WACO, Texas - Baylor forward Rico Gathers didn't care who the Bears were playing, he wanted his team to come out of halftime on a mission.

The 17th-ranked Bears did just that as they heated up in the second half to defeat Georgia in the Big12/SEC Challenge, 83-73 on Saturday at the Ferrell Center.

Baylor (17-4) found its swagger as it hit 6 of 9 from 3-point range and shot 52 percent overall in the final 20 minutes to gain separation and hold off the Bulldogs.

"I don't care if it's conference or nonconference, the most important thing is to win," Gathers said. "Whenever you're playing for wins, not playing for yourself, it makes it easy to go out there and do everything you can to make sure your team is successful.

Gathers had 17 points and nine rebounds. Guard Al Freeman added 14 points and forwards Taurean Prince and Johnathan Motley scored 13 and 12, respectively.

Guard J.J. Frazier led Georgia with 21 points and 11 assists and forward Yante Maten pitched in with 18 points.

Baylor coach Scott Drew pointed to his team's success in cross-conference challenges as a tribute to the Bears' seniors.

"(The Bears seniors) take great pride in representing the Big 12," Drew said. "Very proud of that."

On the flip side, Georgia fell in line with the trend of the Big 12/SEC challenge that saw seven of eight home teams win by the time the Baylor-Georgia matchup ended.

"I think it's very difficult to play these games in the middle of the conference season on the road," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "I was not stunned at the early results. It's hard to have a road game of this magnitude at this time of the year. That's taking nothing away from Baylor. They outplayed us."

Baylor took control with a 17-2 run early in the second half.

Guard Ishmail Wainright hit a 3-pointer on Baylor's first trip down the floor of the second half and ignited the Bears.

Freeman followed with two treys during the run and Prince and Gathers each completed three-point plays.

Gathers made an inside basket and went to the line for a free throw that put Baylor ahead 49-37 with 16:03 left in the second half after Georgia led by three at halftime.

"Come out and take over the game early," Gather said about the Bears' second-half motivation. "We did a good job of that. Everybody came out hitting some big shots, just giving us momentum going forward.

Baylor boosted its largest lead to 15 when Motley completed a three-point play with 12:42 left.

The Bears kept the Bulldogs from getting back within eight until guard Charles Mann hit a 3-pointer to cut Baylor's lead to 72-66 with 1:39 left.

Baylor's bench, paced by Motley and guard King McClure's 10 points, outscored Georgia's bench, 26-7.

"It's our job to come bring energy and we've got scorers on the bench," Motley said. "We got into our right spots. King was knocking down shots and I was knocking down shots in the post."

McClure hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 30 with 59 seconds left in the first half. McClure's trey broke an 0-of-7 drought for Baylor from beyond the arc in the first 19 minutes.

But Georgia scored five straight points in the final minute before halftime as Frazier completed a three-point play and hit two free throws to help the Bulldogs take a 35-32 edge to the break.

"I thought our team played first half exactly like we wanted to," Fox said. "Certainly, Baylor's start in the second half offensively just overwhelmed us."

Frazier led Georgia with 11 points and five assists in the first half.

Gathers had nine points and four rebounds to pace the Bears in the first 20 minutes.

NOTES: This was the first-ever meeting between Georgia and Baylor in basketball. ... Baylor has a 3-0 record in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, counting previous wins in a neutral-site game versus Kentucky and at Vanderbilt. ... Georgia entered the game with a 12-12 record all time against the Big 12s current lineup of schools. ... Baylor F Rico Gathers, who finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, came close to breaking through his double-double drought. Gathers is second in Baylor program history with 31 career double-doubles, but has now gone seven games without reaching double digits in scoring and rebounds.