No. 3 Houston sneaks by Baylor to wrap up regular season

WACO, Texas (AP) — L.J. Cryer scored 23 points with six 3-pointers as Big 12 champion and third-ranked Houston won its 10th consecutive game, beating Baylor 65-61 on Saturday night to wrap up the regular season.

J'Wan Roberts added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Cougars (27-4, 19-1 Big 12), including two free throws with 13 seconds remaining. Milos Uzan had 12 points and Emanuel Sharp scored 11.

The Cougars won without making a field goal after Sharp's 3-pointer for a 58-48 lead with 6:07 left. They have won a national-best 14 road games in a row, including a 10-0 mark in Big 12 play.

Baylor (18-13, 10-10) led 29-26 at halftime and was up by seven before the Cougars used a 20-4 run to take the lead for good.

Freshman guard VJ Edgecombe scored 23 points for the Bears, who have lost four of their last six games.

Norchad Omier had 13 points and 16 rebounds, his 87th career double-double to match Tim Duncan’s total at Wake Forest for the second-most in NCAA history. Tom Gola had 96 for La Salle in the 1950s.

Takeaways

Houston: The Cougars have at least 27 wins for the fifth season in a row under coach Kelvin Sampson. ... Roberts has 1,000 career rebounds and 1,000 points, joining Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon and Greg Anderson as the only Houston players to accomplish that feat.

Baylor: The Bears didn’t have a winning conference record for the first time since an 8-10 Big 12 mark in 2017-18.

Key moment

Ja’Vier Francis' baseline dunk eight minutes into the second half gave Houston its first lead since the 8:08 mark of the first.

Key stat

Cryer, part of Baylor's 2021 national championship team as a freshman, made his first six 3s. His first miss came early in the second half.

Up next

The Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. Houston has a double-bye into the quarterfinals Thursday. Baylor, the No. 7 seed, plays a second-round game Wednesday.

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