Adam Flagler and James Akinjo scored 19 points each as No. 3 Baylor turned up the heat in the final five minutes to beat No. 21 Texas 68-61 on Monday in a key Big 12 Conference game at Austin, Texas.
The Bears trailed by three at halftime but rallied to take the lead 4 1/2 minutes into the second half, eventually building a five-point edge.
Texas fought back to tie the game at 54 with 6:21 left, but that's when Baylor took charge, holding the Longhorns scoreless for nearly five minutes and completing a sweep of the season series.
Baylor (25-5, 13-4 Big 12), which won its fourth straight game, remains in the running for the conference regular-season championship with a game at home against Iowa State still on the schedule.
Kendall Brown added 13 points and Flo Thamba had 12 for the Bears, who are percentage points behind Kansas (23-5, 12-3) in the Big 12 standings.
Christian Bishop and Marcus Carr led the Longhorns with 13 points apiece while Timmy Allen scored 10. Bishop pulled down 11 rebounds for Texas (21-9, 10-7), which is locked into fourth place in the league.
The game was the final men's basketball contest in the 45-year history of the Frank Erwin Center, which has been the home of the Longhorns since November 1977.
A 7-0 run late in the half capped by a layup by Akinjo put Baylor on top at 27-26 with 1:13 to play in the half. A basket by Devin Askew and a layup by Jase Febres with 1.3 seconds left gave Texas a 30-27 advantage entering the break.
Brown led all scorers with 12 points in the first half while Febres and Carr paced Texas with seven points each before halftime.
Texas led by five after a three-point play by Allen with 16:46 to play, but the Bears answered with a 9-3 run to go up 43-42. The Longhorns battled back to tie the game at 54 with 6:21 left before Baylor used five points from Flagler and four from Akinjo to take a nine-point lead.
--Field Level Media
Baylor | Texas | |
James Akinjo 19 | Scoring | Christian Bishop 13 |
James Akinjo 7 | Assists | Timmy Allen 3 |
James Akinjo 8 | Rebounds | Christian Bishop 11 |
James Akinjo 5 | Free Throws Made | Timmy Allen 4 |
James Akinjo 2 | Steals | Courtney Ramey 3 |
Flo Thamba 2 | Blocks | Christian Bishop 3 |