BYU survives crazy night in the Marriott Center, edges Baylor in OT
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- BYU’s Kanon Catchings prepares to take a shot in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU’s Keba Keita rises up for a dunk in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- Mixed Martial Arts legend Conor McGregor (in white shirt) reacts during a BYU men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU’s Egor Demin (3) rises up for a shot in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU fans react during a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU’s Kanon Catchings (6) shoots a 3-pointer in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- A BYU fan hold up a sign at a Big 12 men’s basketball game with Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
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- BYU’s Keba Keita rises up for a dunk in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Baylor at the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
In two seasons in the Big 12, the BYU men’s basketball team had never won three league games in a row.
More importantly, the Cougars were seeking their first Quad 1 win of the season.
Mission accomplished on both fronts.
The Cougars led for 37:13 of regulation in its Big 12 matchup with Baylor on Tuesday, only to see the Bears tie the game and send it to overtime. In the extra session, BYU got off to a good start and held back the visitors at the free throw line, earning a 93-89 victory in front of 17,297 fans at the Marriott Center.
“I’m happy to be on the the winning side of a game like that,” Cougar coach Kevin Young said. “We’ve been on the other side a couple of times, so I’m happy for our guys.”
A drive by Robert Wright pulled Baylor to within two, 78-76, with 40.3 seconds to play in regulation. The Cougars couldn’t get a good shot on their possession and Wright drew a foul with 4.3 seconds remaining with a drive on the other end. He made both shots to tie the score at 78.
Thanks to the home clock operator’s itchy trigger finger, Baylor got a good look at what the Cougars wanted to do on the inbounds play and 4.3 seconds had to be put back on the clock. Dallin Hall’s long 3-pointer actually went in but it came after the buzzer, forcing the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Trevin Knell took the tip and scored a layup, followed by a 3-pointer from Hall to give the Cougars an 83-78 lead. BYU managed to fight off Baylor the rest of the way, making 6 of 7 from the foul line in the final minute. Dawson Baker drained a pair of tosses with 6.3 seconds to play for the final margin.
“There have been some games that we had earlier that just didn’t go our way that looked similar to this game,” Baker said. “So it’s good for us to finally get over the hump and see this one end up in the ‘W’ column. It’s big for us, especially with some of the young guys who need to learn how to win in certain situations like that.”
The stars came out to see the stars on Tuesday, including 32 scouts from 15 NBA teams, several NBA general managers and MMA legend Conor McGregor, who fired up the home crowd on several occasions.
The scouts and GM’s were there to see a quartet of talented freshmen, and Egor Demin, Kanon Catchings, V.J. Edgecombe and Wright didn’t disappoint.
Demin filled up the stat sheet with 15 points and six assists but it was Catchings’ performance that caused Baylor coach Scott Drew to comment as he left the post-game news conference, “Kanon Catchings was on fire tonight.”
Catchings had a perfect shooting performance, making 8 of 8 from the field (4 of 4 from the 3-point line) and 3 of 3 from the foul line for a career-high 23 points. All that with his famous aunt, former WNBA superstar Tamika Catchings, in the crowd.
Kanon Catchings said after he made his second 3-pointer, he felt like it was going to be his night.
“I thought I was going to miss at least one, but they just kept going in,” he added.
After a slow start, Richie Saunders finished strong with 17 points and six rebounds. BYU outscored Baylor 45-7 on bench points.
Edgecombe led all scorers with 28 points, including 6 of 8 from the 3-point line. Wright had 22 points, with 18 coming after halftime. That included 12 of Baylor’s final 14 points of regulation. The Bears made 13 of 28 (46%) from distance and shot 50% (30 of 60) from the field.
“Today was two great teams fighting it out to the end,” Drew said. “I’ve got to give BYU credit for making a couple more plays down the stretch. I know their crowd does a great job giving them a home court advantage, but I was proud of our guys effort and fight and giving ourselves a chance to have a chance down the stretch.”
BYU erupted on a 10-0 run, with four points from Demin, to cruise out to a 13-6 lead early in the game. Catchings came off the bench to splash a trio of 3-pointers, his third shot giving the Cougars a 24-14 lead at the 10:54 mark. BYU led by as many as 13 points, 34-21, with 4:51 to go. Baylor pulled to within six, 36-30, after a 6-0 run but the Cougars managed to stay clear and took a 44-36 lead at halftime.
BYU got going quickly in the second half, courtesy of Saunders. He drove in for a layup, then stole Baylor’s inbounds pass. Moments later, Demin popped in a step-back 3-pointer and the Cougars extended their lead to 51-40 with 17:57 remaining.
That lead disappeared because of Edgecombe and Wright, who continued to make big shots every time BYU looked to extend its lead.
Catchings converted a spectacular reverse layup for a 3-point play with six minutes left, giving the Cougars a 68-64 lead. Saunders rebounded his own miss and scored for another 3-point play, celebrated by Young to the point where he admitted, “I lost my mind for a minute.”
But BYU didn’t score in the final 1:50 of regulation as Baylor tied the score to force the extra session.
“I mean, it was just kind of business as usual (going into overtime),” Young said. “We wanted to make sure we had our coverages tight. They put a lot of pressure on you defensively with how dynamic their guards are. We just wanted to make sure we were locked in there.”
Baylor (13-7 overall, 5-4 Big 12) played without two key players, Jeremy Roach (concussion protocol) and Langston Love (ankle), who also both also missed Saturday’s win at Utah. The Bears used just seven players in Tuesday’s game.
BYU (14-6, 5-4) will make a long road trip Saturday to play UCF (13-7, 4-5) in Orlando. The Golden Knights pushed No. 11 Kansas to the limit at Allen Fieldhouse on Tuesday but the Jayhawks held on for a 91-87 victory. Keyshawn Hall led UCF with 34 points, while Hunter Dickinson and Zeke Mayo each scored 24 for Kansas.
