The No. 22 Bears walked away from United Supermarkets Arena in Lubbock with a victory on Saturday, thanks to a last-second shot from senior guard Lester Medford. The final score was 63-60 over Texas Tech.
Al Freeman and Terry Maston led the Bears in scoring, with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Rico Gathers led the team in rebounds with 13, while Medford led the team in assists with 5.
Texas Tech jumped out to an early lead, but turnovers became their undoing. By the 12-minute mark of the first half, the Red Raiders had turned the ball over six times, allowing the Bears to take an 18-12 lead. Baylor entered halftime with a 36-29 lead. 17 of the Bears’ 36 points came from 10 Texas Tech turnovers.
After the half, the Bears came out flat, going scoreless for the first four minutes the second half. This allowed the Red Raiders to cut the lead to three. Texas Tech went on a 14-2 run to start the second half, and eventually took the lead at 39-38.
The lead then switched back and forth for a total of nine lead changes. Both teams kept the game close. Several Bears found themselves in foul trouble late in the second half, with Taurean Prince and Medford each with four fouls entering the last five minutes of regulation.
With just over three minutes left, Baylor went on a 6-0 run, giving them a 56-51 lead. However, Tech quickly shortened the lead to 58-56 with 1:30 seconds left.
Both teams traded baskets, followed by a Baylor turnover on the inbounds play. The Red Raiders capitalized on the turnover and scored quickly, tying the game at 60 with 8.1 seconds to play.
Following a timeout from Baylor head coach Scott Drew, the Bears in-bounded the ball to Medford, who knocked down the three-point shot as time expired to give the Bears the 63-60 victory.
The Bears ended the day shooting 50 percent from the field, giving up 14 turnovers and forcing 15 turnovers.
Baylor will defend its home court next week as the Bears take on the Kansas State Wildcats Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
