity there,” first-year head coach Stacy Hollowell said. “We had to refocus in overtime and do what we do. We’re going to continue to build. We got the job real late (April 25) and put the team together in two weeks. Hopefully this propels us in the right direction.”
New Orleans shot a season-best 50 percent from the floor and White, a transfer from UAB, scored eight in overtime.
“Obviously, it was rough going to overtime,” White said, “but we stuck it out as a group and came together.”
–Field Level Media
