STILLWATER, Okla. -- Baylor turned up its defense in the second half and then turned it on against Oklahoma State, rallying for a 69-65 win at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The No. 17-ranked Bears (6-4, 6-2 Big 12) trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half and were down 32-27 at intermission before clamping down on the Cowboys.

Baylor held Oklahoma State to eight points through the first 10 minutes of the second half and forced seven turnovers after the Cowboys turned it over only six times through the first 20 minutes.

"It was huge," Bears coach Scott Drew said, "because we got in a hole in the beginning of the game, we didn't come out as aggressive as we needed to be. We got a couple deflections, a couple steals and it kind of just fed off itself."

Baylor maintained a share of the conference lead and Oklahoma State (10-10, 2-6) dropped its second straight game.

The Bears outscored the Cowboys 13-4 to start the second half, with forward Rico Gathers scoring six straight to start the run. Oklahoma State battled back, but Baylor surged again late behind Gathers, who scored four more points to twice push the Bears back ahead.

Then Baylor turned to its defense again, getting steals from forward Taurean Prince and guard Al Freeman after Oklahoma State had taken a 63-62 lead.

"I felt like we came out real flat on defense early," Gathers said. "That was definitely the emphasis, especially when you're down at half and you want to get off to a great start. We had to take away the looks they were getting in the first half."

Prince led the Bears with 17 points. Gathers scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, when momentum and the tone of the game was flipped.

"That's not the start we were looking for," said Cowboys coach Travis Ford. "At all.

"There were a lot of things that played a role in it. We'll go back and look at it. Turnovers. Foul trouble. They were living on the free throw line and we weren't. We had a bunch of guys in foul trouble."

It was just the start Baylor was looking for.

"We just went into the locker room, and we knew we weren't playing our best basketball," Gathers said. "It was going to be a grind it out game in the second half. We knew we had to come out strong. We got the ball inside. I scored three straight buckets and we went on from that."

Forward Chris Olivier led Oklahoma State with 17 points off the bench. Forward Leyton Hammonds added 12, but 10 of those came in the first half.

Behind Hammonds and forward Mitchell Solomon, Oklahoma State led 32-27 at the half.

Hammonds had 10 points and four rebounds, and Solomon added seven points and three boards. Freshman point guard Jawun Evans triggered the offense with seven assists.

The Cowboys led by as much as 12 before Baylor pulled closer by halftime.

And the Bears pulled ahead, surging behind their defense and taking advantage when Hammonds, Solomon and Evans all fell into foul trouble in the second half. Solomon eventually fouled out and Hammonds and Evans finished with four fouls.

And while the Cowboys made a charge late, the Bears again surged when it mattered most, just like at the start of the second half.

"I just felt like they came out hot and were ready to go," Hammonds said. "Rico had three buckets straight and that kind of changed the game the game for us.

"Me getting in foul trouble. Mitchell Solomon getting in foul trouble, that's kind of hard for us to be aggressive on defense, like we were in the first half and on the glass."

NOTES: Tuesday's game was Oklahoma State's annual Remember The Ten game, a tribute to the 10 members of the basketball travel party killed in a plane crash upon return from a game at Colorado on Jan. 27, 2001. This game, the 15th anniversary, fell on the exact date. Oklahoma State players wore throwback jerseys with "Cowboys" written in script across the front, reminiscent of the jerseys worn by the teams in late 1990s and early 2000s. ... Entering Tuesday's game, all four of Baylor's losses were to teams ranked in the top eight of the current RPI -- at Oregon, at Texas A&M, at Kansas and home against Oklahoma. ... Cowboys freshman PG Jawun Evans, named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week on Monday, moved into fourth place all time among Oklahoma State freshmen in assists with103 for the season after finishing Wednesday's game with 10.