BYU held serve in a crucial Big 12 Conference basketball game at home on Tuesday night, beating Baylor 78-71 in front of a sellout crowd of 17,978 at the Marriott Center.
The No. 25 Cougars made 14 3-pointers and got 16 points from Jaxson Robinson to avenge an 81-72 loss to the No. 11 Bears last month in Waco, Texas.
The Cougars improved to 7-6 in league play, 19-7 overall, and won their fourth straight home game.
The Bears fell to 8-5 and 19-7.
Here are 3 keys to the Cougars' victory:
• The most important value of the game was the second chance points. The Cougars grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and converted them into 20 second-chance points. Baylor only had four second-chance points.
BYU big man Aly Khalifa was 4 of 6 from 3-point range and finished with 14 points. He also added seven rebounds and seven assists as the Cougars outscored the Bears 39-30.
• Miro Little drew a flagrant 1-foul on Richie Saunders — it appeared Little was flopping at least a little — and made a pair of free throws to give Baylor a 27-21 lead with seven minutes left in the first half.
But the questionable call woke up the Cougars, and they went on an 8-0 run to take a 29-27 lead with 5:33 left in the half. BYU got back into the game with second-chance points and outscored the visitors in that category 13-0 in the first half.
BYU shot 38% from 3-point range (8 of 21), which also helped it take a 42-37 halftime lead.
• Jalen Bridges led BYU to 25 points – 17 in the second half – in the Bears' 81-72 win in Waco, but for some reason the Cougars left the guard alone to score a 3-pointer just 20 seconds into the game. litter. Bridges' shot got the visitors going and they quickly took the lead 18-10.
Baylor made nine of its first 11 shots and looked like it would blow the Cougars out of the Marriott Center gym early. They finished the half shooting 54% (13 of 24) and cooled off significantly after that hot start.
Bridges led the Bears with 15 points, but Baylor was just five of 20 from 3-point range.