BYU Takes Down Baylor In Overtime For Third Straight Win

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball knocked off the Baylor Bears in another Big 12 thriller.

The Cougars defeated the Bears 93-89 in overtime.

Final: BYU 93, Baylor 89 (OT)

Cougars improve to 5-4 in Big 12 and earn their first Quad 1 victory of the season. pic.twitter.com/DPzUURom9A

— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) January 29, 2025

Kanon Catchings had a perfect night, scoring 23 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the field, 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and 3-of-3 from the free throw line.

Baylor freshman VJ Edgecombe had 28 points on 9-of-15 from the field in 43 minutes of play.

Fellow freshmen Egor Demin for BYU scored 15 and had six assists, while Baylor’s Robert WRight had 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

The win gives BYU its third consecutive victory in Big 12 play, the first time for the program since joining the league.

Pregame of BYU/Baylor

A total of 32 NBA personnel were at the Marriott Center to watch BYU-Baylor, which featured Egor Demin, VJ Edgecombe, Kanon Catchings, and Robert Wright.

Eight members of the Utah Jazz organization were in attendance for the most represented NBA team at the game, followed by four from the Brooklyn Nets and three from the Chicago Bulls.

First Half

15:29 – Keba Keita had a slam dunk with a lot of aggression behind it before the first media timeout. Baylor’s Norchad Omier picked up two fouls. Speaking of fouls, Trevin Knell was called for a flagrant early in the game as his right arm awkwardly caught on Josh Ojianwuna and brought him down awkwardly. Knell helped him up off the floor. BYU 9, Baylor 6

12:29 – Kanon Catchings broke out of his slump. It was the perfect night to do that, with 32 individuals from the NBA in attendance. Catchings knocked down two three-pointers. The second trey was a byproduct of Catchings hustling to a loose ball that allowed BYU to maintain possession. BYU 19, Baylor 11.

7:51 – Dawson Baker’s midrange floater is becoming an automatic bucket for BYU. Backup point guard Dallin Hall had a nice assist near the paint, finding an open Fousseyni Traore under the basket. BYU 28, Baylor 19.

3:37 – Egor Demin picked up his second foul at the 5:37 mark. BYU 36, BU 26.

Halftime: BYU 44, Baylor 36

Baylor cut BYU’s lead of 13 points down to five while Egor Demin was on the bench with two fouls. But then Kanon Catchings had a smooth crossover for a bucket that was ruled a two as his foot was on the line.

Then Baylor’s bench was called for a technical foul after a common foul was called on the Bears. BYU extended their lead to 10 before heralded Baylor freshman Robert Wright hit a bucket before the half to trim BYU’s lead to eight at the halftime break.

Baylor forward Norchad Omier picked up his third foul at the 1:23 mark in the first half.

BYU’s leading scorer in the first half was Kanon Catchings, who scored 13 points on four field goal attempts.

Second Half

18:05 – Richie Saunders makes winning plays. Baylor had a pair of buckets on second-chance offensive rebounds to open the half. But then Richie Saunders attacked the basket for a layup. Then, on Baylor’s inbounds play, Saunders came up with a steal that led to a Egor Demin three. Scott Drew immediately called a timeout. BYU 51, Baylor 40.

15:59 – Baylor won’t go down easy. VJ Edgecombe picked up an and-one opportunity. BYU 51, BU 46.

7:33 – Baylor reeled off a 7-1 run that concluded with a VJ Edgecombe three in front of the Bears bench. That cut BYU’s lead down to one at 59-58.

Dawson Baker then attempted a three that went off the rim, but Fousseyni Traore was there with an offensive rebound for the putback. Baylor’s Jayden Nunn countered with a tough bucket in the paint. Then Kanon Catchings countered Nunn’s tough shot with a long stepback two moments after the Marriott Center big screen recognized his aunt, WNBA legend Tamika Catchings was in attendance. BYU 63, BU 60

3:44 – The perfect night continued for Kanon Catchings with a beautiful reverse layup that led to an and-one after Baylor cut the lead to one. Demin had a beautiful cut to the basket, slicing the Baylor defense to put BYU back up three after a Baylor bucket on the opposite end. BYU 70, BU 67.

End of Regulation: BYU 78, Baylor 78.

Baylor’s Robert Wright hit two free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining to tie the game up at 78. BYU had an opportunity to win the game. Dallin Hall hit what would have been the game-winner but it was a second late. When he came down with the pass, the buzzer went off.

BYU/Baylor went into overtime

Trevin Knell scored a quick bucket after the jump ball went his direction, leading to an easy two.

Dallin Hall had a big three-pointer to extend BYU’s lead to five in the extra period.

Then Edgecombe hit a wide-open three to bring Baylor within two.

Richie Saunders then sliced the Baylor defense again for a reverse layup.

Baylor’s Jayden Nunn had an opportunity to make it a one-possession game, but he missed a pair of free throws.

Saunders went back to work with a baseline floater to give BYU a six-point lead.

Down by four, Baylor trapped Dallin Hall in the corner and forced a turnover with 2:28 remaining.

VJ Edgecombe capitalized, burying a three to make it 87-86.

Nunn fouled Saunders and BYU’s standout junior wing hit both free throws.

Norchad Omier, who was wearing No. 50 in the overtime period instead of his usual No. 15, missed a three-pointer. On the defensive end, Omier was called for a foul when Egor Demin was attempting a three-pointer.

That foul caused Omier to foul out.

Demin missed the first free throw, then knocked down the following two with 1:09 remaining.

Up 91-88, Dallin Hall lost the ball with Edgecombe guarding him. Instead of allowing Baylor to attempt a three-pointer, Dallin Hall fouled Edgecombe before he could get a shot off to send him to the line.

Edgecombe made one of two free throws.

BYU then had an excellent inbounds play designed for Dawson Baker that sent him to the foul line and he hit both free throws to put BYU up 93-89 and give them the win.

Up Next for BYU Basketball

BYU will travel to Florida to face the UCF Knights on Saturday. Tip-off is at 2 p.m. (MST) on ESPN+ and KSL NewsRadio.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.

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