Texas forward Mohamed Bamba, right, scores over Baylor forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. , in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, in Waco, Texas.
Texas forward Mohamed Bamba, right, scores over Baylor forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. , in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, in Waco, Texas. Waco Tribune Herald via AP Rod Aydelotte
Texas forward Mohamed Bamba, right, scores over Baylor forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. , in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, in Waco, Texas. Waco Tribune Herald via AP Rod Aydelotte

Baylor avoids 0-3 Big 12 start with 69-60 win over Texas

January 06, 2018 04:27 PM

UPDATED 2 MINUTES AGO

Jo Lual-Acuil and Manu Lecomte each had 17 points and Baylor beat Texas 69-60 on Saturday to avoid an 0-3 start in Big 12 Conference play.

The Bears (11-4, 1-2 Big 12) led for good after Lecomte made a 3-pointer just more than 3 minutes into the second half to break a 44-all tie. Lecomte, who made only 4 of 22 shots the first two Big 12 games, leaned back with both feet on the ground while watching the shot go through the rim.

Jase Febres led Texas (10-5, 1-2) with 18 points, including four 3-pointers. But all of the freshman's scoring came before halftime, and he missed all five shots after that. Mohamed Bamba had 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Longhorns were within 63-60 when the 6-foot-11 Bamba made a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 5:03 left. They didn't score again, and all of Baylor's points after that came on six free throws.

BIG PICTURE

Texas: Sophomore guard Andrew Jones, averaging 13.5 points, missed the game because of illness. ... The Longhorns missed their last nine shots and 14 of 16, and shot a season-low 34 percent (24 of 70) from the field. Texas was coming off an overtime win at Iowa State after not winning a Big 12 road game all of last season.

Baylor: The Bears haven't started 0-3 in the Big 12 since 2005-06, when they didn't even play a non-conference schedule. It has been four years since Baylor lost three games in a row at any point.

UP NEXT

Texas returns home Wednesday night to play No. 16 TCU, which swept the Longhorns last year.

Baylor plays Tuesday night at No. 6 West Virginia, almost exactly a year after going there 15-0 and losing by 21 points the day after reaching No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll for the only time in school history.