Tang Triumphant in Waco Return, Baylor Drops Third Straight 97-95 in OT
WACO, Texas — The No. 19 Baylor Men’s Basketball (10-5, 0-3) lost a second-straight game by one possession, this time in overtime to the Kanas State Wildcats (14-1, 3-0) 97-95. This is now the third straight loss to open Big 12 play for the Bears, something a Scott Drew team hasn’t done since 2005-06.
Adam Flagler led the Bears with 23 points and seven assists, including dishing the ball to Jalen Bridges at the end of regulation for the game-tying three.
Keyonte George also scored 22 points, with Flo Thamba adding 14 and Bridges netting 11.
However, the green and gold just could not quite match the offensive output of K-State stars Markquis Nowell and Keynote Johnson. Nowell had a record-setting night bagging the first 30-point, 10-assist triple-double in KSU history and just the second such performance in Division I college basketball in the last decade. He finished with 32 points and 14 assists. Johnson scored 24 as well.
After the game, Baylor head coach Scott Drew harped on cleaning up the mental side of the game, especially execution and attention to detail.
“We’ve got to get better shots in the overtime, better attention to detail.”
The players are certainly feeling the weight of the recent results as well.
“It’s super tough,” said Adam Flagler in the postgame press conference, “We pride ourselves in not getting into these positions. We saw growth from last game, but we’ve got to continue that.”
The first half was a showcase of good shooting with the Bears hitting 50% of their shots and the Wildcats nailing 60%. The teams went into the locker room at the break knotted at 47-47 with neither side being able to build more than a six-point lead before things evened up.
KSU came out strong in the second half though and gained a 65-57 lead thanks to an Ismael Massoud three-ball.
For the next ten minutes of game time, Baylor chipped away at that lead until they took a one-point advantage at 78-77 with 3:25 left.
The Bears would fall behind again, but a pair of Flagler free throws and the Bridges three brought Baylor back from the brink and sent the game to overtime with the score tied at 86 when the regulation buzzer sounded.
“He’s starting to take a step forward with his confidence,” coach Drew said of Bridges, “We need him to be good and we need him to be special.”
The extra period started well for the green and gold with George and Thamba earning the home team a three-point lead at the charity stripe.
The free throw line is where K-State would tie things yet again at 91-91 after Nowell drew a foul on a quick-rising three-pointer attempt.
Minutes later, tied at 93-93, Adam Flagler hit a jumper to give the Bears a two-point lead with just 45 seconds to go, but the Wildcats had an answer.
Nowell was doubled near the baseline and kicked to Massoud who drilled the go-ahead three with 32 seconds to go.
Flagler and the Bears went on to lose possession right in front of coach Drew and the Baylor bench forcing them to send Nowell back to the line.
Nowell somewhat surprisingly missed the second free throw, but Caleb Lohner was off the mark from deep as the buzzer sounded after Flagler pushed the ball up the court to him.
Another close, tough loss for a Baylor team that is reeling and will likely fall out of the national top 25 come Monday.
The head coach on the other side of thought will certainly not relish in adding to the BU losing streak.
“This was not fun,” said KSU head coach and former Baylor associate head coach Jerome Tang, “It wasn’t fun before and it wasn’t fun after. It was fun during, right… the game of basketball is fun.”
The next chance for the Bears to right the ship will come on Wednesday at 6 PM CST in Morgantown, West Virginia as Baylor will face off against the Mountaineers on ESPN+.