Missouri Tigers vs Baylor Bears Basketball Recap

Baylor 64, Missouri 62

The Missouri Tigers have a solid chance of making the NCAA Tournament, but the Baylor Bears have even better odds of reaching college basketball's premier postseason party.

Ekpe Udoh is the reason why.

For the second straight game, Udoh - a 6-10, 240-pound center on a team loaded with explosive perimeter shooters such as LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter - scored a game-winning basket at the tail-end of a Big 12 grinder. Just three days after giving Baylor a 55-53 win at Nebraska on a hoop with 25 seconds left in regulation, Udoh delivered even more drama against Missouri by putting back an Anthony Jones miss with 1.3 seconds left, just moments after a missed Baylor free throw. The putback bucket snapped a 62-all tie and carried the Bears to 6-4 mark in conference play. Missouri also stands at 6-4 and is certainly on the good side of the NCAA bubble, but this two-point triumph has Scott Drew's BU crew in even better position going forward.

This was a nip-and-tuck tilt at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Tex., particularly in the final 10 minutes and 56 seconds of regulation. During that span of time, neither the homestanding Bears nor Mike Anderson's visiting Tigers from the Show Me State could accumulate a lead of more than five points. This was a Waco white-knuckler that appeared to have turned on one wild sequence, only to pivot in the opposite direction because of a similarly insane series of occurrences.

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The first major dose of delirium to be injected into this encounter came with 46 seconds left and Baylor clinging to a precarious 61-59 edge. Missouri's Kim English scored on a fast break and was intentionally fouled by Dunn. English had a chance to put Baylor in deep trouble with two intentional foul shots, but despite the fact that he hit only one, the Tigers were able to snag a 62-61 lead and get the ball back. However, Mizzou guard J.T. Tiller missed a jump shot, and for all the opportunities the visitors had to put this game away, Baylor gained life with 12 seconds remaining.

Then came a screwy scrum that wound up putting the Bears in the winner's circle.

Dunn - who finished with 17 points on the afternoon - got fouled with 6.2 seconds left. He made the first free throw to tie the game at 62 but missed the second. What ensued was pure February Frenzy, one month before March Madness. Quincy Acy rebounded the Dunn miss, but failed on his putback attempt with four seconds remaining on the clock. Anthony Jones also got into the act for BU, but his follow of Acy's miss didn't fall through the bucket with three seconds to go. It was Udoh - who joined the board-crashing party - who made his offensive rebound count by tickling twine with 1.3 seconds on the Ferrell Center scoreboard, and when Missouri's last-ditch attempt bounced off the front rim at the final horn, the Bears had survived.

One wonders how many more late-game tricks Ekpe Udoh has up his sleeve. If the Baylor bruiser can continue to work wonders near the rim, the wonderboys from Waco should be going dancing one not-very-long month from now.

By: Matt Zemek
Big 12 Fans Senior Staff Writer