Getty Image / Jared C Tilton
As a player heads into their first NCAA Tournament action of the year, it is understandable for them to be feeling some nerves.
It’s not even unusual for those nerves to get the best of a player early on in that first game.
Today, one of Baylor’s players appeared to fall victim to those nerves that come with this big stage.
The first couple of minutes of today’s matchup between Baylor and UC Santa Barbara feature anything out of the ordinary.
At the 17:34 mark of the Round of 64 matchup between the Bears and Gauchos, Baylor led 4-2.
Then guard Dale Bonnner checked into the game.
There was just one issue. Bonner was wearing his jersey inside out.
The game’s refs had to call a quick stop to the game to give Bonner the chance to fix his jersey.
A Baylor player had to make a wardrobe adjustment after checking in with his jersey inside out 😅 pic.twitter.com/bN6dhUSFYn
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) March 17, 2023
Luckily for Bonner, he did plenty during the game to make fans forget about his mistake.
Bonner played 22 minutes off of the bench and finished the game with 6 points, knocking down both of his attempts from 3. He also added 4 assists for the Bears.
That effort was part of a game that saw Baylor absolutely dominate the 2nd half to claim the win.
UCSB actually held a 1-point lead at halftime of the game, but Baylor outscored them 39-20 in th second half to claim a 74-56 win.
Their reward for the win is a meeting with 6-seed Creighton, who beat NC State by 9 today after putting together an impressive season in the Big East despite their star player missing a big chunk of the season.
Hopefully they make sure to have their uniforms in order for their second game in this year’s NCAA Tournament.