No. 9 Baylor basketball knocks off No. 8 Texas

WACO, Texas — No. 9 Baylor snapped a two-game skid and defeated No. 8 Texas 81-72. They split the season series, avoiding to be swept by the Longhorns in the same season for the eighth straight season.

The Bears shot at winning a Big 12 regular season championship has likely passed with just two games remaining and Kansas holding an outright lead. 

Baylor began the game slow, being outscored 18-4 in the first nine minutes. 

Then Scott Drew’s team turned it on, went on an 18-0 run, and went to the locker room leading 29-27 at halftime after Texas went scoreless for more than eight minutes. 

Freshman Keyonte George, who is the second-leading freshman scorer in the nation, left the game in the first-half with an apparent ankle injury and did not return to the game. When he left, the Bears were trailing 18-4. 

In the second, Baylor didn’t lose their steam and went on two separate 7-0 runs that never allowed Texas to make it close. 

Jalen Bridges led scorers with 17 points while also adding eight rebounds. Flo Thamba recorded his second career double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. 

Dale Bonner was clutch off the bench, scoring 13 points while going 2-3 from three and added two big steals. 

The Bears now have nine Quadrant 1 wins which is in the top-three of the country and has a direct impact on NCAA Tournament seeding.

Baylor will play Oklahoma State on the road on Monday before closing out their season at home at the Ferrell Center against Iowa State on March 4. They’ll travel to Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament which takes place March 8 – March 11.