By John Werner

Tribune-Herald staff writer

OKLAHOMA CITY — LaceDarius Dunn let out a yell for the ages after he hit his last free throw Friday night.

With that yell from the gut, it was like he released the frustration of every Baylor player who had lost to Texas 24 straight times in the last decade.

“I knew it was over,” Dunn said. “There was no way they were going to catch us.”

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Texas defender Justin Mason gives ground as Baylor guard Henry Dugat launches a shot in the paint. (Rod Aydelotte photo)

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With Dunn scoring eight points in the final 71 seconds, the Bears rallied for a 76-70 win over the Longhorns to advance to their first Big 12 tournament championship game.

Now, a Baylor team that went just 5-11 in the Big 12 regular season is one win away from reaching the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. The ninth-seeded Bears will face Missouri in the championship game at 5 p.m. today at the Ford Center.

“We’ve got a chance to win and be where we should have been all along,” Baylor guard Curtis Jerrells said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But four days after we started this thing, look where we are now.”

No team has ever won four games in four days to win the Big 12 tournament. But after impressive wins over Nebraska, No. 11 Kansas and Texas, the Bears have a chance to make history. Baylor has never won a conference tournament dating back to the first Southwest Conference tournament in 1976.

“Once we got to the conference tournament, we knew it was a new season,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “That weight vest was lifted off. Texas is a very big, physical team, but we never backed down, and I couldn’t be more proud and happy for our guys. We’re just going to try to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

The Bears beat the Longhorns for the first time since an 80-75 win on Feb. 21, 1998, when Tom Penders was Texas’ coach. Longhorns coach Rick Barnes started his 24-game winning streak against the Bears in 1999, including a pair of wins this season.

“Every time we play them, I think we’re going to beat them,” said Jerrells, who had lost nine times to Texas. “We got a chance today, and we did it. We’re going to enjoy this win, but our mission is a lot bigger than beating Texas.”

The Bears (20-13) also made history on another front as they recorded back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history.

Trailing 37-25 late in the first half, it looked like Baylor’s misery against Texas (22-11) would continue. But the Bears went on an 8-2 run to cut Texas’ halftime lead to 39-33.

Throughout the second half, the teams traded baskets in a riveting game. Play underneath the basket was rough and fierce.

‘Like a bowling ball’

With 3:21 left in the game, Texas’ 6-10, 300-pound center Dexter Pittman and Baylor’s Kevin Rogers and Tweety Carter all sprawled on the floor as they were battling for a loose ball. It took several minutes for all three players to get on their feet.

“Man, that dude’s like a bowling ball,” Rogers said of Pittman. “The dude picked up the spare.”

After Varez Ward grabbed a rebound and scored and hit two free throws on the next possessions, the Longhorns moved in position to win with a 65-61 lead with 2:39 remaining.

But the Bears responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. After Rogers hit a free throw and Henry Dugat nailed two more free throws, Dunn delivered the shot of the game.

Dunn tried to hit a trey from the left corner, but Texas’ Damion James came from behind to block it out of bounds. With his next chance, Dunn drilled a trey from the right side to give the Bears a 67-65 lead with 1:11 remaining.

“I felt the first one was going in, but Damion smacked it out of bounds,” Dunn said. “But I kept hearing Curtis (Jerrells) say we’ve got to get him the ball. They got it to me, and I was willing to shoot it, and it went in. I think it was the biggest shot for my team.”

After A.J. Abrams missed a trey, Jerrells rebounded, drew a foul and hit both free throws to give the Bears a 69-65 lead with 36.2 seconds remaining. Texas kept battling as Abrams buried a long 3-pointer to cut Baylor’s lead to 72-70 with 17.1 seconds remaining.

But Dunn, who finished with 16 points, hit four straight free throws in the final 14.9 seconds to seal the win. After his last free throw with 9.2 seconds remaining, Dunn let out his resounding yell.

“We not only beat them,” Dunn said. “We beat them when it counted.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

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