No. 25 Bears Blitzed by Wildcats, Late Comeback at Arizona Falls Short 81-70

TUCSON, Ariz. — The No. 25 Baylor Men’s Basketball team (11-5, 3-2) was defeated 81-70 by the Arizona Wildcats (11-5, 5-0) in a late-night matchup in the desert. 

Not only was Baylor in the desert, but they were also in a scoring drought during the first half. The Bears shot 26% from the field and were 1-for-9 from long distance finishing the first 20 minutes down 42-19.

Baylor looked overwhelmed early on offense with the guards struggling against high hedge and blitz coverages of pick and rolls. The flow of the offense was disrupted to great effect.

The second half appeared destined for more of the same with the Wildcats scoring four quick points to set the largest lead of the game at 27 points. 

However, the Bears offense found its footing from there on, scoring 51 points in the second period and trimming the deficit to as little as 9 points with just over two minutes to play. 

Unfortunately, that is where the Green and Gold ran out of gas. Scott Drew’s squad could not overcome an abysmal first-half offensive performance on top of giving up 39 or more points in each half defensively. 

On the stat sheet, Robert Wright led the Bears in scoring with 16. He was followed by VJ Edgecombe with 14 and Jeremy Roach with 13. Baylor finished the game shooting 48% from the field and went 6-for-20 from three. 

The Bears will now return to Waco and regroup as a run of “easier” Big 12 games comes their way. Those games include hosting TCU on Sunday at 4:00 p.m., hosting Kansas State the following Wednesday and visiting Utah on January 25th.

The tilt against the Horned Frogs on Sunday afternoon will be broadcast on ESPN.