Box Score THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas (AP) - Rico Gathers had a career-best 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead Baylor to a 75-49 win over Texas Southern on Monday.
Lester Medford scored 13 and Taurean Prince had 11 points for Baylor (6-1), which is now 46-0 against teams from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Gathers also had a career-high four blocked shots.
Chris Thomas scored 15 and Madarious Gibbs scored 10 for Texas Southern (1-6).
Baylor led 41-22 at the break and opened the second half on a 15-3 run that included seven points from Gathers. Medford contributed a 3 and a breakaway layup during the streak that left the Bears up 56-25 at the 16:36 mark.
Baylor took control of the game early. With the game tied at 4, back-to-back 3s from Medford began a 14-2 run that also included a 3 and a layup by Prince.
Texas Southern had baskets from Thomas and Deverell Biggs to pull within 18-10 with 12:03 to play, but that was as close as the Tigers could get. Baylor closed the half on an 11-6 run capped by a three-point play by Gathers with 3.4 seconds left. Tonnie Collier hit a long baseline jumper at the buzzer that the officials reviewed for several minutes before deciding that he got the shot off in time.
After trailing by as many as 31, Texas Southern cut the lead to 20 late in the game. Thomas scored five in a 12-2 run by the Tigers that left Baylor with a 62-42 lead with 8:19 remaining.
The Bears are now 46-0 all-time against current SWAC members, including a 60-45 win over Prairie View A&M on Nov. 21.
Baylor plays at Vanderbilt on Thursday for the first game between the two teams since 1985. The Commodores own a 9-1 record against the Bears and have won eight straight.
HIGHLIGHTS
? Baylor's 22 offensive rebounds were a season high.
? Baylor's 21 assists were the second highest output of the season next to the season opener with McNeese State, Nov. 14.
? Royce O'Neale finished with eight points, which helped him pass the 1,000 career-points milestone (1,003). O'Neale scored 665 points in his first two seasons at Denver, 270 as a junior at Baylor and has 68 points through seven games as a senior.
? Taurean Prince (11 points) has a career-best streak of 5-straight games scoring in double figures and is averaging 14.4 points per game during that stretch.
? Prince has scored in double figures 17 times in his career and Baylor is 13-4 in those games.
? Rico Gathers finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds to record his second-straight double-double, his third of the season and 17th of his career. He reached double figures in scoring for the 17th time in his career, and it was his 20th game with double-digit rebounds.
? Gathers' 23 points were a career high passing his previous mark of 22 achieved vs. West Virginia at home Feb. 13, 2013.
? Gathers set a career high with four blocks; his previous career high was at Kansas, Nov. 14, 2013.
? Lester Medford finished the game with 13 points, which gave him four times this season in double figures.
? Medford finished the game with a season-high eight assists.
? Al Freeman tied a season-high with nine points (vs. Illinois, 11/28/14).
STAT OF THE GAME
23: Career high in points for Rico Gathers (also a game-high).
TWEET OF THE GAME
TOP QUOTE
"I was just going out there, playing and having fun, competing with my brothers. I was just trying to leave it all on the floor." - Baylor forward Rico Gathers
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor heads to Nashville, Tenn., to take on Vanderbilt in the ESPN SEC/Big 12 Challenge Thursday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
