Catchings fire: BYU topples Baylor in overtime thriller, 93-89

By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer

When Danny Ainge took his seat at the J. Willard Marriott Center Tuesday night, he knew to expect fireworks.

Ainge, the Utah Jazz’s CEO of basketball operations, was scouting a pair of potential top-5 picks in Provo: playmaking BYU guard Egor Demin and slashing Baylor wing VJ Edgecombe. He got them — and a whole lot more — in an overtime thriller, as fellow freshmen Robert O. Wright III (Baylor) and Kanon Catchings (BYU) put on a show in the Cougars’ 93-89 overtime victory.

Catchings, the nephew of WNBA legend Tamika Catchings, was blazing hot from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-9 freshman forward scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-8 shooting, becoming the first Division I player this season to score 20-plus points on 100% shooting. A waning crescent hovered overhead, but the basket loomed as large as a full moon: both teams shot at least 50% from the field and 38% from three.

After missing five of their first six shots, the Cougars (14-6, 5-4 Big 12) proceeded to hit 10 of their next 13.

The Bears (13-7, 5-4 Big 12) trailed by as many as 13 in the first half but managed to cut the deficit in half behind strong performances from Edgecombe and junior center Josh Ojianwuna. Freshman guard Robert Wright, the only Baylor player with a positive first-half plus-minus, hit a last-second isolation layup to drop BYU’s lead to eight, 44-36.

Fifth-year big man Norchad Omier scored on Baylor’s first two offensive possessions in the second half —then tossed a lazy inbounds pass that set up Demin for a streak-breaking 3-pointer. Demin, who finished with 15 points and six assists, overcame a continued cold streak from beyond the arc with his signature brand of creative playmaking.

Between highlight plays, Edgecombe continued his hot streak, scoring 28 points (a career-high for a road game) and a career-high six made 3-pointers. With nearly three dozen NBA scouts in attendance, he showcased several skills — left-handed finishing, contested 3-point shooting, playmaking as a primary initiator — which had been questions coming into this season. Before long, it was a two-point game; 90 seconds after that, Catchings pulled up from long range to hit 18 points on the night.

Omier picked up his fourth foul with 6:40 to play; Edgecombe picked up his fourth a minute later. Then senior combo guard Jayden Nunn toppled into the stanchion, absorbing the contact for an and-1. But a bloody nose forced him out of the game, too.

Injuries. Whistles. Blood. Back in November, Baylor’s closing lineup featured Omier, Edgecombe and Nunn alongside guards Jeremy Roach and Langston Love. With five minutes to play in Provo, only Edgecombe was on the court.

Wright picked up the slack. The former five-star recruit scored the Bears’ final 14 points in regulation, including the game-tying free throws after drawing contact on a reverse layup attempt with five seconds to play. BYU’s Dallin Hall didn’t release his deep 3-pointer until after the final buzzer and had to watch the ball slice through the net with triple zeros on the clock. 78-all. Overtime.

BYU scored early and never looked back. With just over a minute left, Omier fouled Demin on a pull-up 3-pointer, sending Omier to the bench and Demin to the line. The freshman hit 2-of-3 to give the Cougars a 91-86 lead.

The Bears never led after 6-3, just over two minutes into the game. On a night when they missed eight free throws and lost the bench points battle 45-7, they dropped their fourth conference game of the season, 93-89. They’ll return to action at 3 p.m. Saturday against No. 11 Kansas (15-5, 6-3 Big 12) at the Foster Pavilion.