Saturday's Top 25: No. 2 Baylor goes to 12-0 after 68-60 win at No. 15 Texas Tech

Lubbock, Texas — Second-ranked Baylor knows there will be more games like this, instead of all those double-digit wins. The Bears got the job done on the road.

Davion Mitchell had 19 points, Jared Butler finally scored late and the Bears stayed undefeated when they overcame No. 15 Texas Tech 68-60 on Saturday in their closest game this season.

“It’s definitely a good thing. It will build confidence,” guard Adam Flagler said. “It just shows that we’re more than capable playing these types of games and finishing out strong. It’s about all of us being poised and being mature team.”

Butler, the preseason AP All-American coming off a season-high 28 points in the last game, was 0-for-9 shooting with six turnovers before hitting consecutive 3-pointers for the Bears (12-0, 5-0 Big 12) in the final five minutes.

“One thing about Jared Butler … when the game is on the line, his game goes to another level,” coach Scott Drew said. “His two 3s were huge.”

Mitchell hit a 3-pointer with 5:38 left to stretch Baylor’s lead to 49-45 after the Red Raiders failed to score on a possession when they missed three consecutive putback chances. Butler scored all seven of his points after that and Texas Tech (11-4, 4-3) missed a chance to follow its 79-77 win at No. 4 Texas on Wednesday night with another huge victory.

“I think we can play with teams like this, I think we can beat teams like this,” Tech coach Chris Beard said. “But we have to play well in the 40-minute game to get that done.”

Flagler had 15 points and MaCio Teague 12 for the Bears, who saw the end of their school-record streak of 11 consecutive double-digit wins – their closest game had been an 11-point win at Iowa State on Jan. 2.

Mac McClung had 24 points for Texas Tech, while Kevin McCullar had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Texas Tech led 45-44 after Marcus Santos-Silva made a free throw with 7:14 left. The Bears went ahead to stay when Flagler penetrated and made a floater, almost falling down when the shot went in before Mitchell’s 3.

“We know we didn’t play our best, we still had a close game with them … this one hurts,” Santos-Silva said.

“When you get to that point, similar to any kind of NCAA Tournament, March-type game, you’ve got to go win the game,” Beard said. “We had a plan in the last eight minutes and we just didn’t execute it. I think you’ve got to give Baylor credit for making it hard on us.”

More Top 25

►(At) No. 4 Texas 82, Kansas State 67: Kamaka Hepa scored 15 points in a rare appearance for Texas and the No. 4 Longhorns rebounded from their first Big 12 loss of the season by beating Kansas State.

Hepa, who hadn’t started yet this season and had played in only three games, started in place of freshman forward Greg Brown, who was one of three Longhorns (11-2, 5-1) held out for reasons not immediately disclosed. Given his chance, Hepa made five of Texas’ 12 3-pointers in the blowout.

Both teams had depleted rosters.

Kansas State had to postpone a game earlier in the week because it didn’t have six health scholarship players due to COVID and injury problems, and had only nine available Saturday night. Texas was missing Brown, who is averaging 11.8 points, and top reserves Kai Jones and Brock Cunningham, forcing the Longhorns to go deep into their bench for Hepa and shooting guard Jase Febres.

Davion Bradford led Kansas State (5-9, 1-5) with 14 points.

►(At) Butler 70, No. 8 Creighton 66: Aaron Thompson scored 17 points and found Bryce Nze for the go-ahead layup with 1:08 left in overtime to complete Butler’s remarkable second-half comeback against Creighton.

Creighton scored the first two baskets in overtime, but Butler took over from there, scoring eight straight points over the final 3:07. Nze, who made it 67-66 with his layup, finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Bulldogs also overcame a 71-58 deficit over the final 71/2 minutes of regulation. Butler (4-7, 3-5 Big East) has won four straight home games against the Bluejays.

Denzel Mahoney scored 23 of his season-high 29 points in the second half to lead Creighton (10-3, 6-2), which had a six-game winning streak snapped.

►(At) No. 10 Tennessee 81, Vanderbilt 61: Keon Johnson scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, leading No. 10 Tennessee to victory over Vanderbilt.

Johnson was one of three double-digit scorers for the Volunteers (10-1, 3-1 SEC). John Fulkerson had 15 points, and Victor Bailey scored 11.

Vanderbilt (4-6, 0-4) was led by Dylan Disu’s 19 points. Scotty Pippen, Jr. scored 18.

►No. 18 Virginia 85, (at) No. 12 Clemson 50: Sam Hauser and Tomas Woldetensae had 14 points and four 3-pointers each as No. 18 Virginia won its 11th straight over 12th-ranked Clemson to stay perfect in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

The Cavaliers (9-2) improved to 5-0 in the league, their best start since opening the conference 12-0 in the 2017-18 season. 

Woldetensae had season highs in points and 3s. Trey Murphy III added 13 points, while Kihei Clark and Jay Huff had 12 points each for Virginia, which finished with its biggest margin of victory in an ACC game since topping Wake Forest 70-34 in February 2015.

PJ Hall led the Tigers (9-2, 3-2 ACC) with eight points. Clemson gave up a season-high 15 3-pointers.

►(At) Miami 78, No. 16 Louisville 72: Isaiah Wong had 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Miami beat No. 16 Louisville to end an 18-game skid against ranked opponents.

Matt Cross scored 16 points and Elijah Olaniyi had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Miami. The previous time the Hurricanes (6-6, 2-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) topped a ranked foe was at No. 9 North Carolina in February 2018.

Louisville (9-2, 4-1) rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit and got within 68-64 on Matt Slazinski’s three free throws with 2:21 remaining. Cross’ 3-pointer with 1:29 left gave Miami another seven-point margin.

Carlik Jones scored 25 points and Jae’Lyn Withers finished with 18 points for the Cardinals.

►No. 17 Missouri 68, (at) Texas A&M 52: Dru Smith scored 15 points and Missouri shook off rust from an 11-day layoff due to COVID-19 protocols to beat Texas A&M.

Jeremiah Tilmon added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers (8-2, 2-2 SEC).

Andre Gordon paced the Aggies (7-5, 2-4) with 19 points.

The Tigers led 27-24 at the half and used a 21-5 run midway through the second half to take control of the game.