L.J. Cryer tied his season high of six 3-pointers and scored 23 points to help No. 3 Houston notch a 65-61 victory over Baylor on Saturday night in Big 12 play at Waco, Texas.
Milos Uzan added 12 points as the Cougars (27-4, 19-1 Big 12) won their 10th consecutive game. Houston also improved to 10-0 on the road this season and won its 14th straight overall, the longest active streak in the nation.
J’Wan Roberts contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds and Emanuel Sharp also scored 11 points for the Cougars, who will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament. Baylor will be the No. 7 seed.
V.J. Edgecombe recorded 23 points and three steals for the Bears (18-13, 10-10), who lost for the fourth time in six games. Norchad Omier had 13 points and 16 rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season and Langston Love had 10 points.
Jalen Celestine buried a 3-pointer to bring Baylor within 61-59 with 1:11 remaining.
Cryer made two free throws with 19.3 seconds left to give Houston a four-point lead. Edgecombe made two free throws to move Baylor back within two with 13.6 seconds to go.
Roberts was fouled before the ball was in-bounded and he made both shots to push the lead to four as the Cougars completed the two-game season sweep of the Bears.
Roberts raised his career rebound count to 1,005, joining school legends Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Greg “Cadillac” Anderson as the only players in program history to top 1,000. The same quartet are the only players with 1,000 points and 1,000 boards in Cougars’ history.
Houston shot 44 percent from the field, including 8 of 19 from 3-point range.
The Bears made just 33.9 percent of their attempts and were 9 of 29 from behind the arc.
Baylor led by three at halftime and increased its edge to 39-32 on a 3-pointer by Love with 17:23 left in the game.
Houston responded with a 20-4 run to turn the deficit into a nine-point lead.
A basket by Ja’Vier Francis gave the Cougars a 42-41 lead with 12:22 remaining. Three-plus minutes later, Sharp scored four points in three seconds as Houston capped the run with a 52-43 advantage.
Sharp buried a 3-pointer to make it 58-48 with 6:07 remaining before Baylor scored eight of the next 10 points. Edgecombe’s 3-pointer finished it and pulled the Bears within 60-56 with 2:04 left.
Cryer had 15 points on five 3-pointers in the first half but the Cougars trailed 29-26 at the break.
–Field Level Media
