Keyonte George scored 19 points and Adam Flagler added 12 as No. 11 Baylor survived a scare from Washington State, holding on for a 65-59 victory in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge on Sunday in the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Flo Thamba added eight points and six rebounds for Baylor (8-2), which has won three straight following a 26-point loss to Marquette.
Jabe Mullins led Washington State (4-6) with 16 points off the bench, while TJ Bamba added 14 and Justin Powell had 12. The Cougars lost their second straight while shooting 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Washington State pulled within 59-55 on Mullins’ layup with 3:42 left before Baylor held the Cougars without a field goal for nearly three minutes.
Baylor took control over that stretch and moved ahead 63-55 with 1:41 left after Flagler scored four straight points.
Kymany Houinsou scored with 55 seconds left to cut the deficit to 63-59 before Jalen Bridges made two foul shots with nine seconds to play to secure the victory.
Baylor escaped with the victory despite being held well below its season average of 84.6 points. The Bears improved to 11-1 against their last 12 Pac-12 opponents, including seven straight wins.
Washington State tied the game at 35-35 after Powell hit a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-4 run to open the second half.
George’s trey put the Bears ahead 47-43 with 9:46 remaining before Mullins answered with a 3-pointer. Mullins made three 3-pointers after missing the past four games with a knee injury.
George scored seven points in the first half for Baylor, which took a 31-25 lead into the break. The Bears held the Cougars to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half.
Bridges finished with a team-high seven rebounds for Baylor, which improved to 44-5 against unranked teams over the last three seasons.
–Field Level Media