Baylor guard Lester Medford hit a 3-pointer in the corner in the final minute to lift the 25th-ranked Bears over 16th-ranked Vanderbilt 69-67 on Sunday night at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. And over the final 8:13 those two combined to score 14 of Baylor’s final 17 points, with a Johnathan Motley free throw and a Gathers Sr. Riley LaChance and Nolan Cresser each missed jump shots that would have tied the game in the final 10 seconds.
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Baylor forward Taurean Prince (21) drives to the basket against Vanderbilt forward Luke Kornet (3) during an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015, in Waco, Texas. Kevin Stallings’ team doesn’t lack for scoring options, and with sophomore guards Wade Baldwin IV (19 points, four assists) and Matthew Fisher-Davis (11 points, five rebounds) serving as the catalysts Vanderbilt established what appeared to be a comfortable margin. North Carolina, which stretched its winning streak to four games, scored the contest’s first 10 points, and the Wildcats never fully recovered.
The game is on ESPNU tonight starting in just a few minutes, so keep it here on ODB and watch with the rest of us! The Bears stumbled to a 38.8 percent shooting performance, 26-for-67. He has 920 rebounds to break Brian Skinner’s school record of 915.
Prince had 19 points in the first half, and Baylor had its biggest lead when his three-point play made it 32-24 with 2:20 left.
Vanderbilt built a 52-39 lead midway through the second half when Baldwin hit a 3-pointer at the 11:55 mark. He had six in a row later in the half, getting fouled while making a layup after Medford’s steal.
While he did struggle in the Bears’ loss at No. 15 OR in mid-November, Medford’s two best offensive outings of the season have come in Baylor’s best wins.
That came right after Prince’s long 3-pointer that followed an impressive save by Gathers, who grabbed a rebound after Baylor had already missed two inside shots.
Vanderbilt: The Commodores made the first of three trips to Texas this season.
Prince was one of the Big 12’s most improved players last season, and as a senior he’s expected by many to take another step forward for a team with Big 12 title aspirations. They play January 30 at Texas in the Big 12-SEC Challenge, then close their regular season March 5 at Texas A&M. The Bears have played 52 consecutive games without allowing an opponent to reach 75 points….
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