RALEIGH, N.C. — Baylor survived Mississippi State and itself, 75-72 in Friday’s NCAA Tournament opening round at the Lenovo Center. 

The game was as tight as you’d expect between a No. 8 seed (Mississippi State) and a No. 9 (Baylor), with seven lead changes and six ties in the first half alone. 

Neither team entered the tournament playing very good basketball. 

Mississippi State entered having lost five of its past six games, and Baylor went in losing six of its past nine. 

In the end, Baylor (20-14) advanced to play No. 1 seed Duke, which easily dispatched 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s later in the afternoon. 

“They just played tougher than us tonight,” Mississippi State’s Cameron Matthews said. “They just kind of punked us.” 

The Bears appeared in control of the game, taking a 60-49 lead with 8:11 remaining, their largest lead of the game. 

But Mississippi State grinded its way back into the contest, going on a 21-11 run to cut the Baylor lead to 71-70 with 1:19 remaining on three Claudell Harris Jr. free throws. 

But Mississippi State would get no closer. 

A KeShawn Murphy 2-pointer again cut the lead to one (73-72) with 29.5 seconds remaining. 

But Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe, a Bahamas native who played his last two years of high school ball for Long Island Lutheran in Brookville, sank two clutch free throws with 9.3 seconds remaining to give the Bears the 75-72 lead. 

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“When V.J. hit those two big free throws, we kind of knew from there the game was pretty over,” Baylor’s Rob Wright, who led the Bears with 19 points, said. 

“Thank god V.J. hit both free throws, and we call it a game,” Baylor’s Norchad Omier said. 

Edgecombe, who finished with 16 points, got off to a poor start, scoring just four in the first half on 1-of-4 shooting. 

Baylor coach Scott Drew wasn’t concerned. 

“V.J., because he’s so highly rated on the [NBA] draft boards, people just assume that [comes from] scoring, but V.J. doesn’t have to score to impact a game,” Drew said. “V.J. is an all-around player. He gets comparisons to Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook, and the thing that those guys did is their athleticism and their ability to assist and defend. So if he’s scoring or not, he’s helping us. 

“He’s always affecting the game because he’s a great teammate and he’s a winner, so he makes winning plays.” 

Mississippi State had a chance to tie in the final seconds, but a desperate Harris 3-point attempt never touched the hoop, and Baylor got the ball back with 1.4 seconds remaining. 

Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard led all scorers with 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field. 

Baylor was led by a more balanced scoring attack, with Wright’s 19 points, Edgecombe’s 16, Langston Love’s 15 and Omier’s 12 to go with nine rebounds. 

The difference in the game was on the glass, with Baylor outrebounding Mississippi State 32-26, including 15-7 on the offensive glass. 

“They’re a very good offensive rebounding team,” Mississippi State coach Chris Jans said. “Their numbers show that. The film showed it. So, am I surprised? I don’t know. Disappointed because we certainly talked about it ’til we were blue in the face and showed the film.”