By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

PROVO, Utah – When Baylor and BYU met last month at Foster Pavilion, the Cougars scored just five points off six offensive rebounds in an 81-72 loss to the Bears.
 
In Tuesday's rematch at a sold-out Marriott Center, 25^th-ranked BYU hit 14 3-pointers, grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and had a 20-4 edge in second-chance points to defeat the 11^th-ranked Bears, 78-71, before a crowd of 17,978.
 
"Even when we were playing well, (the crowd) kept their team going. That's what you face on the road," said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team had a two-game winning streak snapped in falling into a third-place tie with No. 9 Kansas (20-6, 8-5).
 
"That's why we always say you've got to control what you can't control. We didn't share the ball well enough. Eight assists, nine turnovers, that's not us. Twenty to four on second-chance points, that's not us. So, we didn't deserve it. We'll go back to the drawing board."
 
BYU center Aly Khalifa was 4-of-6 from distance and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists to help the Cougars (19-6, 7-6) split the season series with the Bears (19-7, 8-5.
 
"Really disappointed with our rebounding," Drew said of Baylor getting just seven offensive boards and getting outrebounded, 39-30. "We work really hard on that and that's something we're really good at. And tonight, we didn't have it. BYU runs a difficult offense because they shoot a lot of 3's and their big man is out (on the perimeter). So, you have guards underneath instead of your bigs underneath. Still, we did a poor job."
 
The Bears started the game on fire, hitting its first three attempts from outside the 3-point arc and 8-of-9 overall. Walter hit a pull-up jumper with 10:27 left in the opening half to give Baylor the early 22-13 advantage.
 
But after that hot start, the Bears cooled off and hit just two of its last 17 shots from distance, including 1-of-10 in the second half.
 
"I think we took great shots early; we didn't take as good of shots later," Drew said. "Credit their defense for forcing that. I've got to do a better job coaching and getting our guys to work it more and get better looks."
 
BYU went on a couple of 8-0 runs in the last 10 minutes of the first half and went to the break with a 42-37 lead. Khalifa scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the first half, knocking down 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and assisted on four other buckets.
 
Much like the first half, the Bears scored six unanswered points in the first 2 ½ minutes of the first half and retook the lead, 43-42, on an Yves Missi bucket. And then, after BYU had stretched its lead back out to a seven-point cushion, Baylor answered with a 7-0 run of its own and tied it up, 54-54, when Walter hit 3-of-4 free throws after Jaxson Robinson was hit with a technical and personal foul on the same play.
 
Jalen Bridges, who scored 25 in the first meeting with BYU, knocked down three of the Bears' five 3-pointers and tallying a game-high 15 points to go with eight rebounds, one block and a steal.
 
"I would say it's just my teammates," Bridges said. "They find me when I'm open, they hit me in transition. I just really play off our guards, and I'm just blessed to have great guards like them that get me shots, get me easy looks."
 
BYU responded with an 8-0 run on 3-pointers by Robinson and Dallin  and a layup by Richie Saunders on a backdoor cut and never let Baylor get closer than five points the rest of the way.
 
The Bears also got 13 points apiece from the freshman duo of Walter and  Missi. The reigning Big 12 Player and Newcomer of the Year, Jayden Nunn got in early foul trouble and ended with nine points in 25 minutes. RayJ Dennis had six points and all eight of the Bears' assists for the night.
 
Other than Khalifa, who scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the second half, the visiting Cougars also got 13 points apiece from Robinson and Trevin Knell and 10 points, five rebonds and six assists from Hall.
 
After going 1-1 on a coast-to-coast road trip that started with a 94-81 road victory at West Virginia, the Bears return home to face second-ranked Houston at 11 a.m. Saturday in a game that will be televised by CBS. The Cougars have strung together four-straight wins and beat Iowa State, 73-65, Monday night in a top-10 matchup.