ESPN Men's Basketball

Originally Published: January 24, 2008

No national TV, no problem for Baylor in 5 OTs

Comment Email Print Share

By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Archive

Scott Drew searched for a way to describe Baylor's historic five-overtime win over Texas A&M in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The Baylor head coach paused on the phone, and then said, "incredible. I don't think you could have written a better script."

Maybe there's a freelance writer sitting out the strike in Hollywood available for this one. You can't make this stuff up.

But since no one outside of those at Reed Arena in College Station saw the game (it wasn't televised, highlights were only made available through the Texas A&M athletic department), there is room for some sort of adaptation to the screenplay.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Paul ZoellerHenry Dugat was one of four Baylor starters in double figures on Wednesday.

"I know man, it was one of the best games I've ever played in ... five overtimes, I know man, and no TV," said Baylor junior guard Curtis Jerrells, who scored 36 points (20 of 24 at the line) in 53 minutes in the 116-110 five-overtime win Wednesday night.

So, how would Jerrells describe it?

"It was very intense, two teams battling, and we showed a lot of heart out there," Jerrells said. "There was a lot of excitement. It was good to see. You missed it. There was [25] extra minutes."

And through each OT, Drew kept telling his team that they weren't leaving the arena without a win, "no matter how long it took to get one," recounts Jerrells.

Jerrells said that after he took the last shot in the fourth overtime, he went to the floor and sat there, realizing just how tired he was at that moment. But once the Bears opened up a five-point lead in the fifth overtime, he was confident that they were going to win the game.

"I have 144 messages and I haven't had a chance to check any of them," Drew said. "My only disappointment is that this game wasn't on TV. The nation missed out on this game.

"We were all working off adrenaline and as a coach you don't ever get to a point where your legs start to cramp but I was feeling it," Drew said.

No program was rocked to its core more than Baylor. This is a program that went through a player's murder committed by another teammate; major NCAA violations dealing with tuition payments; a coverup; a coach being vilified; and harsh NCAA penalties that involved an unprecedented ban on nonconference games three years ago.

And now this: a five-overtime game that wasn't televised.

It's hard to believe in an era when it seems every game is on television that the Baylor-Texas A&M game slipped through the television package.

Big 12 spokesperson Rob Carolla said the game wasn't selected for ESPN Regional/Big 12 syndication. The game Wednesday night in that category was Missouri at Texas Tech.

And, the agreement with ESPN regional is that there can't be a competing game at the same time, Carolla said. So that meant the only way this game was getting on television was if the game was moved to Tuesday (prior to the season) or the time slot changed to 5 or 9 p.m. The schools said no.

What did the nation miss? Well, how about seeing Baylor, a team that could finish second in the Big 12 behind national title contender Kansas.

The Bears are 16-2 overall, 4-0 in the Big 12 and already have nonconference wins over Notre Dame and Winthrop to win the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands in November. The Bears also won at South Carolina, and now own two road wins in the Big 12 (Nebraska and Texas A&M). Baylor's two losses? Washington State at home and to Arkansas in Dallas.

Earlier this week, Baylor cracked the top 25 in the AP poll (at No. 25) for the first time since 1969, the year before Drew was born.

"This game meant so much for us," Drew said. "They [the Aggies] were coming off two losses and they were hungry. For us, no one on our team had beaten a top 25 team. None of our players had been in this situation. We wanted to prove we belonged."

Texas A&M (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) slumped to 1-3 in the Big 12 and likely will drop out of the rankings in both polls while the Bears have a shot to move up in AP and at least get into the coaches poll.

Rankings are nice, but getting an NCAA Tournament bid is the ultimate goal. Winning a five-overtime game on the road, in which five players fouled out and only two officials could finish due to the third cramping up, proves the metal of this squad.

"Every coach has a vision and a plan and it all comes down to the players who you bring in," Drew said. "We're very fortunate we have high character players. They're extremely excited. We didn't want to dance on the floor there. We waited until we got in the locker room.

"But we can't even watch the whole game on the ride back to Waco," Drew said of the 80-mintue ride. "The game took way too long. We'll be home before it's over.

"Last year, Oklahoma State-Texas was the best game I'd ever seen," Drew said. "But this wasn't even close. This was five overtimes."