Langston Love poured in a career-high 24 points, hitting two key free throws with 40 seconds to play, as No. 18 Baylor came from behind to beat UCF 77-69 on Wednesday in Orlando.
The Bears (15-5, 4-3 Big 12) snapped a three-game losing streak, while the Knights (12-8, 3-5) fell for the third time in four games.
Baylor trailed by six points at halftime and was down 56-53 after UCF’s Marchelus Avery hit a 3-pointer with 8:40 to play.
The Bears then ran off a 14-2 run that featured five points each from Love and Ja’Kobe Walter and was capped by two free throws by RayJ Dennis with 2:51 to play.
UCF rallied within 68-64 on Antwann Jones’ second-chance 3-pointer with 1:39 remaining, but the Bears responded with a layup by Dennis and two free throws by Love to stoke the lead to eight points.
Jalen Bridges added 12 points for Baylor, with Yves Missi and Dennis scoring 11 points each for the Bears.
Darius Johnson led the Knights with 23 points and 10 assists before fouling out with 25 seconds remaining. Avery added 16 points, while Jaylin Sellers hit for 14 in the loss. UCF missed six of its seven free throws in the game.
The Knights took charge in the early minutes, taking an 18-8 lead on a driving layup by Avery at the 14:49 mark of the first half. Baylor pared its deficit to a point after Love canned a 3-pointer with 6:39 to play in the half.
UCF pushed its advantage back to nine points when Sellers hit a 3-pointer with 2:32 left before halftime. But the Bears battled back, drawing to within 38-32 entering the break when Missi dunked an alley-oop pass from Dennis with one second remaining.
Johnson led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting before halftime, while Sellers had nine points for the Knights. UCF outshot the Bears 57.7 percent to 48 percent in the half and hit eight of its 13 3-point attempts.
Baylor stayed close thanks to eight points each from Bridges and Love.
UCF finished the game shooting 54 percent from the floor while Baylor shot 47.1 percent. The Knights were 14 of 27 (51.9 percent) from 3-point range, while the Bears went 9 of 20 (45 percent).
–Field Level Media
