No. 9 Seed Baylor MBB Readies for Opening Round of NCAA Tournament

Thu Mar 20 11:34:59 CDT 2025

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No. 9 BAYLOR BEARS (19-14, 10-10 Big 12)
Location: Waco, Texas
Conference/Affiliation: Big 12
Head Coach: Scott Drew (Butler, 1993)
Roster<https://baylorbears.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/2024-25> | Stats<https://baylorbears.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats> | Game Notes (PDF )<file:///documents/2025/3/19/BU_MBB_Game_Notes_34_MSU_24-25.pdf>
No. 9 BAYLOR (19-14, 10-10 Big 12) vs. No. 8 MISSISSIPPI STATE (21-12, 8-10 Big 12)
March 21, 2025 • 11:15 a.m. CT
Raleigh, N.C. • Lenovo Center (20,000)

LIVE STATS: NCAA.com<https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/game/218>
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<https://www.siriusxm.com/sports/mens-college-basketball>

Baylor Social Media: [X icon] <https://twitter.com/BaylorMBB> [wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw%3D%3D]  [instagram png] <https://www.instagram.com/baylormbb> [wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw%3D%3D]  [Facebook PNG] <https://www.facebook.com/BaylorMBB> [wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw%3D%3D] 
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No. 8 MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (21-12, 8-10 SEC)
Location: Starkville, Miss.
Conference/Affiliation: SEC
Head Coach: Chris Jans (Loras, 1991)
Roster<https://hailstate.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster> | Stats<https://hailstate.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2024-25> | Game Notes (PDF)<file:///documents/2025/3/19/Game34BaylorNCAATournament.pdf>
Media Materials Folder<https://baylor.app.box.com/s/pixj7k5dq7uo84maocw4vv2vhlhzh1c8>

BAYLOR NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE<https://baylorbears.com/tournament-experience/mens-basketball/2025>
Story lines
• No. 9 seed Baylor will open it’s school-record sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance against No. 8 Seed Mississippi State Friday at 11:15 a.m. CT on CBS
• This is the third postseason meeting between the Bears and the Bulldogs, with the two previous meetings coming in the NIT in 1990 and 2018
• In the last meeting, MSU used  a last-second three-pointer to beat the home-standing Bears 78-77 in the second round of the 2018 NIT in Waco
• Each of the last two meetings between these two teams have been decided in the final 28 seconds (2011: Baylor layup with :28 left; 2018 MSU three-pointer with :01 left)
• Baylor is 9-4 all-time with six-straight wins in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament
• The Bears are one of just four teams to win at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of the last five tournaments, joining Gonzaga, Houston and Kansas
• 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
• BU is 1-1 all-time as a No. 9 seed, holding a 3-5 in NCAA Tournament games as the lower/same seed, though four of those five losses were to top-2 seeds
• The Bears are 23-17 in 15 NCAA Championship appearances and 20-11 under Scott Drew
• Drew is one of six active coaches with a national title, and now has wins over three of the other five this season (John Calipari, Rick Pitino and Bill Self)
• 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. Calipari is the only other active coach to have won both tournaments
• Baylor is 45-29 in postseason tournaments (conference, national) over the last 17 seasons
• Only three active players on Baylor’s roster have more than five minutes of NCAA Tournament experience, but two are Final Four participants in Jeremy Roach (Duke, 2022) and Norchad Omier (Miami, 2023)
• Averaging 13.7 points in 11 NCAA Tournament games, Roach helped Duke reach the 2022 Final Four
• In five tournament games with the Hurricanes in 2023, Omier averaged 10 points and 12 rebounds
• The NCAA’s active leader in career rebounds (1,675) and double-doubles (89), Omier holds Baylor’s single-season record for double-doubles with 21
• Jayden Nunn is the only player on the roster with extensive NCAAT experience in a Baylor uniform, averaging 9.0 points and shooting 50% from three in two games last season.
• VJ Edgecombe was Baylor’s third-straight postseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, making BU the first school in conference history with three straight preseason and postseason freshmen of the year
• Edgecombe has left his mark this season at Baylor, scoring the fourth-most points by a BU freshman (465) and enters Friday 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 66 steals
• Fellow frosh, Robert Wright set Baylor’s single-season freshman assist record (143), which comes after setting the single-game freshman record of 13 against Norfolk State earlier this season
• The Bears have lost 37 games and counting due to injuries this season: Langston Love (15), Jeremy Roach (6), Jalen Celestine (4) VJ Edgecombe (2) and Josh Ojianwuna (10)
• Of the 1,345 minutes of game time this season, Baylor has had it’s full complement of rotation players for just 189:56 (14.2%)
• Baylor has 8+ Big 12 wins for a 14th-straight season after winning 8+game just three times in the league’s first 15 years.

Matt Roberts | Director of Athletic Communications (MBB/MGOLF/ WGOLF)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-227-2280
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