By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

WHILE the Baylor men’s basketball team kept rolling against the TCU Horned Frogs on Tuesday night, Bimini native Valdez ‘VJ’ Edgecombe Jr proved why he deserved to make the final cut for the 2025 Jerry West Shooting Guard Award.

The Baylor Bears improved to 18-12 (win/loss record) for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball season with their latest 61-58 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs at the Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

The victory was Baylor’s fifth straight road win against the TCU Horned Frogs and the eighth consecutive game in the series that the home team has lost.

Edgecombe Jr was special for the Bears. He pitched in a game-high 18 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in 38 minutes. He managed to shoot 7-for-14 from the field and made 3-of-7 shots from long range.

His teammate Norchad Omier pumped in 18 points and 12 rebounds in 36 minutes played.

Robert Wright III, who made the game-clinching free throws, dropped 11 points and seven assists in the Baylor win. 

Edgecombe Jr told reporters it felt good to break out of his shooting slump against TCU.

“I am blessed to be on the floor and blessed to play for a great programme so I just want to thank God for that. Second of all, it is about time some shots started to drop. I have been working on it and you are gonna reap what you sow so I’ve just been working on it. 

“Credit to my teammates for getting me open looks, it is not gonna show up on the stat sheets but them setting the  screens and stuff like that to get me wide open is something I am truly grateful for to be honest. They sacrificing their body for me to get an open shot shows how much they care for us and I love them,” he said.

The Bears got out to a hot start early on in the contest. The team ran ahead 12-5 before the Horned Frogs gained some ground in the ball game.

Noah Reynolds hit two shots at the charity stripe to tie the score at 31 apiece with 2:50 remaining in the first half.

The score was knotted at 35 at the halftime break.

“VJ” threw down a thunderous jam that translated to a 12-4 run for Baylor in the second half that pushed the lead to 56-45 at the 7:04 mark.

The Horned Frogs responded with a 13-2 run of their own and locked the score at 58 apiece thanks to a putback bucket by Trazarien White with 23 seconds remaining in the game.

Baylor made three of their last four free throws to close out the Horned Frogs once and for all.

Reynolds scored a team-high 16 points, four assists and two rebounds.

The Bears were efficient from the field at 44 per cent while holding the Horned Frogs to 34.5 per cent on the night. They also won the battle in the paint 28-22.

Baylor will look to end the NCAA basketball regular  season on a high note against the third ranked Houston Cougars at home.