Baylor Uses Late Rally to Top NU

Lincoln ? Baylor scored an opponent-high 42 points in the second half to erase a five-point halftime deficit and rally for a 72-70 victory over Nebraska Saturday night at the DevaneyCenter.

 

The Bears (15-2, 3-0 Big 12) clinched the victory with a late 7-1 run that turned a one-point deficit into a five-point lead with 17 seconds remaining.

 

BU relied on 17 second-half free throws to get back into the game. Baylor knocked down 17-of-22 from the stripe in the second period after hitting just 3-of-4 in the first half. Nebraska meanwhile hit just 11-of-20 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes and missed 8-of-9 during a key stretch in the latter stages of the period.

 

The loss was Nebraska’s third straight and dropped the Huskers to 11-5 overall and 0-3 in the Big 12 Conference. NU also lost a halftime lead at home for the first time in two years under Head Coach Doc Sadler.

 

Aleks Maric paced NU with 21 points and nine rebounds, although he hit just 6-of-18 shots from the field. Steve Harley added a career-high 15 despite knocking down only 1-of-6 from the free throw line.

 

Baylor had four players score in double figures, led by Henry Dugat with 19. Kevin Rogers recorded a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, while LaceDarius Dunn added 12 points and Aaron Bruce scored 11.

 

The Bears shot 50 percent from the 3-point line while hitting 10 3-pointers. Nebraska shot just 38.2 percent from the floor, marking the Huskers’ second-lowest performance of the season.

 

In a decidedly different first half, Baylor dominated the opening minutes, while the Huskers controlled the final minutes. The Bears hit five of their first six shots ? including a trio of 3-pointers ? to race to a 13-3 lead just 3:23 into the game.

 

With Baylor’s offense clicking, Nebraska struggled just to get a shot off, committing three turnovers in its first five possessions and five before the first media timeout. After settling down, NU responded with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 13-11. Baylor would continue to hold the lead however, using a 6-1 lead to take a 19-12 advantage before the game began to turn in the Huskers’ favor.

 

Still down by seven a few minutes later, Nebraska used seven points from Steve Harley to erupt on a 14-1 run that put Nebraska on top 31-25 with 3:28 remaining in the half. Harley wrapped up an impressive first half with a driving layup at the buzzer to put the Huskers in front 35-30 at the break.

 

Harley hit 5-of-6 from the field to finish with 11 points in the half, after scoring a combined five points in the first two Big 12 games of his career.

 

The key to Nebraska’s first-half turnaround was ball security, as the Huskers committed only one turnover over the final 15 minutes of the first half. That helped counter impressive shooting from Baylor, as the Bears hit 7-of-13 from behind the arc.

 

Just as they did to open the game, the Bears couldn’t miss to start the second half, hitting three consecutive shots during a 7-0 half-opening run. Harley stopped the run with a 3-pointer that also allowed him to tie his career high of 14 points.

 

The teams traded one-point leads before a series of runs. Baylor used a 5-0 spurt to take a three-point lead before Nebraska went ahead 54-49 on the strength of a 9-0 run.

 

The Bears answered right back with a 9-0 run of their own to take a 58-54 advantage with less than five minutes remaining. Jay-R Strowbridge snapped his second straight run with a 3-pointer to close the gap to one.

 

Maric tied the game with a pair of free throws with 3:34 remaining. His free throws snapped a stretch where NU made just 1-of-9 from the stripe, while Baylor hit 13 of its first 14 attempts.

 

Baylor hit two free throws to go back on top, 61-59, before Maric hit 1-of-2 on the Huskers’ next possession. Cookie Miller then recorded a steal and knocked down a pair of free throws to put NU on top 62-61 with less than three minutes remaining.

 

Two more Maric free throws kept the Huskers on top by one before a 5-0 Baylor run put the Bears in front 68-64 with 1:02 left. BU would increase the lead to five before a late Husker rally.

 

Down by just three, Baylor had an unforced turnover with just 11 seconds remaining to give Nebraska one a final chance to tie. Strowbridge was whistled for a disputed traveling call as he pump-faked his defender to create space for a 3-point attempt.

 

Sek Henry hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the final score 72-70.

 

Nebraska hits the road again next Saturday for a 12:30 p.m. rematch at third-ranked Kansas. The Jayhawks defeated the Huskers 79-58 just one week ago at the DevaneyCenter in the Big 12 opener for both teams.