WACO, Texas — Jaden Bradley scored 25 points, Brayden Burries had 24 and No. 2 Arizona outlasted Baylor 87-80 on Tuesday night, giving the Wildcats a two-game lead in the Big 12 standings with three to play in the regular season.
The Wildcats erased a 10-point deficit early in the second half, then had to withstand a back-and-forth finish. There was a 13 1/2-minute stretch in which the margin never was more than two points and the lead changed hands 13 times.
Tobe Awaka had 10 points and 13 rebounds for Arizona (26-2, 13-2), which has won its last three games since back-to-back losses that followed a 23-0 start to the season. Motiejus Krivas finished with 12 points.
Cameron Carr had 26 points for Baylor (14-14, 4-11). Isaac Williams scored 16 and freshman Tounde Yessoufou added 12.
The remaining four contenders for the Big 12 regular-season title all have 11-4 conference records: No. 4 Iowa State, No. 5 Houston, No. 14 Kansas and No. 16 Texas Tech.
Arizona finally took the lead for good on Bradley’s long jumper from the right wing that made it 76-75 with 4:04 left. Burries added a short jumper a minute later.
Baylor led 44-34 when Yessoufou opened the second half with a 3-pointer on a kick-out pass from Williams.
The Wildcats responded with a 14-2 run and had their first lead since the game’s first four minutes. They went up 48-46 on two free throws by Krivas less than a minute after he made a tying jumper.
Both teams shot 49.2% from the field, with Arizona making 30 of 61 shots and Baylor hitting 29 of 59.
