No. 11 Bears Shot Down in Provo, Lose to Cougars 78-71

PROVO, Utah — The No. 11 Baylor Men’s Basketball team (19-7, 8-5) fell 78-71 on the road against the BYU Cougars (19-7, 7-6) and lost control of winning a share of the Big 12 regular season title in the process.

While Jalen Bridges put up 15 points and eight rebounds, the Bears’ defense could not handle the activity of the Cougars’ offense. Particularly, perimeter screens to spring open threes were brutal on Scott Drew’s squad, allowing a 14-for-36 performance from deep for BYU.

The Bears also got out-rebounded 39-30 including 16 offensive boards that the Cougars turned into 20 second-chance points.

A standout for the Cougars was starting center Aly Khalifa who went 4-for-6 from deep, scoring 14, seven rebounds (three offensive) and dishing seven assists.

It wasn’t a particularly sloppy game with turnovers at 9-7 with Baylor on the worse end. But the Bears found the most offensive success on the interior, which turned out to mean trading twos for BYU’s threes.

Yves Missi and Ja’Kobe Walter both put up 13 points, while a foul-troubled Jayden Nunn scored nine in 25 minutes of action.

The Bears may need to shoot better than 25% from deep and will definitely need a much better defensive showing to top their next opponent: No. 2 Houston.

That in-state, marquee matchup is set to tip off at 11 AM CT in the Foster Pavilion. It will be televised on CBS.