WACO, Texas (AP) — Ricardo Ratliffe scored a career-high 27 points and No. 5 Missouri held on for an 89-88 victory over No. 3 Baylor after a furious late rally Saturday by the Bears.
Ratliffe had a big two-handed slam dunk midway through the second half when he scored six points in an 8-0 spurt that put the Tigers (18-1, 5-1 Big 12) up 68-58. Missouri still had a 10-point lead with 3:07 left then didn’t score again until Ratliffe’s two free throws with a minute left.
Missouri had to make 10 of 12 free throws in the final minute for the victory. Marcus Denmon’s free throw with 4 seconds left made it 89-85 before Brady Heslip hit a game-ending 3-pointer for Baylor (17-2, 4-2), which has lost two in a row after a 17-0 start.
Quincy Miller led Baylor with 29 points while Pierre Jackson had 20 points and 15 assists. Quincy Acy had 18 points with nine rebounds while Heslip had 10 points.
Jackson had 11 points and three assists in the final 2:06 when Baylor closed the game with a 19-10 run. Jackson started that when he drove and was fouled, yelling out “and one!” before he even hit the floor and the ball fell through the hoop. He made the free throw, cutting the deficit to 79-72.
After Denmon’s last free throw, his fifth in the final 33 seconds, Jackson tried to throw up a 3-pointer and draw a foul in the same motion. The ball wound up in Heslip’s hands along the left wing with no one around him.
Phil Pressey had 18 points for the Tigers while Denmon had 15 and Kim English 10.
The top two scoring and shooting teams in the Big 12 certainly lived up to that billing in the league’s first top-five matchup that didn’t involve either Kansas or Texas.
Missouri shot 55 percent (30 of 55), and Baylor finished at 57 percent (36 of 63).
Baylor was coming off a 92-74 loss at No. 7 Kansas that ended the Bears’ record 17-game winning streak. The loss to Missouri ended their 10-game home winning streak.
The Tigers, who have won four in a row since their loss at Kansas State two weeks ago, led only 58-56 midway through the second half when Pressey had a turnover. Heslip tried a 3-pointer and appeared to be hit when he shot, but there was no foul and coach Scott Drew was called for a technical foul.
Denmon made both of those free throws, then after a layup by Acy, Ratliff had his big dunk and added two free throws between consecutive turnovers by Jackson. Ratliffe’s layup after Pressey’s steal made it 68-58 with 8 minutes left.
Missouri led 39-35 at the half after a 6-0 run that included consecutive putback baskets.
By that point, the Tigers had a 14-0 advantage in second-chance points and its 10 offensive rebounds were only one fewer than the Bears’ total rebounds. Missouri finished with a 32-26 rebounding edge, and 18-11 advantage on second-chance points.