Baylor MBB Set for Second-Round Matchup at Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship

Tue Mar 11 17:07:33 CDT 2025

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – March 11, 2025

Baylor MBB Set for Second-Round Matchup at Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship
Bears to Play on Wednesday at 6 p.m. vs. Arizona State or Kansas State
For more information contact: Josie Hutton; 254-709-7720,  josie_hutton at baylor.edu<mailto:josie_hutton at baylor.edu>

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 7 seeded Baylor men’s basketball team will face either No. 10 seed Kansas State or No. 15 seed Arizona State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo., at the T-Mobile Center in the second round of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Baylor Sports Media Network. The broadcast on ESPN+ will be voiced by Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play) and Sean Farnham (analyst) and the Baylor Sports Media Network will feature The Voice of the Bears, John Morris (play-by-play) and Baylor Hall of Famer Pat Nunley (analyst).

Baylor (18-13, 10-10 Big 12 Conference) awaits the winner of the 6 p.m. first-round contest between Kansas State (15-16, 9-11 Big 12) and Arizona State (13-18, 4-16 Big 12). The winner of the second-round game will advance to face No. 2 seed Texas Tech (24-7, 15-5 Big 12) at 6 p.m. on Thursday on ESPN or ESPN2.

Baylor posted a win over Arizona State on Jan. 11 in Tempe, Ariz., in the lone meeting with the Sun Devils. BU owned a 70-62 win over Kansas State on Jan. 22 in a matchup vs. former Baylor assistant coach Jerome Tang’s Wildcats

BU owns a 18-26 all-time record in the Big 12 Championships, including a 14-22 mark in Kansas City and a 10-16 mark under Coach Scott Drew. The Bears are seeking their first conference tournament title in program history.

STORY LINES

• Baylor earned a bye in the first round of the Big 12 Championships, as the No. 7 seed, and will advance to the second round to face off with No. 10 seed Kansas State or No. 15 seed Arizona State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

• The Bears are coming off a 65-61 loss to No. 3/3 Houston in the regular-season finale on Saturday night at the Foster Pavilion. The Bears owned a 3-point lead at halftime and went up by as many as seven midway through the second half but a 14-2 UH run gave the Cougars a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, despite a 3-pointer from Jalen Celestine that cut the lead to 61-59 with a minute left. VJ Edgecombe’s runner to tie the game rolled off the rim in the closing seconds.

• Baylor would with Kansas State for the second time in 2024-25, posting a 70-62 win over the Wildcats on Jan. 22 in Waco, with Edgecombe going for 30 and Norchad Omier collecting 13 rebounds. It marked the first win, in four meetings, for Coach Scott Drew over Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang, as Tang served as a key member of Drew’s staff from 2003-2022.

• The Bears shot just 37.5% in the win over K-State earlier in the year, but was led by the gritty effort from Edgecombe and Omier. Celestine chipped in 18 points on four made-3pointers off the bench, adding seven rebounds. BU was 17-of-21 from the line, erased a 30-26 halftime K-State lead by outscoring the Cats by 12 in the second half.

• Baylor posted a 72-66 overtime win at Arizona State on Jan. 11, led by Josh Ojianwuna’s 12-point, 17-rebound outing. Edgecombe had 15 points, Jayden Nunn chipped in 10 and Omier had 19 points and eight boards. Baylor shot 43.1% and held ASU to 36.7%.

• Baylor owns a 18-26 all-time record in the Big 12 Championships, including a 14-22 mark in Kansas City and a 10-16 mark under Drew. The Bears are seeking their first conference tournament title in program history.

• BU last faced Kansas State in the Big 12 Championships in 2021, when it posted a 74-68 win as the No. 2 team in the nation. BU also faced K-State in the Big 12 Championships in 2012 and 2017. The meeting with ASU would be the first in the Big 12 Championship for the Bears.

• BU is 14-2 in 2024-25 when holding an opponent under 70 points and are 373-61 under Coach Scott Drew. BU is 6-0 on the year and 165-9 under Drew when holding its foe to under 60 points.

• Against Houston, BU’s Norchad Omier recorded his 19th double-double of the season, equaling the most in program history, tying Jerome Lambert (1993-94).

• Omier’s 19th double-double of the season, courtesy of 13 points and 16 rebounds vs. Houston, tied Lambert’s 31-year-old school record. It was also his 87th career double-double, moving him into a tie for the second-most in NCAA history with Tim Duncan of Wake Forest and Armando Baccott of North Carolina.

• With 1,646 career rebounds, Omier ranked 12th in NCAA history and sits just behind Al Innis (1,667) from St. Francis (N.Y.).

• VJ Edgecombe continues to climb draft boards, averaging a team-leading 18.3 points per game over his last 17 games, shooting 46.1% from the field, 42.5% from three and 80% from the free-throw line.

• Edgecombe ranks ninth in the Big 12, averaging 16.7 points per game in conference play and with 15 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 (138), which comes after setting the single-game freshman record of 13 against Norfolk State earlier this season.

• The Bears have lost 34 games and counting due to injuries this season: Langston Love (14), Jeremy Roach (6), Jalen Celestine (4) VJ Edgecombe (2) and Josh Ojianwuna (8) (Out for the season).

• Of the 1,265 minutes of game time this season, Baylor has had it’s full complement of rotation players for just 189:56 (14.9%).

- BaylorBears.com -

Josie Hutton | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (FB, T&F/XC, MTEN)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: (254) 709-7720

[signature_2230589939]<http://www.baylorbears.com/>

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