WACO, Texas — Baylor beat its second Pac-12 opponent in a week, helping erase the disappointment that came between those quality wins.
Makai Mason had 14 points with some key second-half baskets as the Bears beat Oregon 57-47 after holding off a big comeback by the Ducks on Friday — six nights after Baylor’s impressive win at Arizona and three nights after losing at home on Stephen F. Austin’s game-ending layup.
“Much different feeling after today’s game than the last game,” coach Scott Drew said. “Basketball and the parity nowadays, and just the different emotions you feel within a week with two great wins, a tough loss.”
Oregon (8-4) trailed by as many as 16 points after halftime, but cut its deficit to 47-45 on Payton Pritchard’s 3-pointer with 3:32 left. Mason, the first graduate transfer ever to play for Baylor, then hit a jumper and later added a layup and two free throws.
“He did some nice things,” Ducks coach Dana Altman said of Mason. “He hit a couple of big 3s that they needed in a timely manner and then got to the rim and shot a layup.”
Pritchard finished with 14 points for the Ducks, whose season-best four-game winning streak ended. Will Richardson had 10 points.
Tristan Clark had 13 points and eight rebounds for Baylor (7-4). Mark Vital had 11 points and eight rebounds before leaving the game with 6 1/2 minutes left after he fell hard and was helped as he walked gingerly to the locker room.
“Mark’s going to be fine. Mark’s such a warrior, he wanted to go back in the game,” Drew said. “That was a hard fall. Certain guys tend to stay down longer than others. He’s one of those guys that if he stays down, he’s hurt.”
A jumper by Vital put the Bears up 37-21 with 15 minutes left. Oregon responded with a 13-2 run when Pritchard had two 3s and assisted on two other baskets.
Pritchard hit another 3 in a 7-0 spurt for the Ducks to get within 45-42 before the teams traded turnovers three times in a row.
Baylor jumped out to a 15-3 lead while Oregon missed 14 of its first 15 shots. The Ducks went more than 11 minutes between Pritchard’s jumper in the first minute of the game to Kenny Wooten’s putback dunk.
“We were stagnant, the ball wasn’t moving,” Altman said. “It didn’t translate very well what we worked on in practice to the game scenario.”
BIG PICTURE
Oregon: The Ducks were without 7-foot-2 freshman center Bol Bol for third game in a row. Their leading scorer and rebounder (21.0 points, 9.6 rebounds a game) is still wearing a protective boot on his injured left foot. Abu Kigab missed his second game in a row because of a sprained ankle. Altman gave no indication when the two might return.
Baylor: The Bears have been up-and-down this season and coming off a home loss to Stephen F. Austin and ending Arizona’s 52-game home non-conference winning streak.
STREAKY DUCKS
After Pritchard’s late 3 that made got the Ducks within a basket, he missed his last three shots — all from beyond the arc. The Ducks missed five of their last six shots overall. Oregon followed its 1-of-15 start from the field by making 16 of its next 23 shots, including Pritchard’s last made 3.
UP NEXT
Oregon gets a break for Christmas before playing Dec. 29 at Boise State in its last non-conference game.
