By Michael Haag | Sports Editor, Braden Murray | LTVN Sports Director
No. 11 Baylor men’s basketball had all the momentum when it scored the first two points of overtime, taking its first lead of the game over No. 2 Houston.
Go courtside with LTVN’s Braden Murray
The Cougars put that to rest with a 9-1 run over the next four minutes, though, and they pulled out their 10th win in 11 games with an 82-76 victory on Saturday afternoon in the Foster Pavilion.
Baylor (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to force overtime, but Houston (24-3, 11-3 Big 12) forced four turnovers in the extra period and hit 9 of 10 free throws to secure the six-point win.
Bears head coach Scott Drew said holding the Cougars to 33% shooting from the field in the second half allowed his squad to get in transition for better looks offensively.
“When you get easier buckets, you’re able to get some confidence, and then you get the crowd involved and get momentum and it all kind of snowballs,” Drew said. “And unfortunately, we couldn’t get any of that in the first half.”
Houston senior guard LJ Cryer made his first return to Waco since transferring to the Cougars over the offseason. Cryer was booed every time he touched the ball, and he finished with 15 points on 3-of-8 shooting from the floor — 3-of-7 from deep. He also went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
LJ Cryer gets introduced as a #Houston Cougar during starting lineups. Boos and “traitor” fill the Foster Pavilion. #Baylor pic.twitter.com/48mhZUqy0b
— Parker Rehm (@parker_rehm) February 24, 2024
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said Saturday’s contest “felt like it was three different games.”
“It isn’t like we didn’t know they would come back in this building with their fan base and their talent level,” Sampson said. “A 16-point lead isn’t that big of a deal in this building against a team that makes threes like them.
“What do you think happened? How did we get out to a 16-point lead? [The] same thing [that] happened to them happened to us. We made a bunch of shots and our kids came out focused. At the end of the day, to be able to come in here and get a win, I don’t care how the game went. This is a great road win for us and that’s all that matters.”
All but four of Baylor’s 76 total points came from freshman guard Ja’Kobe Walter (23), senior guard RayJ Dennis (21), senior forward Jalen Bridges (17) and junior guard Jayden Nunn (11). The Bears also only had two bench points, as redshirt sophomore guard Langston Love — who leads the Big 12 in scoring among players with zero starts — missed his fourth game of the last five contests.
The Cougars, on the other hand, had four players record double-digit points.
Houston wasted no time, as it jumped out to an 11-3 lead just over six minutes into the contest. Baylor made just one of its first seven field goals to start the game. The Cougars stretched that lead out to 17 by the 8:31 mark, but the Bears were able to trim the deficit slightly at 41-25 at the break.
Houston outscored Baylor 20-4 in the paint in the first half, and the Cougars shot 14-of-18 on two-point shots, or shots inside the 3-point arc. Walter’s 11 first-half points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep kept the Bears within arms reach.
Bridges said the team talked about the importance of responding with more urgency in the halftime locker room.
“We just felt like they brought it to us in the first half,” Bridges, who also recorded a career-high 13 rebounds, said. “They’re easily the most physical team that we’ve played so far and I feel like we were a little bit taken back. And we just came out in the second half trying to punch them back.”
The Bears took that message seriously, as they opened the second half with a 12-0 run to make it a four-point ballgame with 15:20 left in regulation. They got within three points of tying it nearly a minute later, but the Cougars stretched their lead back out to two possessions and held that for the next nine minutes of action.
Walter said the team’s focus was to “push the pace” and that it led to the 12-0 run to tighten the gap.
“When we get stops, we’re a hard team to beat,” Walter said. “And I think we showed that in those first five minutes. When we get stops and we get out running, we’re getting to the paint or we’re moving the rock, it’s pretty hard to stop us.”
Bridges set the Foster Pavilion on fire with a 3-pointer at the 4:44 mark, making it a 62-59 ballgame. Both teams went back and forth down the stretch until Baylor corralled a rebound with 15 seconds to go, trailing 69-67.
Dennis lobbed the ball into freshman center Yves Missi, who fought through contact and scored a layup plus a foul, causing another home crowd eruption. Missi went to the line and missed the go-ahead free throw, though, and Cougars senior guard Jamal Shead raced down the court and sank a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the horn.
LOOK. HOW. CLOSE. 😱
JAMAL SHEAD ALMOST SHUT THE DOOR ON NO. 11 BAYLOR. INSTEAD, WE GO TO OVERTIME ⏳
(via @CBSSportsCBB)pic.twitter.com/mzyUdkZEGG
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 24, 2024
The shot was reviewed and waved off, as Shead still had the ball in his hands with zeros on the clock, sending the game to overtime.
Houston made two of its three field goal attempts in overtime and sank 9 of 10 free throws to cruise to the victory. Baylor went over four minutes without a basket in the extra period, and the team has now dropped two games in a row for the first time since its three-game skid in January.
Saturday was also the Bears’ fourth overtime game of the year, and they have a 1-3 record in those contests. Four overtime games this season is the most since they matched that number in 1970-71.
Drew said his team looked more inexperienced in the overtime session.
“We had some layups, we had some dunk opportunities, and the ball just came out of our hands,” Drew said. “That happens in games, that’s where you have to defend and rebound in those situations. We made 82% of our free throws, we needed 84.”
Baylor has a quick turnaround game at TCU, as tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Monday in the Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth. The Big Monday contest will be broadcast on ESPN.
Drew said he’d prefer a break before having to play so quickly.
“We want a week off, we want to get everybody rested, we want to get everybody healthy,” Drew said. “I don’t know if it’s the way things are shaping out, but a lot of teams are only playing six, seven, eight guys.
“Langston’s injury is a big deal. If you take [Jamal] Shead out, that’s a big deal, that’s their leading scorer in conference. And we have to get him healthy. That’s first and foremost.”
