Bears back in shape, thump Cowboys

NO. 3 BAYLOR 81, NO. 17 OKLAHOMA STATE 70

WACO, Texas — Jared Butler scored 22 points and No. 3 Baylor, fresh off clinching its first Big 12 title on the road two days earlier, beat No. 17 Oklahoma State 81-70 on Thursday night to end the Cowboys’ five-game winning streak.

The Bears (20-1, 12-1 Big 12) seem to have their legs back under them after a three-week stretch without any games because of covid-19 issues in the program. Their fourth game in 10 days came after winning in overtime at No. 6 West Virginia on Tuesday night for the school’s first league title since 1950 in the Southwest Conference.

Matthew Mayer and MaCio Teague both added 19 points for the Bears, and Davion Mitchell had 12. Mayer had two baskets in a 9-0 run midway through the first half that put them ahead to stay.

Freshman standout and Big 12 leading scorer Cade Cunningham had 24 points and Kalib Boone 10 for Oklahoma State (17-7, 10-7), whose winning streak was the longest active in the Big 12. The last three wins had been against Top 25 teams, including over Bedlam rival No. 16 Oklahoma twice in three days. Cunningham, considered by most as the potential No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick, was moving gingerly when he left the court with help in the final minute after colliding with Mitchell, who was called for the foul — before Oklahoma State was in the bonus. Cunningham didn’t return to the game but was able to walk off the court afterward without any assistance.

“It happened right in front of me there. I didn’t see anything unusual other than stepping on a guy’s foot,” Oklahoma State Coach Mike Boynton said.

Boynton said his first and foremost concern was Cunningham’s future. After initially saying it didn’t seem that serious, the coach added that he wasn’t a doctor and didn’t want to give any information either way until after a medical evaluation.

Teague missed a free throw for Baylor with 5:43 left, but Cunningham then had a turnover. Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua got the steal, then Butler passed to Teague, who weaved through traffic inside for a layup. Teague then had a steal that led to a three-pointer by Butler that pushed the lead to 69-60 with five minutes left.

In other games involving Top 25 teams, Franz Wagner scored 19 points, Hunter Dickinson added 14 and No. 2 Michigan wrapped up the Big Ten title with a 69-50 victory over rival Michigan State in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines (19-2, 14-2) had a chance to clinch the championship based on winning percentage with a victory in any of their final three games. Michigan went on a 9-2 run to take a 39-28 lead into halftime. The Wolverines later went on a 25-4 tear that spanned much of the second half. Aaron Henry scored 14 points for Michigan State (14-11, 8-11). … Jordan Bohannon tied a career high with eight three-pointers and scored 26 points, and No. 5 Iowa beat Nebraska 102-64 in Iowa City, Iowa. The senior guard made 8 of 12 three-point attempts, but he played just eight minutes in the second half as the Hawkeyes (19-7, 13-6 Big Ten) topped the 100-point mark for the fourth time this season. Freshman Patrick McCaffery had a career-high 19 points for Iowa. Luka Garza had 14 points for the Hawkeyes. Kobe Webster led Nebraska (7-18, 3-15) with 17 points. … Redshirt freshman Jalen Bridges set seasons highs with 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 6 West Virginia to a 76-67 victory over TCU in Morgantown, W. Va. The Mountaineers (18-7, 11-5 Big 12) bounced back from an overtime loss to No. 3 Baylor on Tuesday, sweeping the regular-season series from TCU. Derek Culver, who had 18 points and 14 rebounds in last week’s win over the Horned Frogs, scored 17 points Thursday after being held without a field goal against Baylor. Jaedon LeDee scored a season-high 18 points for the Horned Frogs (12-12, 5-10). … Marcus Garrett scored on a driving layup with 22.4 seconds to go and Dajuan Harris added a pair of clinching free throws as No. 13 Kansas overcame a 15-point second-half deficit and beat UTEP in Lawrence, Kansas. David McCormack scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, and Ochai Agbaji had 19 points as the Jayhawks (19-8) avoided a rare second loss in Allen Fieldhouse this season. Bryson Williams led UTEP (1211) with 23 points and 13 rebounds. … Jericho Sims matched season highs with 16 points and 12 rebounds to help No. 15 Texas beat No. 16 Oklahoma 69-65 in Norman, Okla. Andrew Jones added 16 points for the Longhorns (16-7, 10-6 Big 12), who have won three of four. Austin Reaves (Cedar Ridge) scored 16 points and Alondes Williams and Brady Manek each added 13 for the Sooners. Oklahoma (14-9, 9-8) has lost four consecutive games by a combined 17 points. … Mac McClung scored 20 points and No. 18 Texas Tech beat Iowa State 81-54 in Lubbock, Texas, for its third consecutive victory following a three-game losing streak. Marcus Santos-Silva had 14 points and seven rebounds to help Texas Tech (17-8, 9-7 Big 12) wrap up its home schedule with a fifth consecutive victory over the Cyclones, the longest winning streak for either team in the series. Terrence Shannon Jr. and Micah Peavy scored 12 points apiece, and Kyler Edwards had 11. … McKinley Wright IV scored 17 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 24 Colorado shook off a sluggish start to beat Arizona State 75-61 in Bolder, Colo. Wright turned in his seventh 20-point game of the season in what was his final game at CU Events Center. The speedy senior point guard made one acrobatic move after another to help the Buffaloes (20-7, 14-6 Pac-12) bounce back from 10 first-half turnovers. Holland Woods scored 15 points to lead the Sun Devils (10-12, 7-9), who saw their three-game winning streak snapped.

In a game involving an SEC team, Scotty Pippen scored a career-high 36 points on near-perfect shooting, Jordan Wright added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Vanderbilt defeated host Cincinnati 78-64. Pippen, after missing three games with a hip injury, couldn’t miss in the first half, scoring 23 points on 6-for-7 shooting and making all five of his three-point tries and all six free throws. He finished 10 of 13 for the game, 5 of 6 from distance and 11 of 12 at the line. The Commodores (8-14) were 51% shooting for the game. Senior Keith Williams scored 20 points in his final home-court appearance to lead the Bearcats (9-10).