The Baylor Bears defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday night at the Ferrell Center 89-86 to advance to the third round of the NIT. Senior point guard Pierre Jackson put on a show for the home fans by scoring 26 points and racking up a career-high 16 assists in the victory.

After defeating Long Beach State 112-66 Wednesday in the first round of the NIT, the No. 2 seed Baylor will host the No. 3 seed Arizona State Sun Devils at 7 p.m. tonight at the Ferrell Center.

The Baylor Bears defeated the Long Beach State 49ers 112-66 Wednesday at the Ferrell Center and advanced to the second round of the NIT.

“I thought it was a great way to start a tournament,” head coach Scott Drew said. “Obviously we did a lot of things well, starting with 31 assists and only 14 turnovers, shooting 63 percent and holding them to 33 percent. I thought we played like a weight was off of our shoulders and we really made a lot of extra passes and played well. In the last two games at home, I think we’ve really played well at home.”

Junior guard Brady Heslip put on a shooting clinic and buried six first-half 3-pointers to propel Baylor to a commanding 59-34 half-time lead over the Long Beach State 49ers.

Frustrated Southeastern Conference coaches say their league is treated more like a mid-major rather than a BCS conference.

The coaches said Monday the perception all year has been that the SEC was having a down year. The NCAA tournament selection committee apparently felt it was more than perception.