Oklahoma City, OK (My Sportsbook) - DeMarre Carroll poured in a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds, as 14th-ranked Missouri ended Baylor's unlikely run with a 73-60 triumph for the program's first ever Big 12 Tournament title.
Missouri (28-6), the league's No. 3 seed, limped into the conference tourney with losses in two of its last three games, including a 10-point loss on the road to Texas A&M. But three victories by a combined 42 points at Ford Center has the Tigers in line for a fairly high seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
Leo Lyons chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds, while Matt Lawrence checked in with a 13-point effort as well for the Tigers, who shot 47.1 percent from the field and held their counterparts to a 39.3 percent clip.
"It is a very emotional time for us right now," Lyons said. "Four years we have been through all the ups and downs. We have seen this program when it was at its worst and best and that's right now. We want to continue to keep it going and take it as far as we can to end our senior year."
Baylor (20-14), which knocked off Nebraska, top-seeded Kansas and Texas in succession to become the first nine seed to ever reach the Big 12 title game, was paced by Curtis Jerrells' 16 points.
"The goal was to come and win it," Jerrells said. "Like coach [Scott Drew] said, we are in it to win it. We fell one short, but I couldn't be more proud of my teammates and the coaching staff and myself."
LaceDarius Dunn made just 3-for-17 from the floor and finished with 11 points for the Bears, who lost four of five coming into the tournament.
Just as they had done the previous three games of the tournament, the Bears got out to a quick start as Dunn's three-point play had the underdogs holding a 16-9 lead 8 1/2 minutes into the game.
Unlike their other opponents, however, Missouri had an immediate answer.
After trading three-pointers, back-to-back makes from behind the arc by Miguel Paul and Kim English capped an 11-0 spurt for a 23-19 margin with under eight minutes to go before intermission, which ended with Missouri in front 37-33.
Playing its fourth game in four days, Baylor appeared to run out of gas at the start the second half. The Bears failed to net a field goal in the opening 4 1/2 minutes of the stanza and stared at a 46-35 deficit after Lawrence's jumper.
The Bears had one last run in them, rattling off 11 of the next 16 points to pull within five on Kevin Rogers' jumper with under 12 minutes left.
The comeback was not meant to be, though, as Carroll's three-pointer from the left wing and Zaire Taylor's runner in the lane highlighted eight straight points for the Tigers, who held a 59-46 lead with nine minutes to play.
It was a nine-point spread, 67-58, with under three minutes left, and Rogers had a chance to cut into the lead at the free throw line. He missed both attempts, however, and Lyons' layup off an offensive rebound with less than 90 ticks remaining made it a double-digit game again.
"[We] were able to come out in the second half and put the pedal to the metal so to speak with our defense," Missouri head coach Mike Anderson said. "Our defense was the most consistent thing here in this particular tournament. Eventually, we are going to shoot the ball well and I thought we shot the ball a little bit better today."
Game Notes
The Tigers, who also won the only regular season battle between the programs, own a 12-9 edge in the all-time series...Baylor, which also has never won the conference crown, made just 6-of-24 from downtown, where Missouri made 8- of-17...Henry Dugat had 12 points off the bench for Baylor.
