For the first time since joining the Big 12, BYU has a three-game conference win streak with a season-defining 93-89 overtime win against the Baylor Bears.
With 32 NBA scouts in the building, the focus was on BYU's Egor Demin and Baylor's VJ Edgecomb, but it was Kanon Catchings and BYU's bench who stole the show early on.
Catchings knocked down all three of his 3s for 13 points on 4 of 4 shooting to give BYU a 34-21 lead. He led BYU to a decisive 25-7 advantage in points off the bench (BYU finished the game with a 45-7 advantage) in the first half.
Fellow BYU reserve Dawson Baker scored six points getting to his midrange jumpers, and Dallin Hall also contributed four points and was on the attack all half long.
On the ropes, Edgecomb did not let the game get out of reach as he scored 10 points on 3 of 8 shooting and three assists in the first half. He and Baylor's leading scorer Norchad Omier led the Bears on a 13-5 run to cut the deficit down to five at 39-34.
But with 1:13 left to play, Omier picked up a costly third personal foul, and the Cougars closed the half strong with a Catchings step back two and 3-4 from the free throw line after a Baylor foul and Scott Drew technical foul.
The Cougars led 44-36 at halftime with all the momentum despite quiet halves from their two leading scorers, Richie Saunders and Demin. Demin was solid in the first half with 4 points and four assists, but Saunders had his first off night in a conference play, scoring 4 points on 2 of 8 shooting. Saunders and Demin picked up two personal fouls each late in the half, which made the finish to the first half so important.
For Catchings, it was exactly the kind of breakout performance he needed.
“ Definitely felt like it. I mean, you don't miss a shot. I guess you can call that a breakout game,” said BYU head coach Kevin Young. “So yeah, he was tremendous, but happy for him.”
While Catchings and the BYU bench were the story in the first half, Saunders and Demin wasted no time getting going in the second half. After Saunders attacked the rim and finished a beautiful left-handed layup over Omier, he made a game-changing play by stealing the inbounds pass, and the ball eventually found Demin, who hit a pull-up 3 to force an early Baylor timeout.
THAT. WAS. COLD.
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) January 29, 2025
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Up 51-40, BYU had a chance to break the game open, but Baylor responded. Veteran guard Jayden Nunn hit a 3 late in the shot clock, and an Edgecomb and-1 got the Bears right back into the game.
From there, it was a classic, high-level Big 12 dogfight for the rest of the game. Catchings continued his career night, scoring 23 points on a perfect 8 of 8 from the field.
While Omier, Nunn and Edgecomb matched Catchings shot for shot. Catchings hit multiple midrange step-backs with his WNBA Hall of Fame aunt, Tamika Catchings, in the Marriott Center to enjoy his performance. With BYU clinging to a 65-64 lead, Catchings put on the Superman cape again for a ridiculous up-and-under and-1 finish on Edgecomb to put BYU up 68-64 with 5:31 to play.
GO OFF @kanoncatchings!!!!
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) January 29, 2025
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But again, Baylor answered as their freshman point guard Robert Wright drilled a 3 on the next possession. After a string of empty possessions, Demin went coast to coast for a wide-open layup to make it 70-67 BYU with 3:44 left in the half.
It was here when Young chose to sit Catchings for the rest of the game despite his incredible shooting night.
“A lot of it was matchups that we liked out there,” said Young on why Catchings did not finish the game. “Experience in those moments is something that we opted for, and it worked.”
Following a pair of missed free throws by Omier, Saunders had had enough of his poor shooting night and drove to the rim on the ensuing possession, he missed the first shot at the rim but found the offensive rebound for the and-1 to put the Cougars up 73-67 with 3:12 left in the regulation.
For a brief moment, it looked as if BYU finally had some breathing room and would survive a close, quad one game against an NCAA tournament-caliber team. However, the Bears just did not go away, and it was Wright, who strapped his team to his back at the end of regulation, hitting another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to three at 73-70.
Of course, BYU had the answer as Demin found Mawot Mag for his only 3 of the game to put BYU back up 6. After two more Wright free throws, Saunders avoided disaster in the backcourt against Baylor’s press and found Demin on the break who hit a tough duouble clutching layup to BYU back up 78-72 with 1:51 remaining.
Then things fell apart in the last minute for BYU. Saunders committed a turnover leading to another tough finish for Wright at the basket to cut BYU’s lead to two at 78-76.
The Cougars, finally, after all their close losses this season, had a chance to score and clinch its first quad one game and close win of the season; they dribbled out the shot clock, leaving Demin to hoist a fadeaway step back 3 that missed strong at the end of the shot clock.
It was not the shot the Cougars were looking for to put the game away. Then Wright again got to the basket and was fouled by Mag at the basket and cashed in both free throws with 4.3 seconds left. That turned out to be about half a second short for BYU as Dallin Hall’s midcourt 3 swished through the net just after time expired.
Overtime.
Heading into its matchup against Baylor, BYU had played two overtime games this season and lost both in heartbreaking fashion. Was BYU going to let another game slip away in the final minutes again? After a ruckus, star-studded, thrilling game at the Marriott Center, was BYU going to come up one play short? Would not playing Catchings in the final minutes come back to bite BYU?
Nope, not this time.
BYU went to an all-veteran lineup to start overtime with Hall, Saunders, Trevin Knell, Mag and Keba Keita on the floor, and it paid off. On the opening tip, Knell scored a layup in the blink of an eye, followed by a cold-blooded Hall pull-up 3 to put BYU up 83-78 immediately.
CLUTCH BUCKET.
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) January 29, 2025
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However, Edgecomb and the Bears did not blink as they responded again and again even when Saunders finally going as he scored 6 points in a row in overtime too. He finished the game with 17 points on 6 of 15 from the field but came up with huge plays when his team needed it the most.
Both sides made winning play, after winning play, until finally Baylor made a mistake. With the shot clock winding down Omier caught in a switch guarding Demin fouled him on a 3 to foul out of the game. Demin stepped to the line and hit 2-3 free throws to give BYU a 91-86 lead.
Baylor made one more push as Edgecomb and Wright both got to the free throw line, but BYU ended things as Baker sank two free throws to put BYU ahead 93-89 with six seconds remaining.
Game over.
The freshman duo of Edgecomb and Wright gave BYU everything they could handle and more. Edgecomb finished with 28 points on an efficient 9 of 15 from the field, including 6 of 8 from 3 and he threw in five assists as well.
Wright scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and overtime also had six assists. The Cougars beat the Bears at the top of their game. Baylor shot 13-28 from 3, which is typically a winning formula, shooting 46% from 3, but BYU was just better. BYU needed to win this game more — and they played like it.
”It's good for us to finally get over the hump and see this one end up in the W column,” Baker said. “So it's big for us, especially with some young guys who kind of learn how to win in certain situations like that.”
It took BYU 20 games into the season to win a close game and win its first quad one game. Now, the proverbial monkey is off its back. The Cougars are 5-4 in the Big 12, tied for sixth place with the Bears, and are in a groove, playing their best basketball as they head into a daunting February schedule riding a three-game win streak.