BYU bounces back, upsets No. 11 Baylor at home

Last week, BYU was the top-20 team losing on the road in the Big 12. The Cougars fell to Oklahoma State on Saturday after winning four times in five games, and they dropped to No. 25 in the latest AP Top 25.

Tuesday night, they were the ones pulling off the upset.

BYU held Baylor to just five made three-pointers – including one in the second half – to come away with the 77-69 win and improve to 7-6 overall in Big 12 play. The Cougars found plenty of success from behind the three-point line, making 14 of their 36 attempts from downtown, which helped make the difference in the game.

The Bears struggled mightily throughout the contest from deep, going just 5-for-20 from three-point land and 1-for-10 after halftime. While they were able to keep up by getting to the free throw line, making 16 of 21 attempts, it wasn’t enough to overcome the three-point shooting struggles.

Aly Khalifa led BYU with 14 points along with seven rebounds and seven assists in the effort. Three other Cougars reached double figures as part of the balanced attack that helped propel them to victory.

Baylor now falls to 19-7 overall and 8-5 overall this season heading into Saturday’s showdown against No. 2 Houston. BYU, meanwhile, is gearing up to take on Kansas State on Saturday to kick off a two-game swing through the Sunflower State.

BYU is right in the middle of a jam-packed Big 12

Tuesday night marked BYU’s third victory over an AP Top 25 team this year, the second-most in program history behind the 1980-81 season’s four ranked wins. The Cougars will have plenty of opportunities to get more, though, considering the amount of talent in the Big 12 this year. The conference tournament is still a few weeks away, and it looks like it’ll be another wild weekend in Kansas City this year.

Five teams from the Big 12 appeared in the latest AP poll, with TCU also getting votes. Still, the Big 12 is viewed as the best conference in the country by the metrics, leading the nation in KenPom efficiency as of Tuesday night.

In On3’s latest Bracketology, James Fletcher III had 10 Big 12 teams in the field, headlined by No. 1 seed Houston. Those projections came after the NCAA Tournament selection committee unveiled the top 16 seeds as of Feb. 17 – one month before Selection Sunday. The Big 12 had four teams in the rankings, including No. 3 overall seed Houston.