Ali Khalifa made four of BYU’s 14 3-pointers in the No. 25 Cougars’ 78-71 victory Tuesday night over No. 11 Baylor in their Big 12 matchup in Provo, Utah.
BYU (19-7, 7-6 Big 12) made 14 of 36 shots from long distance. The Cougars, 14-2 at home, have won five of their last seven games.
Trevin Knell and Jaxson Robinson each made three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. Khalifa went 4 of 6 from deep and had totaled 14 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
Baylor (19-7, 8-5) has also won five of its last seven games. Jalen Bridges led the Bears with 15 points and eight rebounds. Ja’Kobe Walter added 13 points, Yves Missi had 13 points and seven rebounds, and Rayj Dennis was held to six points but contributed eight assists.
After Robinson’s 3-pointer with 1:35 left extended BYU’s lead to 74-66, Missi made one of two free-throw attempts with 1:15 remaining.
Richie Saunders missed a 3-pointer for BYU before Baylor’s Jayden Nunn was fouled. He made both free throws to cut the lead to 74-69 with 38 seconds left.
Robinson then made four free throws in BYU’s next two possession to seal the win.
Baylor led by as many as nine points in the first half before taking a 42-37 lead into halftime.
Eight unanswered points in less than two minutes, including 3-pointers by Robinson and Spencer Johnson, cut Baylor’s lead to 22-21 with 8:02 left in the first half.
BYU later went on an 11-2 run to build a 40-33 lead with 1:09 remaining before halftime.
Baylor made one field goal in the last 3:33 of the half, a last-second dunk by Missi.
Khalifa made three 3-pointers and had 11 points in the first half.
After Baylor scored seven unanswered points to tie the game at 54 with 10:43 remaining, BYU responded with an 8-0 run. Dallin Hall and Robinson made 3-pointers sandwiched around a layup by Saunders in the run that put the Cougars ahead 62-54 with 8:14 left.
–Field Level Media