Jones powers Baylor past Oklahoma

Perry Jones III had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Pierre Jackson added 16 points and No. 6 Baylor bounced back after its first two losses of the season to beat Oklahoma 77-65 on Tuesday night. The Bears (18-2, 5-2 Big 12) led throughout but needed a strong finish to put away the Sooners, who were within 62-60 in the final 5 minutes. Quincy Acy contributed 13 points and three blocks for Baylor, which shot 54 percent to get back on the winning track after losses to Kansas and Missouri, both Top 10 teams. Steven Pledger led Oklahoma (12-7, 2-5) with 17 points, and Romero Osby had 16 points and 11 rebounds. It was only the second win in 18 tries for the Bears at the Lloyd Noble Center in a series that was heavily lopsided in the Sooners' favor until recent years. Oklahoma had won 30 straight games in the series from 1978 to 2009 before Baylor won three in a row. The Sooners then won at home and knocked the Bears out of the Big 12 tournament last season to regain the upper hand. Jones helped his team pull ahead down the stretch in this one, putting back Jackson's miss after Oklahoma had gotten within two points. Jackson's three-point play on the next possession made it 67-60 with 3:28 to play. Jones added another basket from the right block and then two free throws in the final minute. Baylor, the Big 12's top 3-point shooting team at 41 percent, went 9 for 18 from behind the arc. Jackson connected three times and had seven assists and six turnovers. The Bears easing to a 24-14 lead after Anthony Jones' left-hander inside with 10:20 left in the first half. Oklahoma managed to chip away, cutting the deficit in half before intermission and then getting the crowd standing when Cameron Clark and Pledger connected on consecutive jumpers to pull the Sooners within 37-36 in the first 2 minutes of the second half. Osby fought through Anthony Jones for a two-handed slam to get the Sooners back within one again following a Perry Jones jumper, but then the Bears began to distance themselves. Brady Heslip hit two 3-pointers and Jackson added another during a 15-3 run, and Acy's right-handed dunk on a fast break put Baylor up 54-41. Another dunk by Osby sparked a string of eight straight Sooners points, with Carl Blair's fast-break layup trimming the deficit to 56-52 at the midway point of the second half. Sam Grooms hit consecutive jumpers before Clark hit from the right side to get the lead down to 62-60 in the final 5 minutes.