Mississippi State basketball heads to Raleigh for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The 8-seed Bulldogs are set to take on 9-seed Baylor on Friday. Let's take a deep dive into this Baylor squad.
Baylor Bears season overview
A preseason Top 10 team, Baylor hasn't lived up to the preseason hype. The Bears went 19-14 with a .500 finish in conference and have never quite looked like the team they were expected to be. Some of that is due to injuries, some of that is the pieces not quite coming together the way they hoped.
Still, there's a lot of talent there, and at their best they can hang with high-level teams. They defeated St. John's for a great non-conference win, and beat other at-large opponents in Arkansas and Kansas (plus a "should have been at-large" in West Virginia). Recent battles with high seeds Arizona, Houston, and Texas Tech went down to the wire.
The flipside is there have been questionable performances against both good and mediocre competition as well. It's an up-and-down squad. Still, Scott Drew's program knows how to win in March, and getting his team to click at this time of the year isn't out of the question.
Baylor basketball's biggest strengths
The Bears can impress on the offensive end of the court with 76.5 PPG. They shoot well at about 45% from the floor and 35% from three and rank 16th in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency. They surround talented big Norchad Omier (15.9 and 10.9) with a strong group of guards, all of whom are capable of hitting at a high clip from distance though there's been some inconsistency there. They're a solid offensive rebounding team, and they do a good job of taking care of the basketball.
Baylor basketball's biggest weaknesses
Size is the biggest thing working against Baylor. The backcourt doesn't offer much when it comes to length. Omier is on the small side for a big at 6-7, and due to injuries, he's the only real post presence the Bears have. It's a credit to him that they can still be competitive on the glass, but against a team with bigger bodies, they could run into issues. Their defense has been gettable at times too, as while they rarely find themselves in track meets thanks to a slower tempo, offenses have frequently managed good shooting days against Baylor.
One player to know from the Baylor Bears
Baylor has several good options at guard, but none are better than 5-star true freshman VJ Edgecombe. The future lottery pick is averaging 15 points, 5.6 boards, and 3.3 assists this season. He's gone for 20+ on six occasions. He's a complete scorer and though his shooting has at times been streaky, he's got the ability to be one of the heroes of March.
How does Mississippi State matchup with Baylor?
This, on paper, looks to be an incredibly even matchup, which you'd expect in an 8/9 game. Mississippi State's size could be a big factor in this one. In theory, they should have the edge in the paint, and that would be even more true if they can get Omier into foul trouble. That size could also prove effective in limiting the Baylor backcourt, which is not something we'd normally say for the Bulldogs. But on that note, we know State has had massive issues in perimeter defense, and if Baylor's scorers get hot, it will be a long day for MSU.