Well-traveled Cowboys top Bears

TOP 25 MEN OKLA. ST. 61, NO. 1 BAYLOR 54

WACO, Texas — Bryce Thompson and Oklahoma State completed quite a journey to beat a No. 1 team on the road for the first time in school history. They also gave Baylor consecutive home losses.

Thompson scored the game’s final six points and finished with 19 as the Cowboys, in their third Big 12 road game in five days while traveling more than 3,200 miles, beat Baylor 61-54 on Saturday.

“It’s been one heck of a week in terms of what we’ve had to face competition-wise and travel-wise,” Oklahoma State Coach Mike Boynton said. “But for those guys to show the resilience, and the determination and courage to come out and play with the amount of energy that was required … If we play with any little less energy, we lose the game.”

The Cowboys (9-7, 2-3 Big 12) began their week with a 10-point loss at West Virginia on Tuesday, then two nights later lost 78-57 at Texas Tech, after the Red Raiders had just beaten Baylor at the Ferrell Center.

“It just feels like justice. We’ve been through some stuff this week on the road for a week straight,” sophomore forward Tyreek Smith said. “It just feels good to get a win.”

Baylor (15-2, 3-2), which hadn’t lost consecutive home games since the end of the 2015-16 season, is certain to fall from the top of the AP Top 25 in the new poll Monday.

After trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, the Bears were within 55-54 with 1:21 left. when LJ Cryer made two free throws to cap a 14-2 run. They didn’t score again.

“They’re not very happy,” Bears senior Matthew Mayer said when asked the mood of the coaches.

“We dug ourselves in a big hole. … If the hole wasn’t that big, then we would have been able to win the game,” said Cryer, who had 18 points and didn’t sense any hangover from the loss to Tech. “I felt like that had nothing to do with this loss.”

Baylor had won a national-best 21 games in a row before losing Tuesday to Texas Tech. The reigning national and Big 12 champions led for only 16 seconds against Oklahoma State.

In other men’s Top 25 games Saturday, Walker Kessler scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and No. 4 Auburn rallied from an early 14-point deficit to beat Mississippi 80-71. In extending its winning streak to 13 games, Auburn (16-1, 4-0 SEC) also got 15 points from Jabari Smith, and 14 from both K. D. Johnson and Wendell Green Jr. Tye Fagan led Ole Miss (9-7, 1-3) with 17 points. … Andersson Garcia made a free throw with 3.7 seconds left and Iverson Molinar had a game-high 24 points for Mississippi State, which held off No. 24 Alabama 78-76. Alabama was looking to rebound from its 81-77 loss to rival No. 4 Auburn on Tuesday, but Keon Ellis missed a long three-pointer just before the buzzer. Jaden Shackelford led Alabama (11-6, 2-3 SEC) with 17 points, while Ellis and Darius Miles each had 14 and Charles Bediako had 11 points. The Bulldogs (12-4, 3-1) beat the Crimson Tide for the fourth time in the last five meetings in Starkville. … Ryan Young had 18 points and eight rebounds, helping Northwestern hold on to beat No. 10 Michigan State 64-62 for its first road win over a top 10 team in nearly five years. The Wildcats (9-6, 2-4 Big Ten) won after Michigan State’s Malik Hall missed a three-pointer with 4 seconds left and Marcus Bingham missed the front end of a one-and-one with seven-tenths of a second remaining. The Spartans (14-3, 5-1) had won nine in a row, their longest winning streak since the 2018-19 season. … Drew Timme scored 32 points and Andrew Nembhard had 19 to lead No. 2 Gonzaga to their 24th consecutive West Coast Conference victory, beating Santa Clara 115-83. Gonzaga (14-2, 3-0 WCC), which leads the nation in both scoring and field goal percentage, eclipsed the century mark for the third consecutive game and shot 58.7% from the floor (44 for 75) against the Broncos (11-6, 1-1). … Azoulas Tubelis scored 32 points, Christian Koloko added 16 points, and No. 6 Arizona defeated Utah 82-64. Arizona’s offense was a bit off-kilter early with point guard Kerr Kriisa out for non-covid-19 precautionary reasons. The Wildcats (14-1, 4-0 Pac-12) struggled with turnovers early and shooting from the perimeter all night, going 3 for 18 from the three-point arc. … Mark Williams had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 8 blocks as No. 8 Duke dominated inside for an 88-73 victory over North Carolina State with Hall of Fame Coach Mike Krzyzewski back on the sideline after missing a game due to illness. Paolo Banchero had a team-high 21 points to help the Blue Devils win for the third time in four games since returning from a covid-19 outbreak. The Blue Devils (14-2, 4-1 ACC) shot a season-best 58.3% and had complete control of the paint behind Williams, a 7-foot-1 sophomore. … David McCormack had 19 points and 15 rebounds and Jalen Wilson added 23 points and eight boards as ninth-ranked Kansas overcame a sluggish first half to rout West Virginia 85-59. Ochai Agbaji also had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Jayhawks (14-2, 3-1), who led just 33-31 at halftime but blitzed through the second half to remain perfect against the Mountaineers (13-3, 2-2) in 10 meetings at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas also shut down Taz Sherman, the Big 12’s second-leading scorer at nearly 20 points a game. Sherman was 1 of 9 from the floor, 0 for 5 from beyond the arc and finished with five points and two rebounds in 30 minutes. … Kyler Edwards made seven three-pointers as part of his 29 points, and Houston held off several rallies by Tulsa for a 66-64 victory. Tulsa freshman guard Anthony Pritchard missed a game-tying layup with a second to play, and the Golden Hurricanes had another chance with 0.4 seconds remaining but Houston blocked Sam Griffin’s three-point attempt. Houston (152, 4-0 American Athletic) also got 10 points from Reggie Chaney. … Gabe Kalscheur scored 22 points, including six three-pointers, as No. 15 Iowa State held on against No. 21 Texas 79-70. Kalscheur’s long-range shooting helped the Cyclones (14-3, 2-3 Big 12) hold off a late charge by the Longhorns (13-4, 3-2). … Colby Jones scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half as No. 17 Xavier rallied after the break for an 80-73 victory over Creighton. Xavier (13-3, 3-2 Big East) had six players with 10 or more points, helping the Musketeers bounce back from a tough loss on Wednesday to No. 14 Villanova. … Nijel Pack scored 14 points and Mark Smith made a key three-pointer with just over a minute left as Kansas State ended a fourgame losing streak by beating No. 19 Texas Tech 62-51. Smith finished with 12 points and Mike McGuirl had 10 for the Wildcats (9-7, 1-4 Big 12), who failed to hold second-half leads in each of their four previous games. … Freshman TyTy Washington Jr. scored a career-high 28 points and Sahvir Wheeler returned from injury to add 21 points as No. 18 Kentucky shot a season-high 68% to defeat No. 22 Tennessee 107-79 The Wildcats (14-3, 4-1 SEC) rolled the No.22 Volunteers on an emotional day that began with news of the death of former Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall at 93. The Wildcats made their first five shots and 22 of 28 by halftime, with their 78.6% shooting tying a program record set in the first half against Mississippi on Jan. 14, 1981 (11 of 14). … Greg Elliott made a tiebreaking free throw with 1.7 seconds left as Marquette withstood a long second-half drought and won for the fourth consecutive time, beating No. 20 Seton Hall 73-72. The game was tied at 72-all when Elliott leaned forward around the three-point arc and was fouled by Seton Hall’s Bryce Aiken. After looking at replays, officials determined Elliott was fouled while attempting a two-point shot. He made the first free throw to put Marquette (12-6, 4-3 Big East) ahead but his second attempt bounced off the rim. After a timeout, No. 20 Seton Hall (11-5, 2-4) was unable to get a shot off.

WOMEN’S TOP 25

In women’s Top 25 games Saturday, Endyia Rogers made a jump shot with 0.4 seconds left to lift Oregon to a 68-66 overtime win over No. 7 Arizona. The Ducks (9-5, 2-1 Pac-12) rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit with help from Te-Hina Paopao, who scored 24, as well as Nyara Sabally’s 20 points and 13 rebounds and Sedona Prince’s 16 points. Shaina Pellington and Bendu Yeaney each scored 14 points to pace Arizona (12-2, 2-2), while Cate Reese scored 10. … Lexi Donarski scored 23 points and No. 9 Iowa State rolled past Oklahoma 74-60. Morgan Kane had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Emily Ryan scored 13 points, and Ashley Joens added 12 points for Iowa State (16-1, 5-0 Big 12), which won its ninth in a row and remained the only undefeated team in league play. … Freshman Caroline Ducharme scored 20 points, Christyn Williams (Central Arkansas Christian) added 19 and No. 10 UConn routed Xavier 78-41 to win its 165th consecutive conference game. Olivia Nelson-Ododa also filled up the stat sheet for UConn (9-3, 4-0 Big East), scoring 11 points, blocking 8 shots, pulling down 6 rebounds and grabbing a career-high 5 steals. … Madi Williams scored 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds in No. 23 Oklahoma’s 100-71 win over TCU. The Sooners (15-2, 4-1 Big 12) made 11 of 25 3-pointers and shot 54% overall for their best start in league play in six years. … Vivian Gray scored 23 points, Bryn Gerlich added a career-high 16 and Texas Tech beat No. 25 Kansas State 64-45 Gerlich and Gray combined for 17 points in the first quarter — Gerlich hit 3 three-pointers — and the Red Raiders opened a 23-7 lead. K-State managed to close the gap to 53-43 after three quarters but then went cold, making just 1 of 17 shots and ending the game on an 0 for 12 drought over the last 51/2 minutes. Khadija Faye added 11 points for Texas Tech (9-7, 2-3). Serena Sundell and Ayoka Lee both scored 12 points for the Wildcats (13-4, 3-2).