Field Level Media
Jan 23, 2021
Jared Butler highlighted his 22-point performance with three straight 3-pointers during a game-breaking 19-1 run as No. 2 Baylor posted an 81-66 win over shorthanded Oklahoma State on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla.
Mark Vital added 19 points on 8 of 9 shooting for the Bears (14-0 overall, 7-0 Big 12), who are the only unbeaten team to win every game by at least eight points. Baylor sank 52.9 percent from the field in the second half and owned a 22-4 advantage in points off the bench.
Kalib Boone scored 21 points to pace the Cowboys (9-4, 3-4), while Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Bryce Williams had 11 points, but it wasn't enough to lift a team playing without its best player and a key reserve.
Leading scorer Cade Cunningham, who averages 17.8 points per game, was ruled out less than an hour before the game due to COVID-19 protocol. Rondel Walker also sat out with an arm injury.
Oklahoma State still took it to Baylor for nearly 30 minutes. The Cowboys led by as many as nine points late in the first half and took a 36-32 lead to intermission. Oklahoma State matched the Bears for about the first eight minutes after halftime, owning a 50-48 edge after an Isaac Likelele foul shot with 12:22 remaining.
At that point, the Bears and Butler hit the figurative X button. Layups by Vital and Davion Mitchell gave them the lead for good at 52-50 with 11:21 left. Following a free throw by Bernard Kouma that pulled the Cowboys within a point, it was Butler's turn.
He followed a Vital layup with his personal streak from the arc. The 75-second run increased a three-point edge to 63-51 with 8:34 on the clock, and Baylor never saw the lead slip below double figures after that.
Adam Flagler chipped in 10 points for the Bears, who limited Oklahoma State to 38.5 percent shooting in the second half.
--Field Level Media