VJ Edgecombe had a career-high 30 points as Baylor snapped a two-game losing streak with a 70-62 victory over Kansas State on Wednesday in Waco, Texas.
The freshman notched 20 of his points in the second half, when Baylor outscored the Wildcats 44-32.
It was the first victory in four tries for Baylor over Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang, who spent 19 seasons on Scott Drew’s staff at Baylor.
The Wildcats (7-11, 1-6 Big 12) lost their sixth straight game. They were led by David N’Guessan with 13 points and 12 each from Dug McDaniel and Brendan Hausen.
Baylor (12-6, 4-3) also got 18 points from Jalen Celestine.
Kansas State scored the first seven points of the second half to open up its largest lead of the game at 37-26. The Wildcats extended their lead to 12 points before Baylor started chipping away. A 6-0 spurt cut the deficit to 45-42 with 10:05 left on a thunderous dunk by Edgecombe.
A 7-0 run midway through the half, capped by a 3-pointer by Celestine, gave Baylor a 49-48 lead, its first lead since early in the first half.
The lead eventually grew to 66-58 on a layup by Edgecombe and Kansas State had no more answers. K-State went the final 3:25 without a field goal while Baylor hit its last seven field goals.
Baylor missed its first seven shots, including three from 3-point range, before Edgecombe hit a long-range shot. The Bears then missed five more in a row. The Bears shot 25 percent (9-for-36) from the field in the first half. They made only three shots from inside the arc.
Late in the first half, Kansas State used a 10-0 run to take a 25-16 lead. The lead eventually grew to 10 points, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Baylor left the game at 30-26 at the half.
Kansas State, which shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, held a 20-4 advantage in points in the paint. The Wildcats were led by McDaniel with nine points before the break.
–Field Level Media
