NCAAB

Baylor Bears at Mississippi State Bulldogs

· Men's Basketball Championship - East Region - 1st Round
20-14, 3-9 Away
Final
75 - 72

V.J. Edgecombe and Baylor hold off Mississippi State in final seconds to win 75-72 in March Madness

'Look out!' VJ Edgecombe's near-highlight slam rattles the rim

That didn't concern Bears coach Scott Drew.

The athletic Edgecombe responded with a big second half and finished with 16 points, including two clutch free throws down the stretch, to help the ninth-seeded Bears hold off the eighth-seeded Bulldogs 75-72 on Friday.

“Because he’s so highly rated on the draft boards, people just assume that he's going to score,” Drew said. “V.J. doesn’t have to score to impact a game. He is an all-around player. He gets comparisons to Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook, and the thing that those guys did is their athleticism and their ability to assist, defend. It affects the game. So if he’s scoring or not, he’s helping us.”

Edgecombe also had five rebounds, a block and a steal in his first NCAA Tournament game.

Robert Wright scored 19 points, Langston Love added 15 and Norchad Omier had a strong game inside with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Bears (20-14), who led by 11 points in the second half but had to hold off the Bulldogs in the final seconds — and even tenths of seconds. Baylor advanced to face Duke, the top seed in the East Region, in the second round on Sunday.

Josh Hubbard scored 26 points to lead Mississippi State (21-13), which was seeking its first March Madness victory since 2008.

The Bears led 60-49 with 8:10 remaining after a free throw by Omier.

But the Bulldogs stormed back and cut the lead to one with 29 seconds left when KeShawn Murphy scored in the lane on a baby hook. Edgecombe was fouled with 9.3 seconds left and the Big 12 freshman of the year calmly stepped to the line and made both.

“Playing in the Big 12, you just have a lot of close games, and coming in here, we know that in March a lot of stuff happens,” Omier said. “V.J. hit both free throws, and we call it a game.”

Well, not quite.

The Bulldogs still had a chance to tie after Baylor elected not to foul, but Claudell Harris Jr airballed a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds left. Omier was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and the game was seemingly over. But more time was put on the clock and Omier missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The Bulldogs grabbed the rebound with 0.2 seconds left and called timeout.

Hubbard's 3-point heave at the buzzer was no good, although it may not have counted.

Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said Harris' 3 came off a new play the Bulldogs had put in, and that Hubbard was an option.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever run it exactly for this type of scenario where we had enough time to get one look and then a second look,” Jans said. “I thought we’re going to get a shot. But unfortunately, it didn’t go in.”

Takeaways Baylor: The Bears entered the tournament having lost six of their last 10 games, but survived this time. It was Drew's 21st NCAA Tournament victory.

Mississippi State: This is the third time in as many seasons that Jans led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament. Before his arrival, the program had reached March Madness just once since 2010.

Up next Baylor guard Jeremy Roach will face his former team. Roach played four seasons for Duke and helped lead them to a Final Four three years ago.

How can I watch Baylor vs. Mississippi State?

  • TV Channel: Baylor at Mississippi State 2021 College Basketball, week 1, is broadcasted on CBS.
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Recent Plays

2nd 0:00 End of Game 75 - 72
2nd 0:00 End of 2nd half 75 - 72
2nd 0:00 Mississippi State Timeout 75 - 72
2nd 0:00 KeShawn Murphy Defensive Rebound. 75 - 72
2nd 0:00 Norchad Omier missed Free Throw. 75 - 72

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/239.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBAY https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/344.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMSST
27-62 FG 26-52
43.5 Field Goal % 50.0
6-24 3PT 10-30
25.0 Three Point % 33.3
15-19 FT 10-13
78.9 Free Throw % 76.9
37 Rebounds 29
16 Offensive Rebounds 7
21 Defensive Rebounds 22
13 Assists 13
10 Steals 6
3 Blocks 0
10 Turnovers 14
1 Team Turnovers 0
10 Total Turnovers 14
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
15 Points Off Turnovers 9
9 Fast Break Points 9
40 Points in Paint 24
16 Fouls 18
11 Largest Lead 3

Game Information

Lenovo Center

Location: Raleigh, NC
Capacity:

2024-25 Big 12 Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Houston 19-1 - 34-4
Texas Tech 15-5 4 28-9
BYU 14-6 5 26-10
Arizona 14-6 5 24-13
Iowa State 13-7 6 25-10
Kansas 11-9 8 21-13
West Virginia 10-10 9 19-13
Baylor 10-10 9 20-15
TCU 9-11 10 16-16
Kansas State 9-11 10 16-17
Utah 8-12 11 16-17
Cincinnati 7-13 12 19-15
UCF 7-13 12 18-16
Oklahoma State 7-13 12 17-18
Arizona State 4-16 15 13-20
Colorado 3-17 16 14-21

2024-25 Southeastern Conference Standings

TEAM CONF GB OVER
Auburn 15-3 - 32-5
Florida 14-4 1 34-4
Alabama 13-5 2 28-9
Tennessee 12-6 3 30-8
Texas A&M 11-7 4 23-11
Ole Miss 10-8 5 24-12
Kentucky 10-8 5 24-12
Missouri 10-8 5 22-12
Mississippi State 8-10 7 21-13
Arkansas 8-10 7 22-14
Georgia 8-10 7 20-13
Vanderbilt 8-10 7 20-13
Oklahoma 6-12 9 20-14
Texas 6-12 9 19-16
LSU 3-15 12 14-18
South Carolina 2-16 13 12-20
Full Standings