Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Baylor 81, Kansas 72
When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, March 9, 2012
Where: Sprint Center, Kansas City, Missouri
Officials: # Gerry Pollard, # Mike Stuart, # Mark Whitehead
Attendance: 18972

Baylor 81, Kansas 72: Perry Jones III scored 18 points as the Bears advanced to the Big 12 final and handed the Jayhawks only their second loss - both to Baylor - in their last 18 Big 12 tournament games since 2005.

Baylor, who had six players score in double figures, will meet Missouri in Saturday's championship game.

The Bears (27-6) will be making their second trip to the final and second in the last four seasons. They lost to Missouri in 2009 after defeating Kansas.

Baylor improved to 23-1 this season when leading at the half, but it seemed at times that trend might not hold. Baylor led 43-35 at halftime and stretched the margin as wide as 13 points before Kansas went on an 18-3 run to regain the lead.

Brady Heslip made the second of his four 3-pointers to give Baylor the lead for good a little more than a minute later and Heslip hit two more 3-pointers down the stretch to help the Bears hold on.

Pierre Jackson and Quincy Miller scored 13 points apiece while Heslip and A.J. Walton each had 12 and Quincy Acy 11 for Baylor.

Tyshawn Taylor scored 20 points for Kansas.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Kansas (27-6) won the two regular season meetings by an average of 16 points. ... Baylor was 24 of 28 from the free throw line. … Kansas forward Thomas Robinson narrowly missed his 24th double-double of the season with 15 points and nine rebounds. ... The Jayhawks won five of the six Big 12 tournament titles from 2006-2011.
Top Game Performances
 
Baylor   Kansas
Perry Jones III 18 Scoring Tyshawn Taylor 20
Pierre Jackson 7 Assists Thomas Robinson 3
Quincy Miller 8 Rebounds Thomas Robinson 9
A.J. Walton 7 Free Throws Made Jeff Withey 5
Pierre Jackson 2 Steals Conner Teahan 2
Quincy Acy 2 Blocks Jeff Withey 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Baylor 81 40.0 9-19 24-28 16 37 5 5 9
Kansas 72 42.6 2-13 18-23 12 34 7 7 10