Recap: Baylor vs. Kansas State

By Sports Network

The Sports Network

Curtis Jerrells had 24 points and seven assists, as a balanced attack helped Baylor overcome a record-setting night from Michael Beasley and beat 24th-ranked Kansas State, 92-86.

Kevin Rogers finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and LaceDarius Dunn had 16 points for Baylor (18-8, 6-6 Big 12), which snapped a four-game losing streak. Tweety Carter had 12 points, while Aaron Bruce had 11 for the Bears.

Beasley set a Big 12 record for points in a single game with 44, breaking the record of 43 held jointly by Clarence Gilbert of Missouri and Texas' Reggie Freeman. Beasley also had 13 rebounds for Kansas State (18-8, 8-4), which has lost two in a row.

Bill Walker finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, but no other player scored more than five points for the Wildcats.

"I don't know if there's a better two-man performance that I've seen personally than what Beasley and Walker put on, but the big thing that I look at is our bench," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. "Our bench had 32 points and their bench had five, so again it was a great team effort."

Down by seven late in the second half, Kansas State rattled off five points to get back in the game. Walker drained a three, and Beasley made a pair of free throws to trim the Bears' lead to 87-85 with 1:50 left.

But Jerrells answered with two of his own free throws, and the teams combined to miss the next five shots. Off a missed three from Walker, Dunn grabbed the rebound and the Wildcats were forced to foul with 17 ticks left.

Dunn made 1-of-2 for a 90-85 lead, but the edge was enough for Baylor to hold on for the win.

"We weren't comfortable at all," Beasley said of the second half. "We've lost after being up by more than that. We came out ready to win and they made some tough shots."

Kansas State jumped out to a lead, as Walker's three put the Wildcats ahead 12-5 about five minutes in. But Baylor scored the next four points, and the game stayed within two possessions until Beasley made a jumper to put Kansas State ahead 39-32, with 3:21 showing on the clock. The Wildcats held the margin, and took a 44-38 lead into the break.

But Baylor scored six of the first eight points in the second half, and a jumper by Rogers brought the Bears within 46-44. Baylor briefly grabbed the lead when a Carter three put the Bears in front 55-53, and the teams swapped leads a number of times in the opening 10 minutes of the half.

However, with the game knotted at 69 points apiece at the midway point, the Bears went on a 7-2 run. Jerrells capped it with a three for a 76-71 Baylor lead with 7:49 left -- not a large margin, but enough to make Kansas State play catch-up.

With about six minutes remaining, Jerrells and Carter made back-to-back jumpers to give the Bears an 80-74 edge with 5:33 left, and Baylor held on until the game's final stages.

Game Notes