Baylor cruises past Kansas State in Big 12 tourney

V.J. Edgecombe scored 19 points and Jayden Nunn added 18 off the bench as seventh-seeded Baylor rolled to a 70-56 win over No. 10 Kansas State on Wednesday in a Big 12 conference tournament second-round game in Kansas City, Mo. The Bears (19-13) advance to play second-seeded Texas Tech in the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. Baylor is expected to be chosen as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament if it does not automatically qualify by winning this event. Kansas State (16-17) is likely done for the season, finishing with its worst record since a 14-17 campaign in 2021-22. Baylor took the lead in the first five minutes of the game and led by 17 points, 41-24, at halftime. The Wildcats never got within less than a dozen points in the second half. Norchad Omier added 12 points, all in the first half, and 14 rebounds for the Bears. David N'Guessan led Kansas State with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Dug McDaniel added 14 points for the Wildcats, and Max Jones chipped in 10. Kansas State led in the early going, taking an 8-6 lead on a pair of free throws from Jones at the 16:24 mark of the first half. The Bears then took charge with an 8-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Jalen Celestine with 13:12 to play in the half. They extended their advantage to 10 points on Jayden Nunn's basket from beyond the arc with 7:52 remaining. A pair of dunks by Omier, the second with 1:59 remaining before the break, stoked Baylor's margin to 37-24. Edgecombe ended the half with a jumper and then a dunk off an assist by Jeremy Roach to expand the Bears' advantage to 41-24 at the break. Nunn led all scorers with 12 points before halftime on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor while Omier had 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half. N'Guessan paced the Wildcats with 11 points as just four players scored for Kansas State over the first 20 minutes of play. Baylor pushed its lead to 19 points on another dunk by Omier a minute and a half into the second half and cruised to victory from there. --Field Level Media