WACO, Texas -- Texas' surge of late in Big 12 play can be attributed to something as simple as the Longhorns having confidence and the green light.

Longhorns forward Connor Lammert personified that as he nailed a huge 3-pointer late in the second half to help lift Texas over 15th-ranked Baylor, 67-59, on Monday night at the Ferrell Center.

"Connor earlier in the year was hesitant at times shooting the basketball," Texas coach Shaka Smart said. "Particularly there was a game at TCU where he wouldn't let it fly when we really needed him to. Sometimes when you're a senior, it's about realizing that, ‘Hey, this is my time.' I think Connor is learning that more and more and taking the bull by the horns."

Lammert finished with 15 points and guard Isaiah Taylor added 12 points and nine assists as Texas won for the sixth time in its last seven game. The Longhorns' surge includes wins at West Virginia and now Baylor.

Texas took advantage of Baylor's foul trouble late in the second half for a pair of key baskets.

Longhorns center Prince Ibeh made a hook shot over Baylor forward Rico Gathers, who was saddled with four fouls at the time, and went baseline for a powerful dunk that gave Texas the lead, 56-49, with 4:32 left.

Lammert put the dagger in Baylor with a 3-pointer from the right wing that gave Texas a six-point lead with 44 seconds left. He said the trey was a by-product of Taylor's efficient running of the Longhorns' offense.

"A similar situation presented itself earlier in the half," Lammert said. "When the clock gets low, Isaiah tells me to come up to the wing area. They've got to respect him since he's such a good offensive player and a great passer. I'm glad he has confidence in me to make those."

Gathers led Baylor with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Bears forward Taurean Prince added 18 points and seven boards.

Gathers and Taylor each picked up their third fouls during an altercation with 16:24 left in the second half.

Gathers sent Ibeh to the floor with a hard shoulder foul in the lane. Though it did not get called a flagrant foul, it did ignite a shouting match between the two teams that resulted in Gathers and Taylor being called for technicals.

"It's just two intense guys both wanting to win," Ibeh said. "Sometimes emotions will flare and you lose your head for a couple of seconds. That's all that was."

Gathers then picked up his fourth on a loose-ball foul with 10:09 left and went to the bench with 13 points and five rebounds. But he wasn't able to sit for long as backup forward Johnathan Motley fouled out with 6:20 left.

Gathers fouled out trying to deflect an ally-oop pass to Texas guard Kerwin Roach with 1:28 left.

"It really wasn't to get him his fifth foul," Taylor said. "We drew a play up for Kerwin (Roach). They extended up their wings in the zone and that back side was wide open. Fortunately the guy got his fifth foul and he left the game."

Baylor coach Scott Drew said the foul trouble resulted from less than crisp play from the Bears' zone defense.

"We haven't been very good defensively the last few games," Drew said. "We've been able to overcome it with rebounding and taking care of the ball and doing well offensively. We're going to have to figure out how we can get better defensively."

Texas gained a six-point edge in the first half when the Longhorns' zone held Baylor to just two points and no field goals for five minutes.

Roach hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key and forward Shaquille Cleare completed a 3-point play to highlight Texas' 8-2 run to establish a 24-18 lead with 7:48 left in the first half.

Texas led by as many as eight in the first 20 minutes, but failed to extend that lead late in the half. The Longhorns didn't score for the final 2:14 of the first half as guards Javan Felix and Eric Davis each missed the front ends of one-and-ones in that time.

Gathers, who paced Baylor with 11 points in the first half, finished a 3-point play and got another basket off an offensive rebound for the Bears' last five points before the halftime. That helped Baylor stay close to the Longhorns, who led 35-29 at the break.

However, Baylor never found its rhythm from either inside or outside the 3-point arc. The Bears shot 35 percent from the field and hit just 5 of 17 3-pointers.

"I thought they really defended well and it led to us not shooting it very well," Drew said.

NOTES: Texas entered Monday's game with a 1-3 record on the road in Big 12 play this season. The Longhorns' lone win in that stretch came at No. 6 West Virginia when the Longhorns defeated the Mountaineers, 56-49, on Jan. 20. ... Baylor F Rico Gathers is second in program history with 31 career double-doubles, but he has now gone eight games without a double-double. ... Baylor and Texas have played each other more than any other opponent in either program's history. Texas has a 162-84 lead in the all-time series, which began in 1906.