By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Baylor dropped a dramatic showdown with Colorado Saturday, 76-74, as the Bears’ late comeback attempt fell just short.
The Bears (16-11, 8-8) were without Jayden Nunn, who spent the game in the locker room dealing with a stomach bug. It was only the second game the senior guard has missed in his career and his first since his freshman season at VCU.
At altitude and without Nunn, the Bears struggled mightily to create offense against Colorado’s lengthy defense. After early scores by Norchad Omier and Langston Love, Baylor didn’t score another half-court bucket for over five minutes. A 1-for-11 shooting stretch in half-court possessions, including three turnovers, set the team back early.
The deficit remained small, though, as Colorado (11-16, 2-14) fought through a 1-for-9 stretch of its own. At the 8:30 mark, the Buffaloes held a slight edge in efficiency, hitting four of 13 shots compared to Baylor’s four of 20; more importantly, they led 14-12 on the scoreboard.
Without Nunn and starting center Josh Ojianwuna, who is out for the season with a knee injury, head coach Scott Drew continued fiddling with the rotation. Freshman center Marino Dubravcic checked in at 12:47 for his first non-garbage time minutes of the season. Freshman forward Jason Asemota, who sat the last three games, also made a first-half appearance.
For a while, it seemed the only player who could find the net was Colorado’s Andrej Jakimovski, who finished with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. He was one of just four Buffaloes to hit a field goal in the first half, mirroring the Bears’ four shot-makers.
A buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Love gave the Bears a 32-30 lead at halftime. Neither team found its rhythm — Baylor shot 9-for-36, while Colorado hit 9 of 23 — but they combined to go 19-for-20 from the free-throw line, keeping the score respectable.
Fifth-year guard Jeremy Roach entered the break on perhaps the coldest streak of his career. Since returning from a concussion earlier this month, he had shot just 10-for-41 (24.4%) from the field.
But in the second half, he looked like his old self again, draining pull-up threes as a pick-and-roll ballhandler and tying Jalen Celestine for a game-high 11 second-half points.
Roach’s second-half surge wasn’t enough. After converting an and-1 to tie the game at 59-all, he watched Colorado respond with a 12-2 run.
Sharpshooting wing Celestine nearly brought Baylor back from the brink. He drilled a pair of 3-pointers and finished a layup inside to cut the deficit to two. Freshman wing VJ Edgecombe answered two made free throws with a putback dunk, keeping it a one-score game.
In under a minute, the Buffaloes’ eight-point lead had shrunk to two. When Trevor Baskin missed both free throws, Baylor had one last chance, but with just 1.5 seconds and no timeouts remaining, the Bears couldn’t get a shot off. Colorado secured the upset in dramatic fashion, 76-74.
The Bears return to action against Cincinnati (16-11, 6-10) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati.
