Baylor aims to exploit experience edge vs. Mississippi State

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Baylor will have plenty of postseason experience to fall back on when the Bears begin play in the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon in a first-round game against Mississippi State.

Ninth-seeded Baylor (19-14) and eighth-seeded Mississippi State (21-12) have endured late-season rough patches, but those could be soothed with success in the East Region opener.

Baylor is in the NCAAs for a program-record sixth consecutive tournament. Mississippi State is making its third straight appearance.

Baylor is 3-4 in its last seven games, with the losses coming by a total of 10 points.

"The reality is, in postseason, you're probably going to be in close games," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "And the more you're in those games in the regular season, the more coaches know what to do, what not to do."

Baylor has some star power, beginning with guard VJ Edgecombe, the Big 12 Freshman of the Year.

This will be the first NCAA Tournament game with Baylor for guard Jeremy Roach, a Duke transfer. However, he has deep postseason experience, having played in the Final Four in 2022 and in the Elite Eight last year.

The Bears' Norchad Omier, a transfer from Miami, played in the 2023 Final Four. He is Baylor's top scorer (15.9 points per game) and rebounder (10.9 boards per contest).

However, Baylor is 4-6 since center Josh Ojianwuna went out with a season-ending knee injury.

The Bears are expected to have guard Langston Love back from an ankle injury after he sat out the team's final game in the Big 12 tournament.

"If we're blessed to (win a game), every game we play, people will probably be seeded higher than us," Drew said. "That's the motivation in itself."

Mississippi State's roster doesn't have quite the depth of NCAA Tournament experience. The Bulldogs have lost three of their past four games, with their two victories in the past month coming against lowly LSU.

"We're pretty healthy considering the gauntlet," Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said.

Bulldogs guard Claudell Harris Jr., who previously played for Charleston Southern and Boston College, will be in the NCAAs for the first time.

Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard is averaging a team-high 18.7 points per game.

"He's really fun to watch," Drew said. "Hopefully he's not fun to watch on Friday, but he's been fun to watch on the highlights."

Hubbard scored a team-leading 15 points last year in the Bulldogs' first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Michigan State. That contest was also played in North Carolina -- at Charlotte.

"Now we've just got to win some games," Jans said. "We want to stay longer."

The winner could meet No. 1 seed Duke in the second round on Sunday.

--Bob Sutton, Field Level Media