VJ Edgecombe’s Baylor Bears advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after a tense 75-72 first round win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs at the Lenovo Center on Friday.
Freshman guard Robert Wright III led four double-figure scorers for ninth-seeded Baylor with 19 points while fellow freshman VJ Edgecombe added 16 points and five rebounds to help the Bears (20-14) pick up their seventh-consecutive NCAA Tournament first-round victory.
Josh Hubbard, a 5-11 sophomore guard averaging 18.7 points per game, scored 14 of the first 23 points for the Bulldogs (21-13), who were seeking their first Round of 64 victory in 17 years.
Led by nine points apiece from Wright and Omier, Baylor took a five-point into the locker room at half, 37-32.
Held to four first-half points, Edgecombe exploded for 12 points in the second half and hit a 3-pointer that gave the Bears a double-digit lead, 59-49. Omier hit one of two free throws to give Baylor its largest lead, 60-49.
But the Bulldogs didn't go away, closing to within one, 71-70, when Claudell Harris hit three free throws when he was fouled on a 3-point shot with 1:19 to go.
Wright and Edgecombe both hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to help Baylor keep the lead, and then Harris missed a 3-pointer that would have tied it.
Harris had 13, Ryan Klugel 11 and KeShawn Murphy 10 for Mississippi State, which lost six of its last eight games.
After missing the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal with an injury, redshirt junior guard Langston Love scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, while Miami transfer Norchad Omier narrowly missed his 90th-career double-double with 12 points and nine boards.
Baylor advances to face the winner between top-seeded Duke (31-3) and No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary's (23-12) in a second-round game on Sunday, with tipoff time released later Friday.