KANSAS CITY — With Kansas State fans packing the 18,879-seat Sprint Center, the Big 12 tournament semifinals seemed like a road game in Manhattan for Baylor.

While the big crowd didn’t bother the Bears, Wildcats bomber Jacob Pullen eventually got to them.

Pullen buried five treys and scored 26 points to lead the No. 2-seeded Wildcats to an 82-75 win over the No. 3 Bears on Friday night to advance to the Big 12 tournament championship game.

Kansas State's Dominique Sutton (23) drives around Baylor's Ekpe Udoh (back) and LaceDarius Dunn during the Bears' 82-75 loss in the Big 12 tournament semifinals.
Rod Aydelotte/Tribune-Herald

The Wildcats (26-6) will face No. 1 Kansas, a 79-66 winner over No. 4 Texas A&M, at 5 p.m. today at Sprint Center. The Bears lost to Missouri in last year’s championship game after winning three games to get there.

“I hope we see them again in the Final Four or on that level,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Coming into the game, we talked about how similar both teams were. We knew it would come down to a few possessions, but they made the big plays down the stretch.”

The Bears (25-7) will find out Sunday where they’re headed in the NCAA tournament at 5 p.m.

“We should be in good shape,” Drew said. “We’ve got a high RPI and good road wins, and hopefully we’ll get a good seed.”

Denis Clemente scored 24 points for the Wildcats while Dominique Sutton scored 12 of his 14 points in a strong second half while also grabbing 14 rebounds.

“It was a hard-fought game between two good teams,” Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. “Baylor is so good, and they’ve got all the components to make a serious run in the NCAA tournament.”

The Bears got a 26-point performance from LaceDarius Dunn while foul-strapped Ekpe Udoh scored 18 points and collected 11 rebounds. Josh Lomers hit 12 points as the Bears shot 54 percent.

“Lace made some tough ones,” Pullen said. “He got into a rhythm tonight.”

Pullen has proven to be a Bear killer this season. On Jan. 26 at the Ferrell Center, the Wildcats pulled off a 76-74 win over the Bears behind a 25-point performance by Pullen.

With the Wildcats clinging to a 71-69 lead, Pullen buried the biggest shot of the game with a 3-pointer with two minutes remaining. After Udoh threw a bad pass, Pullen hit a pair of free throws with 1:41 remaining to give the Wildcats a 76-69 lead, and the Bears couldn’t recover.

“He’s a great player and he did some great things for them that helped them win,” Dunn said. “But we just stopped executing well late in the game.”

Trailing 37-36 at halftime, the Wildcats immediately took the lead when Sutton drove the baseline for a dunk and drew a foul from Lomers. He hit the free throw to finish the three-point play with 19:38 left in the game.

Baylor’s Ekpe Udoh tries to drive around Kansas State’s Curtis Kelly.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Curtis Kelly followed with a turnaround jumper before Udoh answered with a basket for the Bears. But Clemente drove for a basket and Sutton stole the ball and scored to finish off a 9-2 run to give the Wildcats a 45-39 lead in the first 2:30 of the second half.

After Sutton hit two more baskets to give the Wildcats a 49-41 lead, Dunn answered with three straight baskets to cut the lead to two.

Even after Udoh went to the bench with his fourth foul with 11:20 remaining, the Bears kept pushing. Trailing 56-51, the Bears answered with a 9-3 run to grab a one-point lead.

Tweety Carter drove for a basket, drew a foul and hit the free throw for a three-point play while Dunn buried a trey. Lomers gave the Bears a 60-59 lead with a pair of free throws with 9:05 left in the game.

Hitting 10 of their first 12 shots, the Bears jumped out to a 23-14 lead in the opening 10 minutes of the game.

Dunn hit Udoh with a pass inside for Baylor’s first basket before Dunn stepped outside and buried a trey. Lomers drove inside for a basket, drew a foul and hit the free throw to complete a three-point play to give the Bears an 8-4 lead.

After Pullen buried a trey for Kansas State, the Bears answered with seven straight points as Dunn nailed another trey, Udoh slipped inside for a basket and Dunn hit a turnaround jumper.

The Bears opened up their biggest lead of the first half when A.J. Walton drove for a basket to make it 23-14 with 10:58 remaining.

The Wildcats responded with a 12-1 run to take their first lead of the first half at 25-24. Clemente sparked the run with six points as he drove for a basket, hit a fall away jumper and got inside for another basket to give the Wildcats a one-point edge.

But the Bears quickly regained the lead when Quincy Acy hit an outside shot, Udoh drove for a basket and Lomers hit a pair of free throws to make it 30-25.

With Pullen burying three treys, the Wildcats cut Baylor’s lead to 37-36 at halftime. Pullen nailed his last one with 28 seconds left, and had a chance to give Kansas State a halftime lead when he missed a trey in the final seconds.

jwerner@wacotrib.com

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