Baylor 76, Texas Christian 68

[March 13, 2014]  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Baylor 76, Texas Christian 68: Cory Jefferson had 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Bears knocked off the Horned Frogs in the first round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.

Isaiah Austin had 18 points and five blocked shots as seventh-seeded Baylor (22-10) advances to play second-seeded Oklahoma (23-8) in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Royce O’Neale contributed 14 points, 12 rebounds and five assists as the Bears won for the eighth time in nine games.

Karviar Shepherd scored a career-high 19 points for Texas Christian (9-22), which finishes the season with 19 consecutive losses. Kyan Anderson and Jarvis Ray added 17 points apiece for the Horned Frogs, who were without second-leading scorer Amric Fields (knee) for the sixth straight contest.

The Bears led by 17 early in the second half after an 8-0 run but the Horned Frogs whittled away and pulled within 53-46 on Shepherd’s basket with 12:02 remaining. O’Neale and Taurean Prince followed with back-to-back three-point plays to push the advantage to 13 and Baylor also stymied TCU’s final charge.

Baylor scored the first eight points and possessed a 20-6 lead less than seven minutes into the contest. The margin topped out at 16 with less than 5 1/2 minutes left before the Bears took a 39-27 lead into the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The victory was the 200th as Baylor coach for Scott Drew, who is one win shy of matching Bill Henderson (18 seasons ending in 1961) for most victories in school history. … Shepherd completed his freshman campaign by scoring in double digits in six of TCU’s final seven games. … Jefferson had eight of Baylor’s 15 offensive rebounds as part of a 39-22 edge on the boards.

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