Oklahoma State Cowboys vs Baylor Bears Match Player Stats On Mar 12, 2021

Cade Cunningham had 20 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as No. 12 Oklahoma State knocked off No. 2 Baylor 83-74 in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament Friday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.

The Cowboys will face No. 13 Texas Saturday evening in the tournament final.

Cunningham hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give OSU a 66-65 advantage, and the teams took turns at exchanging the lead. The Cowboys finished the game on a 13-2 run.

Oklahoma State has won eight of its past nine games, with the only loss coming by 11 at Baylor last week. Six of those wins have come against ranked teams.

Oklahoma State (20-7) also got 20 points from Avery Anderson, 11 from Rondel Walker and 10 from Kalib Boone.

Baylor (22-2) was led by MaCio Teague with 17 points. Jared Butler added 16 and Davion Mitchell had 13. Mark Vital had 15 rebounds (eight offensive) to go with nine points. Baylor entered the game leading the nation in 3-point shooting at nearly 43 percent, but finished just 6-of-28 (21.4 percent) from long range.

Baylor outscored OSU 20-10 in the first eight minutes of the second half to reverse a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage. Each time Oklahoma State came back, Baylor responded.

Both teams traded spurts in the first half, with both teams having runs of at least 8-0. The Cowboys went to the locker room with a 35-30 lead.

The Cowboys played with more pace in the first half. They held a 15-2 advantage in fast-break points. Anderson led the Cowboys with 13 points. Cunningham, who picked up his second foul midway through the half, was limited to five points.

Baylor got 22 points from their trio of guards, with Mitchell leading with eight, and Butler and Teague with seven each. The Bears were just 2-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half.

Texas will try to become the first team from the state of Texas to win the Big 12 tournament. The Longhorns have the most of the 10 losses (six), followed by Baylor (three).

Texas advanced to the final when Kansas withdrew from the tournament after a positive COVID test Friday morning.

--Field Level Media