Facing surprising Baylor in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament, Texas was smart enough to train its defense on the man who had scored 55 points in two days.
Holding DeMarcus Minor to just 12 points, the No. 20 Longhorns rolled to a 76-62 victory Saturday and reached the Big 12 title game for the first time in school history.
"We knew he was going to be real confident coming in. He's the hottest player in the Big 12," said Texas guard Darren Kelly. "So we were ready for him."
Minor, who had scored 25 points Friday when Baylor shocked No. 7 Iowa State, was just 3-of-13 from the floor and missed both his three-point tries.
"Today they did a good job of getting on us," said Minor. "And I just didn't have the legs. Every single one of my shots was short."
Chris Owens scored 23 points for the Longhorns (25-7), who will meet Oklahoma for the tournament title today.
Baylor (19-10) shot just 41 percent against the quick Texas defense. The Bears made only 4-of-17 three-point attempts while losing to Texas for the eighth time in a row.
"I've always said this was a great league for defense," said Baylor coach Dave Bliss.
The Longhorns have won eight straight since a 21-point loss to Oklahoma on Feb. 8.
The 6-foot-9 Owens was dominant inside with seven rebounds to go with his 23 points.
"Not much you can say but that he's just a bull inside," said Baylor forward Logan Kozmalski. "He's so quick, there's not much you can do. Tonight he was on."
The Bears seemed obviously fatigued playing their third tough game in three days. Their first-round victory over Colorado went into overtime.
"They even said out there they were tired a couple of times," said Texas guard Darren Kelly.
"Playing the No. 1 seed had its effect on us," Bliss said. "The overtime added to that."
Texas led from start to finish, grabbing a 32-22 halftime advantage and never letting Baylor get closer than 10 until the Bears finally made one futile run in the final three minutes.
Maurice Evans, who totaled 20 points, canned a three-pointer that put Texas on top 64-48 with 6:17 to go, then Kosmalski and Wendell Greenleaf each hit tgree-pointers that shaved the lead to 67-58.
But Owens answered with a short jumper and with 1:23 left, Evans hit two free throws to give the Longhorns a 73-62 advantage.
Baylor's Terry Black, who averaged almost 16 points during the regular season, had 17 points after scoring just one in the victory over Iowa State.
Kelly had 16 points for Texas, which outrebounded Baylor 36-26 and reached the Big 12 finals for the first time after going 0-3 in semifinals.
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