BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

March 13, 2025

Scott Drew

VJ Edgecombe

Norchad Ormier

T-Mobile Center

Baylor Bears

Postgame Press Conference

Texas Tech 76, Baylor 74

THE MODERATOR: Joining us on the dais is Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew. Players are on their way. Coach?

SCOTT DREW: First and foremost I want to thank Kansas City for always being so hospitable. They're great with all the arrangements from restaurants to gyms to everything. We want to say thank you for that.

Second, I want to thank God again for an opportunity to compete in this Big 12 Tournament. I was more grateful to compete second half than first half, but I'm really proud of the run we put together second half and the ability to make it a game.

Credit Texas Tech, Coach McCasland. We knew they would come out with energy and be ready to go. I don't think we planned on them going 12 for 19 from three, but second half really proud of how we responded.

Q. Scott, you mentioned it, but the difference in the first half defense and the second half defense. What was the key there?

SCOTT DREW: Well, we went away from man and played zone second half. But really the key was the players really communicated, really bought in and helped each other and really contested shots, made things tough.

Then for the most part we did a better job of rebounding and we were able to get in transition. I know Norchad and VJ are here and two of the best talkers you will find, and in the huddles they were tremendous and did a great job leading the team.

Q. VJ, what did you feel like was just the catalyst to the rally?

VJ EDGECOMBE: I just want to thank God for allowing us to play the game that we love. But to your point, to Coach's point, everyone bought in; everyone was locked in in the second half.

Like he said we switched defenses and we just got out in transition, rebounded the ball better, which allowed us easy points on the next side so, yeah.

Q. Norchad, when Texas Tech comes out shooting like they did, how worried are you that the lead would get too big?

NORCHAD ORMIER: You know that they're a great team coming in. Nobody saw that coming in, five players were hitting threes, it was amazing. But at the same time I came into the locker room and told the guys, I mean, they couldn't play better than that.

We came out second half, I'm so proud of the guys, the way they came out, fighting, did not give up. We still gave ourselves a chance to win the game.

Q. VJ, can you walk me through that final possession after the missed free throw and what you saw on that shot?

VJ EDGECOMBE: He missed both free throws. Norchad got the rebound; gave me the ball; I ran down and shot the shot; missed the shot. That's it, to be honest.

Q. Scott, on that play, I mean, you get the free throw miss that you need. I assume you'll take that shot from VJ 9 times out of 10?

SCOTT DREW: They were in a tough situation without a timeout, short shot clock. Credit the guys for getting the shot up and executing, trusting each other. By the time you get the rebound, pass it, we will have to watch film, but don't have much time to do anything else.

Again, I was just proud of the effort to come back and be in that position. Then we had -- the last three minutes we had some good looks. They just didn't go down. Gotta find a way to get offensive rebounds in those situations when they don't go down.

And credit Tech for that. First half we were worried about finding a way to get stops, and second half I think we really showed what we're capable of. And we've been playing really good basketball. Need to get Langston healthy and need to get everybody dialed in for the tournament, because it's a little different feeling when you lose that game and you know it's the last time.

I want to coach these guys longer. I think they want to play longer. So we will work to get better so we can.

Q. Coach, you mentioned last night trying not to worry about bubble talk with cell phones and social media and stuff like that. How do you get your group to focus in on what y'all have going forward whatever that maybe?

SCOTT DREW: I think the win last night ended the bubble talk. As far as where we will play, when we will play we will find out like everybody else. And Big 12, we're counting on eight teams getting in, it's a good league traditionally it's been very good.

Hopefully all 8 of us get in, get a good seed. It's a little different. The last couple of years we've been the best conference coming into the tournament and I think we have been the hunted. This year I think we're all excited, because we think we're pretty good as always and we're anxious to compete against other teams that are ranked higher or from ranked higher conferences, just see where we stack up.

Q. Norchad, VJ, as Coach mentioned, y'all are playing good basketball here at the end of the season. How much are you looking forward to March Madness, the Big Dance?

NORCHAD ORMIER: I mean, V don't know, but there is no better feeling than playing in March. Playing basketball is fun but getting a win in March, going on a run in March, there is no better feeling than that, that's all I can say. I'm excited.

VJ EDGECOMBE: Like he said. I never played a game in March Madness; I'm just trying to go there, play the best we can play as a team. And I know that if we play good, like we showcased in that second half, we going to be a hard team to beat. I'm just ready to go to war with my brothers, any day of the week.

SCOTT DREW: Back to back games and you have 6 turnovers and one was a shot clock violation, so you really had 5, and today 4 turnovers, that's pretty hard to do against talented teams.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.