By The Associated Press
WACO — Perry Jones III had 14 points with 12 rebounds and fourth-ranked Baylor remained undefeated with a 61-52 victory over Texas A&M in the Big 12 opener for both teams Monday night.
The Bears (14-0) have started the season with the first 14-game winning streak in school history.
Baylor led throughout after scoring the game’s first eight points, and led by as many as 19 points in the second half.
Elston Turner had 21 points for Texas A&M (9-4), which has lost three of its last four games. Khris Middleton had 14 points.
Part of the Bears’ opening 8-0 run was Pierre Jackson’s half-court alley-oop pass to Jones for a slam dunk. Baylor pushed its lead to 28-11 with a 18-4 run that Jones started with a turnaround 15-footer and ended with a long jumper.
It first double-double of the season for Jones, the Big 12’s preseason player of the year. Jones, a 6-foot-11 sophomore who bypassed the chance to be high NBA draft pick last summer, missed the first five games this season because of a six-game NCAA suspension for accepting improper benefits before he got to Baylor.
Quincy Acy added 13 points for Baylor, while freshman Quincy Miller had 11 points with eight rebounds in his first Big 12 game. A.J. Walton had 10 points.
By winning their 13 non-conference games, the Bears had already matched the longest winning streak of 13 in a row set in 1946. Baylor has now won five consecutive Big 12 openers.
This was the 204th meeting for the Texas teams from along the Brazos River. Baylor has won four in a row, but A&M still leads the series 127-77.
It was the last Big 12 matchup between the two teams in Waco with A&M’s pending move to the Southeastern Conference after this season. They play again Feb. 1 at College Station.
Turner’s 3-pointer got Texas A&M within 10 with 5 minutes left before consecutive turnovers that Baylor turned into baskets.
After Anthony Jones forced an A&M turnover, Cory Jefferson made a jumper. Jackson then had a steal that led to Walton’s jumper.
Turner hit another 3-pointer with 2:25 to get the Aggies within 57-48, but they never got closer.
Texas A&M made only 18 of 63 field goals (29 percent), and that was an improvement after making only 6-of-28 (21 percent) in the first half.
There was an 8-minute stretch for Texas A&M with 10 consecutive missed shots. After Turner’s jumper with 9:39 left in the first half, when Baylor led 17-9, the Aggies didn’t make another field goal until Middleton’s 3-pointer with 1:39 left when they still trailed 28-14.
Baylor extended a 30-17 halftime lead by scoring the first five points of the second half.