LUBBOCK, Texas – When Baylor upset a top-10 Texas Tech team four weeks ago in Waco, Makai Mason and King McClure combined for 24 points and seven of the Bears' 11 3-pointers. 
            Without them, Baylor didn't have enough weapons to compete with a Tech team that won its fourth straight game by double digits, handing the shorthanded Bears an 86-61 loss Saturday afternoon at United Supermarkets Arena. 
            King has missed the last three games with a knee injury, while Mason has missed two of the last three with a bruised toe on his right foot. Without its two senior guards, Baylor turned it over 19 times and shot just 35 percent from the floor in its worst loss in this series in 17 years. 
            "That's where you miss Makai and King the most is the leadership," Baylor coach Scott Drew said, "not getting distracted, intimidated, frustrated, give up on plays, keep everyone united on the same page. The second thing it showed is those two were really good the first time we played (Tech) at jump-stopping and finding other people. We didn't have enough of that today. We didn't have enough people finding other people. We only had six assists."
            Sophomores Jarrett Culver and Davide Moretti had 18 and 17 points, respectively, for Tech (21-5, 9-4), which moved into a tie for second and just a half-game behind Kansas State at the top of the Big 12 standings. Baylor, losing for the third time in its last four games, fell to 16-9 overall and 7-5 in conference play. 
            "Not knowing, or not practicing, coaches know you can't be as successful as you would if you were practicing with who you're playing with and you have a rhythm and continuity," Drew said. "It's tough. (Trainer) David Chandler's working overtime. And the good thing is Makai and King are tough guys. They're doing everything they can to get back, and they'll be back sooner than later."
            Between Mario Kegler and Jared Butler, a duo that combined for seven treys and over half of the Bears' points, Baylor was able to match a hot-shooting Tech team from beyond the arc early on. Kegler hit three 3-pointers in the first 6 /12 minutes, and then Butler pulled them within three, 18-15, on his first trey of the game at the 12:08 mark. 
            But then, Culver and Matt Mooney reeled off 10 straight points to push the Tech lead to 28-15. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Devonte Bandoo and Butler got the Bears back within seven, but Tech took a 45-32 lead into the locker room and was never seriously threatened in the second half. 
            Butler was 4-of-5 from 3-point range and finished with a team-high 16 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, but the freshman point guard also had seven of the Bears' 19 turnovers. Kegler hit 3-of-6 from outside the arc and chipped in with 15 points and four rebounds 
            "(Kegler) was tremendous today," Drew said. "I thought he shot it well, was poised, under control, really competed. We just needed a couple more weapons."
            Tech also got 11 points from Tariq Owens and nine from Mooney, with the Red Raiders knocking down 12-of-29 from 3-point range and 30-of-35 free throw attempts. Their 17 made free throws in the first half were the most by a Baylor opponent in the 16-year Drew era. 
            "Being shorthanded, we didn't really want to get too much into the man (defense), because they do such a good job drawing fouls," Drew said. "They still got to the line 35 times, so I don't know if that worked. I know they hit a lot of 3's. The crazy thing is Culver was shooting 16 percent in conference from 3, and I thought his 3's were really big for them."
            Baylor's team prayed after the game with Tech fifth-year senior Norense Odiase, who was playing with a heavy heart after two of his cousins died in a car crash early Friday morning in Lubbock. Mason and Odiase were good friends back in junior high, and Tech coach Chris Beard called Drew on Friday "and allowed me to break the news to Makai, rather than him hear it from other people, so we could be there for support."
            "I thought it was really classy for Coach Beard to come over and pray with us, and allow us to comfort Odiase as well," Drew said. "That's what sports is about. It meant a lot yesterday in practice, the day before the game, for him to take the time to call and let us break the news to Makai. And, obviously, he was pretty shook. So, I appreciate it."
            Baylor's road doesn't get any easier. The Bears play 23^rd-ranked Iowa State (19-6, 8-4) at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Ames after the Cyclones knocked off 18^th-ranked Kansas State, 78-64, Saturday in Manhattan.