By Ben Everett | Sports Writer
Baylor men’s basketball defeated Texas 74-73 in double overtime Monday night in Austin to extend their win streak to four games.
The Bears (16-10, 6-7) outlasted the Longhorns (15-11, 5-8) behind a career high 26 points from senior forward Terry Maston.
Baylor senior center Jo Lual-Acuil, Jr. scored on a put back dunk with eight seconds left to give the Bears the road win.
Baylor senior guard Manu Lecomte opened the game with a corner 3-pointer, and Lual-Acuil dunked it home on a put back one possession later to give Baylor a 5-2 lead at the 15:14 mark of the first half.
Lual-Acuil drained a left shoulder hook shot and the Bears held the Longhorns to 1-for-12 shooting from the field in the first nine minutes of the game to propel them to a 9-4 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
The Longhorns battled back with junior guard Eric Davis, Jr. sinking a 3-pointer and junior guard Kerwin Roach, Jr. picking off a Baylor pass and dunking on the other end to make it a 15-12 game with 7:54 remaining in the first half.
Texas freshman center Mo Bamba slammed home back-to-back alley-oop dunks to give Texas the lead, but the Bears came back with 3-pointers from Lecomte and junior guard Jake Lindsey to head into halftime with a 25-22 lead.
The Bears held Texas to just two points in the first four minutes of the second half while Lindsey and Lual-Acuil each found lanes to the basket to increase the Baylor lead to 29-24 at the 16:27 mark of the second half.
Maston scored eight straight points for the Bears with a series of post moves including faking out Bamba under the rim to give Baylor a 37-31 lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
Bamba scored on an offensive rebound and Roach drove the lane in transition and converted as Texas roared back into the game, cutting the Baylor lead to 39-37 at the 9:50 mark of the second half.
A 12-6 run capped off by a floater from Maston at the end of the shot clock propelled the Bears to a 51-43 lead with 4:08 left in the game.
Maston was blocked by Bamba on a hook shot and subsequently shoved Bamba to receive a technical foul. Davis missed both free throws, but junior forward Dylan Osetkowski scored on the inside to make it a two point Baylor lead with less than two minutes left.
Texas freshman guard Matt Coleman came in clutch for the Longhorns with a corner 3-pointer and a layup to cut the Baylor lead to 55-54 with 26 seconds left.
Texas immediately fouled to put Lecomte at the line, but he only made one to put the Bears up 56-54.
Coleman got to the line on the next possession, tying the game at 56 with two free throws.
With the shot clock off, Omot launched a deep 3-pointer at the end of regulation, which came up short.
In overtime, Maston scored six straight for the Bears and Lecomte came up clutch with a jumper at the end of the shot clock to put Baylor up 64-60 with 44 seconds left.
Coleman and Roach, Jr. each got to the free throw line, tying the game at 64 with three seconds left, giving Lecomte little time to get a shot off before double overtime.
In double overtime, Davis, Jr. hit a corner 3-pointer to give Texas a 71-70 lead, but Maston answered with a jumper to give Baylor the one point lead with 1:30 left.
Roach gave Texas the lead back with a driving layup, but Baylor responded as Lual-Acuil, Jr. scored on a put back dunk with eight seconds left. Roach, Jr. missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to seal the win for the Bears.
Coming into the game, the Bears sat outside of the NCAA Tournament field, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
According to the ESPN broadcast, the Bears had a 71 percent chance of making the tournament with a win over the Longhorns and a 41 percent chance with a loss.
The Bears head home to face No. 7 Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Ferrell Center.
