BYU basketball” 3 keys to No. 25 BYU’s 78-71 win over No. 11 Baylor

BYU held serve at home in a crucial Big 12 conference basketball game Tuesday night, holding off Baylor 78-71 at the Marriott Center in front of a sellout crowd of 17,978.

The No. 25 Cougars made 14 3-pointers and got 16 points from Jaxson Robinson to avenge an 81-72 loss to the No. 11 Bears in Waco, Texas, last month.

The Cougars improved to 7-6 in league play, 19-7 overall, and won their fourth-straight home game.

The Bears fell to 8-5 and 19-7.

Here are 3 keys to the Cougars’ win:

• The key stat of the game was second-chance points. The Cougars grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and turned them into 20 second-chance points. Baylor had just four second-chance points.

BYU big man Aly Khalifa was 4 off 6 from 3-point range, finishing with 14 points. He also added seven rebounds and seven assists as the Cougars out-rebounded the Bears 39-30.

• Miro Little drew what officials determined to be a flagrant 1 foul — it appeared that Little flopped, at least a little — on Richie Saunders and made a couple free throws to give Baylor a 27-21 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

But the iffy call woke the Cougars up, and they reeled off an 8-0 run to take their first lead, 29-27, with 5:33 left in the half. BYU got back in it with second-chance points, outscoring the visitors 13-0 in that category in the first half.

BYU shot 38% from 3-point range (8 of 21) to also help it jump out to the 42-37 halftime lead.

• Jalen Bridges lit BYU up for 25 points — 17 in the second half — in the Bears’ 81-72 win in Waco, but for some reason the Cougars left the guard all alone for a 3-pointer just 20 seconds into the game. Bridges’ shot got the visitors going, and they raced out to a quick 18-10 lead. 

Baylor made nine of its first 11 shots and looked like it was going to blow the Cougars out of the Marriott Center gym early. They finished the half shooting 54% (13 of 24), cooling down considerably after that hot start.

Bridges led the Bears with 15 points, but Baylor was just five of 20 from 3-point range.