Prince Nets 30 Points & No. 25 Baylor Beats No. 16 Vandy 69-67
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WACO (AP) — Taurean Prince scored a career-high 30 points and Lester Medford had 15, including the winning 3-pointer, in No. 25 Baylor's 69-67 victory over No. 16 Vanderbilt on Sunday night.
Medford hit from the left corner while being knocked down with 42 seconds left. That ended up being the last points of the game as Medford missed the free throw.
Rico Gathers, who became Baylor's career leading rebounder, fouled out while going for the rebound on Medford's miss. But Nolan Cressler missed two free throws at the other end for Vanderbilt (6-2).
Gathers had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Bears (6-1). He has 920 rebounds to break Brian Skinner's school record of 915.
Wade Baldwin had 19 points for the Commodores, but his foul on Medford was his fifth. Matthew Fisher-Davis had 11 points.
Vanderbilt missed two shots in the final 4 seconds, including Cressler's baseline jumper after a rebound.
Baylor has won seven consecutive games over SEC teams the past four seasons. The Big 12 is 5-1 against the SEC so far this season.
The teams traded a pair of big runs after halftime in Baylor's first non-conference home game ever with both teams ranked.
Fisher-Davis had a pair of 3-pointers and two assists in a 17-0 run for Vanderbilt over a 5-minute span in the second half. His later assist came on Baldwin's run-capping 3-pointer for a 52-39 lead.
The Bears missed nine shots in a row before finally Prince hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to end their scoring drought. Prince had seven points as Baylor scored 13 in a row to get even, including his one-hander off the glass while falling down and his steal that led to a fadeaway jumper. It was tied at 52 when Ismail Wainright drove the baseline for a two-handed slam with 8:40 left.
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. Prince was fouled while making a layup after Medford's steal.
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. Gathers managed to keep the dribble while getting up off the ground and passed to Prince for a shot from the deep left wing.
Prince also had a stretch of 10 consecutive points for the Bears over an earlier span of 2 1/2 minutes to put them ahead.
Vandy cut it to 34-32 at halftime after Riley Lachance hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds.
TIP-INS
Vanderbilt: The Commodores made the first of three trips to Texas this season. They play Jan. 30 at Texas in the Big 12-SEC Challenge, then close their regular season March 5 at Texas A&M.
Baylor: Prince's 30 points matched Oklahoma's Buddy Hield for the most by a Big 12 player this season. ... The Bears have played 52 consecutive games without allowing an opponent to reach 75 points. They were the only major conference team to do that last season.
UP NEXT:
Vanderbilt: Hosts Dayton on Wednesday night.
Baylor: Hosts Northwestern State on Tuesday night.
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