No. 9 Baylor recovers from slow start, roars past No. 8 Texas

Jalen Bridges scored 17 points and No. 9 Baylor ruled the final 30 minutes at home on the way to an 81-72 comeback win over No. 8 Texas on Saturday afternoon in a key Big 12 Conference game at Waco, Texas.

The Bears (21-8, 10-6 Big 12) bounced back from a ragged start and an early injury to star freshman guard Keyonte George to reverse a 14-point first-half deficit and take a two-point lead into halftime.

Baylor then built a 55-42 edge with 12:59 remaining by hitting nine of its first 11 shots in the second half, expanded its lead to 18 points with 9:19 left and held on for the win, earning a split with Texas in the regular-season series.

Adam Flagler added 14 points for Baylor, while Dale Bonner had 13, Flo Thamba added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Langston Love scored 11 points for the Bears. Baylor forged a 37-25 rebounding advantage and made 9 of 19 shots (47.4 percent) from 3-point range.

Dylan Disu led the Longhorns (22-7, 11-5) with a season-high 24 points, with Tyrese Hunter adding 13. Timmy Allen and Sir'Jabari Rice each scored 12 points for Texas and Marcus Carr added 11.

The Longhorns burst away from a 4-4 tie just over two minutes into the game by scoring 14 consecutive points capped by Rice's free throws with 11:32 remaining in the half. Disu hit a pair of 3-pointers over the stretch.

But Baylor recovered, doing most of its damage after George was forced from the game with a right ankle injury. The Bears fashioned a 25-5 run of their own, with a putback dunk by Bridges with 1:12 remaining in the half for a 29-23 lead.

The Longhorns went more than eight minutes without scoring during that stretch, missing nine shots and committing four turnovers.

Texas got two jumpers from Disu in the final 1:01 before the break to pull the Longhorns to within 29-27 at halftime.

Bridges paced the Bears with nine points in the first half while Disu led all scorers with 14 points before halftime.