By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider 
            This was one of those drop-the-mic moments that we may never forget. 
            On a special Senior Day for the record books, MaCio Teague tied a school record with 10 3-pointers – the second-most in the 25-year history of the Big 12 – and poured in a Baylor career-high 35 points to lead the third-ranked and Big 12 champion Bears (21-1, 13-1) to an 88-73 win over Texas Tech in Sunday's regular-season finale at the Ferrell Center. 
            And for the cherry on the top, fellow senior Mark "The Villain" Vital had his first double-double of the season and third of his career with 10 points and 15 rebounds, and finished with a school-record 45 conference wins. 
            "You couldn't draw it up any better." Baylor coach Scott Drew said. 
            As they swapped places at the postgame press conference, Vital asked Teague, "No better way to go out, huh, bro?"
            Without even a moment's hesitation, Teague shot back, "A national championship."
            Finishing one point shy of his overall career high– 36 versus Campbell during his sophomore season at UNC Asheville – Teague had 26 points in the second half alone when he made his first seven shots from 3-point range. His 10 made treys tied the school record set by LaceDarius Dunn 10 years ago versus Morgan State and the Bears' most ever in a Big 12 game, breaking the mark shared by Brady Hesllip and Makai Mason. 
            "Mace's quick release, he was really on-point with his feet and getting it up quick," Drew said. "I can tell you, when a player's hot like that, there's one thing for sure, they've put in a lot of work. And not many people work harder at their craft than Makai, Brady and MaCio. There's a reason those guys make shots like that."
            During the pregame shootaround, Teague told Vital that the basketball goal looked "super big from the jump."
            "When I went out and did my pregame shooting . . . I felt like I really got in a good rhythm shooting the ball," said Teague, who was 11-of-16 overall and a mind-boggling 8-of-10 from outside the arc. "I just wanted to continue to get shots up in the game, make or miss. At West Virginia, I missed a lot of shots and kept shooting, and my teammates kept telling me to shoot. Tonight, it went in."
            Tech coach Chris Beard, whose team had won three in a row, said "when the basket gets big like that, it's very difficult to guard."
            "When you're seeing that as a coach, you're going 'Get him the ball! Get him the ball!''' Drew said. "And our team normally does a great job finding the hot guy."
            Vital made a couple buckets in the paint, sandwiched around Teague's first two 3-pointers, as Baylor got out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes and stretched it to 16-3 on a Matthew Mayer jumper. 
            But, Tech fought back to tie it at 25-25, trailed by just two at the break (34-32) and was within one (41-40) early in the second half. That's when Teague took matters into his own hand, knocking down three 3-pointers and scoring 12 points in a 16-4 run that suddenly stretched it to 57-44. 
            On what Teague described as his "favorite play of the game," a hustling Vital tracked down a long offensive rebound and flipped a pass to Teague just in front of the bench before he took one step back and nailed a corner 3. 
            "I was yelling at him, so he passed it right there to me, and I just turned around and shot it," Teague said. "I think the coaches and staff were surprised that I shot it, but when it went in, no questions could be asked. As long as it goes in, that answers everything."
            Vital said he had to "go into my Dennis Rodman the Worm mode, because I knew I could get that ball. I had to prove to people that I'm still The Villain."
            Baylor built a 22-point lead before Tech (17-9, 9-8) closed the game on an 8-1 run over the last two minutes after the Bears emptied their bench. Walk-on Mark Paterson, a grad transfer from St. Edward's who was honored along with Vital, Teague and retired forward Tristan Clark, made one of two free throws to cap off the scoring. 
            "Today was a special day for me, MaCio and Mark Paterson," Vital said. "I tried to put everything left in the tank into that. A lot of people were doubting me at some point, saying that I lost it and didn't have the energy. It's amazing right now, man, it's an amazing feeling. This is good momentum going into the (Big 12) tournament and the NCAA tournament."
            Junior guards Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, and combined with Teague and Vital to score all but eight of the team's 88 points. 
            Shooting a sizzling 63 percent from 3-point distance (15-of-24), Baylor won its fifth in a row over Tech in Waco and finished off the program's first unbeaten home slate (11-0) since the 1947-48 team went 9-0. 
            "I think defensively, we're still not where we're capable," Drew said of the Bears' fifth game since coming back from a COVID pause. "But, obviously, no one's going to argue with shooting 15-of-24 (from 3) and scoring 88 points against Tech. Normally, it takes two games to do that. Offensively, we're flowing. But defensively, I think we can still get better."
            Kyler Edwards knocked down four 3-pointers and led the Red Raiders with 18 points, while Kevin McCullar and Terrence Shannon had 11 points apiece. Mac McClung, Tech's leading scorer coming in, was just 3-of-9 from the floor and finished with seven points. 
            After the game, Baylor VP and Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades presented coach Scott Drew with the first Big 12 championship trophy in program history. Starting with Rhoades and Baylor President Linda Livingstone, the nets were cut down to celebrate the Bears' first conference title in 71 years. 
            The No. 1 seed for next week's Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, the Bears will get a first-round bye and face the winner between TCU (12-13) and Kansas State (8-19) in the quarterfinals at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the T-Mobile Center.