RAILY, N.C. — Baylor survived Mississippi State and 75-72 Mississippi State and itself in the NCAA Tournament opening round at the Lenovo Center on Friday.
The game was as tight as one would expect between No. 8 seed (Mississippi) and No. 9 (Baylor), with seven lead changes and six ties in the first half alone.
Neither team participated in the tournament with very good basketball.
Mississippi has joined the game as they lost five of their last six games, and Baylor has lost six of the last nine.
Eventually, Baylor (20-14) advanced to play the winner of Friday's Duke Mount St. Mary's Game.
“They played tougher than us tonight,” said Mississippi's Cameron Matthews.
The Bears appeared in control of the game, taking a 60-49 lead with 8:11 left, earning the biggest lead in the game.
However, Mississippi returned to it and scored a 21-11 run, cutting Baylor lead to 71-70, leaving 1:19 on three Claudell Harris Jr. Free Throws.
But Mississippi won't get close.
Keshawn Murphy 3-pointer pulled the lead down to one (73-72) with 29.5 seconds remaining.
However, Baylor's VJ Edgecombe, a Bahamas native who played his last two years of high school ball at Long Island Lutheran in Brookville, sank two clutch free throws with 9.3 seconds remaining, giving the Bears a 75-72 lead.
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“When VJ hit these two big free throws, we knew the game was pretty much over from there,” Baylor's Rob Wright led the Bears with 19 points.
“Thank God. VJ hits both free throws and we call it a game,” said Baylor's Norquad Omier.
Edgecombe, who finished with 16 points, had a poor start, scoring only four points in the first half with a quarter of fire.
Baylor coach Scott Drew wasn't worried.
“VJ. He's got such a high rating on the (NBA) draft board, so people are assuming they're getting (From) scores, but VJ doesn't have to score to affect the game,” Drew says. He compared to Dwyane Wade and Russell Westbrook, what they did is their athleticism and ability to support and advocacy. So, whether he's scoring or not, he's helping us.
“He's a great teammate and a winner, so he's always an impact on the game, so he's going to win.”
Mississippi had the opportunity to tie up in the final seconds, but a desperate Harris' three-point attempt didn't touch the hoop and Baylor regained the ball with 1.4 seconds left.
Mississippi's Josh Hubbard led all scorers with 26 points in 11 shots from the field.
Baylor was led to a more balanced scoring attack with 19 points for Wright, 16 for Edge.com, 15 for Langston Love and 12 for Omier.
The difference in the game lies in the glass, with Baylor repeating Mississippi 32-26 and 15-7 in offensive glass.
“They're a really good offensive rebound team,” said Mississippi state coach Chris Jers. “Their numbers show that. The film showed that. So, am I surprised? I don't know. Disappointed, we certainly talked about it about it, so we had blue faces and showed the film.”
