Jalen Bridges tallied 25 points and five rebounds to lead No. 14 Baylor to an 81-72 victory over No. 18 BYU in Waco, Texas, on Tuesday night.
Ja’Kobe Walter finished with 16 points. Langston Love chipped in 15 and Jayden Nunn added 11 for the Bears. Baylor (13-2, 2-0 Big 12) forced 14 turnovers and scored 18 points off those takeaways.
Spencer Johnson and Trevin Knell led BYU with 15 points apiece. Dallin Hall added 13 points and Jaxson Robinson chipped in 10 for the Cougars. BYU (12-3, 0-2) lost despite shooting 49.1 percent from the field and outscoring the Bears 34-22 in the paint.
The two teams combined for 19 made 3-pointers.
After trailing by nine early in the second half, Baylor surged ahead for good after making three straight baskets — capped by a corner 3-pointer from Love — to take a 61-57 lead. BYU never drew closer than four points over the final five minutes.
Baylor started slow on offense, missing 14 of its first 18 field-goal attempts. The Bears’ shooting struggles opened the door for BYU to take an early lead. Jaxson Robinson bookended four consecutive baskets that put the Cougars up 22-16.
Once the Bears shook off the cobwebs, they got cooking in a hurry. Walter and Love knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to highlight a run of baskets on four straight possessions that gave Baylor the lead. It formed part of a larger 14-4 run that put the Bears in front 30-26. Walter accounted for three baskets during the go-ahead run.
BYU closed the half with an 8-1 run to take a 39-33 halftime lead. Robinson paced the Cougars with three free throws and a basket in the final minute. Knell made back-to-back 3-pointers to extend BYU’s lead to 45-36 early in the second half.
The Cougars faded down the stretch and ended up losing a second consecutive game after leading at halftime.
–Field Level Media
