KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Facing surprise Baylor in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament, Texas was smart enough to train its defense on the man who'd scored 55 points in two days.
|  | | Texas' Maurice Evans comes up from behind to block a shot by Baylor's DeMarcus Minor. |
Holding DeMarcus Minor to just 12 points, the Longhorns (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 AP) rolled to a 76-62 victory Saturday and reached the Big 12 title game for the first time in school history.
"We knew he was going to be real confident coming in. He's the
hottest player in the Big 12," said Texas guard Darren Kelly. "So
we were ready for him."
Minor, who had scored 25 points Friday when Baylor shocked No. 7
Iowa State in the biggest upset in tourney history, was just
3-of-13 from the floor and missed both his 3-point tries.
"Today they did a good job of getting on us," said Minor.
"And I just didn't have the legs. Every single one of my shots was
short."
Chris Owens scored 23 points for the Longhorns (25-7), who will
meet the winner of the Oklahoma-Kansas semifinal for the tournament
title on Sunday.
Baylor (19-10) shot just 41 percent against the quick Texas
defense. The Bears made only 4-of-17 3-point attempts while losing
to Texas for the eighth time in a row.
"I've always said this was a great league for defense," said
Baylor coach Dave Bliss.
The fourth-seeded Longhorns have won eight straight since a
21-point loss to Oklahoma on Feb. 8.
The 6-foot-9 Owens was dominant inside with seven rebounds to go
with his 23 points
"Not much you can say but that he's just a bull inside," said
Baylor forward Logan Kozmalski. "He's so quick, there's not much
you can do. Tonight he was on."
The Bears seemed obviously fatigued playing their third tough
game in three days. Their first-round victory over Colorado went
into overtime.
"They even said out there they were tired a couple of times,"
said Texas guard Darren Kelly.
"Playing the No. 1 seed had its affect on us," said Bliss.
"The overtime added to that."
Texas led from start to finish, grabbing a 32-22 halftime
advantage and never letting Baylor get closer than 10 until the
Bears finally made one futile run in the final three minutes.
Maurice Evans, who totaled 20 points, canned a 3-pointer that
put Texas on top 64-48 with 6:17 to go, then Kosmalski and Wendell
Greenleaf each hit 3-pointers that shaved the lead to 67-58.
But Owens answered with a short jumper and with 1:23 left, Evans
hit two free throws to give the Longhorns a 73-62 advantage.
Baylor's Terry Black, who averaged almost 16 points during the
regular season, had 17 points after scoring just one in the upset
of Iowa State.
Kelly had 16 points for Texas, which outrebounded Baylor 36-26
and reached the Big 12 finals for the first time after going 0-3 in
semifinals.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Baylor Clubhouse
Texas Clubhouse
NCAA Basketball Championship Week
Oklahoma sends Kansas to sidelines in Big 12
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Freddie Williams passes it back to Maurice Evans in the lane for a jam.
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Darren Kelly feeds Chris Owens for a Texas jam.
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DeMarcus Minor throws the ball up to Terry Black for the slam.
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Baylor could get the ball in the lane but could not get it past Chris Owens on Saturday.
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Greg Davis spins in the lane and hits for a Baylor score.
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