By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer, Braden Murray | LTVN Sports Director
No. 8 Baylor men’s basketball secured its first win of the season over No. 16 Arkansas on Saturday at American Airlines Center, 72-67. In a no-doubter which saw the Bears lead for over 38 minutes of game time – they never trailed.
“It’s a memory that’ll last them,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said of knocking off a ranked team in an NBA arena. “These guys will remember this for the rest of their life.”
LTVN’s Braden Murray recaps the Bears’ strong bounce-back effort in Dallas.
Led by fifth-year forward Norchad Omier, who earned Player of the Game honors in the first-ever “Dallas Duel,” the Bears put on a dominant performance inside the arc. Five Bears finished in double digits as the team racked up 38 points in the paint and shot 58.8% inside the arc.
“Norchad was tremendous tonight,” Drew said. “I thought we did a better job getting him the ball and it was a pace where he could be effective.”
Omier, who averaged a double-double last year for Miami, opened the game looking every bit the part of a No. 1 option on offense. On the first drive of the game, he hauled in a Johnell Davis airball on the right baseline, led the break himself and closed with a tough finish. Two minutes later, he hit a cutting VJ Edgecombe on a perfect bounce pass from the elbow for an easy two points.
“I was just trying to be locked in,” said Omier, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. “Trying to do what the coaches ask us to do and just execute the game plan.”
Omier continued to look the part after the first substitution, finishing a pair of highly contested post layups from the left block to get up to six points, five rebounds and an assist in six minutes. But it was the freshman point guard Robert O. Wright III who injected the energy to lift the Bears to a seven-point lead, finishing an and-1 layup over Davis and swinging the ball to senior guard Jayden Nunn for a top-of-the-key three.
Wright was tasked with helping front a full-court press that held Arkansas for nearly six minutes. The Razorbacks missed their first nine 3-pointers against Baylor’s zone as the Bears dominated the paint on both ends. Just 12 minutes into the game, Baylor’s 26-15 lead included 18 points in the lane to Arkansas’ eight.
“The reason Scott stayed in [the defensive zone], and he should’ve — We looked so bad against the zone, why would you get out of it?” said Arkansas head coach John Calipari, who added that Baylor’s defensive sets didn’t come as a surprise. “I’ve coached against Scott. He’ll go to that 1-1-3, he’ll even go to a 1-3-1 … The press they used, we all knew what they were doing.”
A highlight-reel dunk by Billy Richmond III woke up the Arkansas faithful, who stood to form a rippling sea of red in front of the Baylor offense. Fifth-year guard Jeremy Roach silenced the crowd with a floater, his second make of the night, before Adou Thiero stopped and popped from above the break to end the Razorbacks’ 3-point drought at nine.
Behind the added offensive momentum, the Razorback defense finally found its footing. Trevon Brazile forced a Wright turnover on a smothering full-court press, then kicked out to Fland for a wide-open stepback 3-pointer. All told, Arkansas’ run reached 9-0 before two Wright free throws (and a coast-to-coast Edgecombe dunk) brought the lead back down to six.
With time winding down on the half, Roach squared up blue-chip freshman Karter Knox at the top of the key and drained a contested 3-pointer to put the Bears up 42-33 on a 9-2 run.
“First, you gotta take care of the ball, so it’s not a run all the time,” Drew said. “Against Gonzaga, it was an avalanche, and we don’t wanna go back down that rabbit hole. So to have [only] eight turnovers against the Arkansas pressure — I mean, their guards are really, really good, and when they get in transition, it’s a highlight show. So, credit our guys for taking care of the ball.”
The second half opened in disastrous fashion for the Bears. Arkansas kicked off an 11-2 run with back-to-back jumpers by Thiero, who scored six points in 2 1/2 minutes after dropping 10 in the first half. Baylor committed three turnovers, two fouls and missed two free throws. Edgecombe had to be helped to the tunnel with what appeared to be a lower-body injury after coming down awkwardly on an in-air collision. At 44-44, Arkansas looked poised to take its first lead of the game.
But then it started raining on the northwest basket. Edgecombe returned and teamed up with Nunn to sink 3-pointers on back-to-back-to-back possessions. The defense sagged off Jalen Celestine (career 39.8% from three), who dropped in another to balloon the lead back to 11.
“I feel like hustle plays really just changed the momentum of the game,” Nunn said. “We need those hustle plays at the end. I’m willing to do anything to win. I’m a sore loser, so I’mma make all the hustle plays I gotta do for the team. … I’ll do it all just to win, for sure.”
In the final six minutes, Arkansas thrice cut the lead down to three. A 10-2 Razorback sprint, including four points apiece by Davis and Thiero, ran it down to 63-60. Minutes later, Davis hit two free throws to again pull within one shot, at 67-64.
And with 24 seconds to go, with some Arkansas fans heading towards the exits, freshman guard Bookie Fland pulled up from several feet off the 3-point line to bring the lead down to 70-67.
“When I’m coaching, the only thing I’m thinking about is how we win the game,” Calipari said. “That’s it. So when he made it, it was like, ‘Okay, how are we winning this thing?’”
A full-court press successfully forced the ball into Edgecombe’s hands, but the strategy wasted precious time: 10 seconds ran off before the refs blew the whistle. Edgecombe sunk both free throws and Arkansas only managed to get one shot off before the final buzzer sounded. Baylor emerged victorious in the Dallas Duel without trailing for a single second.
“It was very satisfying to get this W, for sure,” Nunn said.
The Bears now sit at 1-1 following back-to-back neutral site games against AP Top 25 teams. They’ll head back to Waco for their home opener Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Sam Houston.
