Baylor down early, rallies for 79-64 win over BYU

WACO, Texas (AP) - Baylor senior point guard Pierre Jackson scores his points and shares the ball as well. Isaiah Austin, the Bears' 7-foot-1 freshman, can make 3-pointers along with his strong inside play.

And they're not alone in contributing for the resurgent Bears.

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Jackson had 16 points with nine assists, and all five Bears starters finished with double figure-scoring as they rallied from a big early deficit for a 79-64 victory over BYU on Friday night.

"We played one of our (best), if not our best, team games. Everybody that came in contributed," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "The first 7-8 minutes of the game, I think we got all the turnovers, bad defense, all that stuff, out of the way. And then I think we played really well."

Austin (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Cory Jefferson (13 points, 16 rebounds) had double-doubles. Brady Heslip had 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and A.J. Walton had 10 points with assists on consecutive dunks by Austin after halftime.

The Bears (8-3) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first 7½ minutes of the game, but took control of the game with a 21-2 run over the final 7½ minutes of the first half.

"There are a lot of learning issues for our team and for our staff. We had some guys on the bench. We responded a little bit different," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "We took them out like we normally do when they get a couple of fouls, and then we put them back in. ... Obviously, that was a huge difference in the game. We got in at halftime down nine. It was quite a run."

Baylor took the lead for good when Gary Franklin's 3-pointer broke a 31-all tie with 2 minutes left in the first half. Another 3-pointer by Franklin made it 40-31 at the half.

"I've been in the gym a lot. I've been putting up a lot of shots, particularly after the last game, where I couldn't make a shot," Franklin said. "And then obviously having a point guard like Pierre Jackson, who's able to find anybody, he provided me with the opportunity to knock down a couple of open shots."

Brandon Davies had 26 points and 17 rebounds for BYU (8-4), which had a three-game winning streak snapped

The Bears, who earlier this season lost consecutive home games with a win at Kentucky in between, have rebounded with three consecutive wins - all at home. They play next Friday night at 14th-ranked Gonzaga, their last game before opening Big 12 play Jan. 5 at home against Texas.

Tyler Haws scored 13 points for BYU. He had the only Cougars basket in the final 7:50 of the first half after being on the bench for a bit because of two early fouls.

BYU led 19-8 with 12:45 left in the first half after consecutive baskets by Nate Austin. But Craig Cusick was then called for a flagrant foul, and Franklin made both free throws.

With just under 8 minutes left, Raul Delgaldo made a 3-pointer to give BYU a 29-19 lead.

Then Baylor went on its game-turning run, which Austin started with a 3-pointer. Jackson had five free throws and an assist on Franklin's half-closing 3.

"We didn't panic and we didn't start taking bad shots and trying to get it all back," Drew said. "It all starts at the point, and Pierre, I thought, was really good defensively and was able to pressure. Our bigs did a good job."

The start of the second half belonged to Jackson. He passed to Heslip for a 3, hit a short jumper and then drove for a layup after faking a pass to Heslip to put Baylor up 47-35 with 18:23 left.

BYU cut Baylor's lead to 49-39 on two free throws by Davies with 16½ minutes to play, but the Cougars got no closer. Jackson's 3 sparked a 16-6 run, including consecutive dunks by Austin, that put Baylor up by 20.

"They just battled us. All game long, it was a fight," Davies said. "They put a lot more pressure on us when they came out of a timeout and got a couple of stops in a row."

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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