By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
After knocking off No. 16 Arkansas at American Airlines Center on Saturday, 72-67, No. 12 Baylor men’s basketball (1-1) is headed back to Foster Pavilion for the first time this season Tuesday to take on Sam Houston (1-1) in a “Foster After Dark” blackout game.
The Bears opened their season with back-to-back games against ranked, high-major opponents: No. 6 Gonzaga and Arkansas, losing the former and winning the latter. They’ll look to stay in the win column against a Bearkat squad that features a second-year coach in Chris Mudge and a former Kansas State transfer guard in Dorian Finister.
“The train’s back on the track,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “I think the coaching staff knows a lot better what we need to do, how we need to work together. I think the players know what we want better. And I think everyone’s on the same page.”
Opening the season in a road neutral game in Spokane, Wash., the Bears suffered their worst loss since 2007 against Gonzaga. Drew said playing that level of competition has already paid dividends for a new-look team trying to gel quickly.
“Putting this team together, we thought we had a chance to be special,” Drew said. “We really wanted to test them early on and test us early on to see where our strengths and weaknesses are.”
The loss gave players and coaches alike an opportunity to step back and reevaluate things. When they walked into the arena Saturday against Arkansas, the energy was different. Something had changed.
“I feel like everyone came into the [Arkansas] game taking that as a motivation to play harder than the way we did against Gonzaga, and we got a good result doing that,” junior center Josh Ojianwuna said.
Now, the Bears will head home for the first time this season, with an opportunity to move about .500 on the year. Freshman VJ Edgecombe, a walking highlight reel who made several clip-worthy plays against the Razorbacks, can’t wait.
“I’m excited, to be honest,” Edgecombe said. “I always see the Foster on TV. When they first opened it up, seeing how loud it was — I just want to be part of the atmosphere. I feel like it’s gonna be fun, especially since it’s my first game. So I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how loud it [will] be in there for sure.”
The Bearkats won their final seven regular season games last year en route to their first-ever Conference USA championship, led by Davon Barnes (now at Ole Miss) and Lamar Wilkerson, who scored 15 points in 21 minutes Saturday against Tarleton.
“People might not see a ranking next to their name, but this is a really quality team,” Drew said. “Six out of the first seven are seniors. At the end of the day, those teams scare you. And anyone you play scares you, because you can get beat any night, but especially a team like this, because a lot of fans might not know just how good they are.”
Ojianwuna, who is entering his third year with the team — and first as a starter — agreed.
“We have to come out with energy,” Ojianwuna said. “Even though we’re playing a low-major school, we don’t have to come out with the mindset of, ‘We’re playing a low-major, so we can beat them.’ I feel like, no matter who you play, you just have to come out with the mindset of, ‘Okay, I’m coming in to play with 100%, I’m giving my best every night.’”
The grind will continue at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Foster Pavilion, when the Bears take on Sam Houston in an official blackout game. It’ll be streamed live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
“I think after two games, no one’s played a harder two games, and after our first three, I don’t think anyone will play a harder first three,” Drew said.
