Box Score THE RUNDOWN
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Taurean Prince is used to being the spark off the bench for No. 20 Baylor.
Tuesday night was no different as he scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half, and the Bears held off Texas Tech 54-49.
The Bears came out flat and weren't moving the ball well but started to improve a couple of minutes before he entered the game, Prince said.
"I just came in and kept things going," he said.
Prince was 9 for 14 from the field, including three 3-pointers. He didn't score in the second half until 8:32 remained.
Lester Medford scored 10 points for the Bears (19-7, 7-6 Big 12).
Royce O'Neale hit a 3-pointer with 4:08 to go to put the Bears up 48-43 after the Red Raiders pulled within two points on a dunk by Keenan Evans.
Devaugntah Williams made a 3 with 13 seconds remaining to pull the Red Raiders to 52-49, but they got no closer.
Texas Tech scored 16 points off of 16 turnovers by Baylor and outscored the Bears 12-4 on second-chance points.
The Red Raiders "do a great job being active, just not giving you good looks, contesting shots on the penetration," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "They compete. Coach (Tubby) Smith does a great job always getting them to do that."
Williams scored 15 points and Zach Smith added 10 to lead Texas Tech (12-15, 2-12).
Prince's 18 points were the most by a Baylor player before halftime since Brady Heslip had 20 in March 2013.
The win for Baylor ended a two-game skid. Texas Tech has now lost four straight.
Tubby Smith said his players' mechanics could use some tweaking.
"Just get in the gym and shoot more," he said. "Unfortunately, it seems like each guy has something they have to change in their shot. It's going to take some time to do it."
Baylor's offense went silent a couple of times in the second half, allowing the Red Raiders to creep back. Rico Gathers, who averages 11.5 points and 12.4 rebounds, came up short in both -- finishing with only two points and six rebounds. Late in the game he missed an easy dunk.
Kenny Chery's four free throws down the stretch kept the Red Raiders from getting closer at the end.
After trailing by six in the first half, the Bears used a 13-0 run -- with 12 from Prince -- to take the lead. Texas Tech made just 2 of 11 shots during the span. Baylor led 34-26 at halftime.
Smith set a Texas Tech freshman record for blocks in a season with 38. He broke the mark set by Will Flemons during the 1989-90 season.
---
TIP-INS
The Bears have held teams to 30 or fewer points in the first half in 20 of 26 games this season, including 10 times at 25 points or fewer. They've trailed at halftime only three times.
UP NEXT
Baylor hosts Kansas State on Saturday.
HIGHLIGHTS
? Baylor went on a 13-0 run to take a 22-15 lead after Tech had jumped out to a 15-9 advantage. The Bears didn't trail again the rest of the game.
? Taurean Prince (season-high 22 points) had his team-leading 20th double-figure scoring game of the season and has now scored 10+ in a career-high 10 straight games. It was his 4th 20-point game of the season and the 6th of his career.
? Prince's 18 1st-half points were the most before the break by a Baylor player since Brady Heslip scored 20 1st-half points against Long Beach State on March 20, 2013.
? Prince reached double figure scoring in the 1st half for the 8th time this season.
? Prince's 18 1st-half points were the most he's ever scored in a half - his previous best was 15.
? Prince checked in at 15:46 in the 1st half and played the remainder of the 1st half.
? Austin Mills played the final 8:45 of the 1st half - he hadn't played in the first half of a Big 12 game all season.
? Mills played a total of 13 minutes - he played only 5 minutes in Big 12 play over the Bears' previous 12 games combined.
? Lester Medford (10 points) scored in double figures for the 10th time this season, and BU is 9-1 in those games.
? Medford has scored in double figures in 4 of the last 8 games after snapping a streak of 8 straight single-digit scoring games.
? Rico Gathers (6 rebounds) failed to reach double-figure rebounds for just the 6th time in 26 games this season.
STAT OF THE GAME
22-4: Bench scoring advantage for Baylor over Texas Tech.
TWEET OF THE GAME
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor returns home to host Kansas State Saturday at 12 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
