Waco, Texas ? Henry Dugat scored 23 points as the Baylor Bears got off to their best start since the 1940s with a 79-71 victory over Oklahoma State Tuesday night.

Oklahoma State came into the game as the best free-throw shooting team in the Big 12, but the Cowboys made just 18 of their 33 free-throw attempts.

One of the keys in the game was “our inability to hit free throws,” Oklahoma State coach Sean Sutton said. “And look at the turnovers, 22 versus 11. Right there’s the difference in the game. You can’t turn it over 22 times and miss 15 free throws and expect to beat a good team.”

LaceDarius Dunn had 13 points, Tweety Carter scored 11, and Aaron Bruce scored 10 for Baylor (14-2, 2-0). Terrel Harris led Oklahoma State (10-6, 1-1) with 23 points. Marcus Dove scored 12, and James Anderson and Byron Eaton had 11 points each.

Prior to Tuesday, Anderson was the Cowboys’ top scorer and the fourth-leading scorer in the Big 12 at 16.5 points a game. He left with an ankle injury with 12:27 remaining in the game and did not return.

His departure, however, seemed to give Baylor a lift as the Bears went on a 16-6 run over the next 5:48 to take a 65-55 lead with 6:23 left.

Losing Anderson “was a blow to our team,” Sutton said. “We rely on him so much to score, and more than anything, it forced our guys to play too many minutes. We got fatigued and worn down at the end.”

The Cowboys trailed 74-62 with 2:14 left in the game. Two layups by Eaton sandwiched an 8-0 run that cut the lead to four, 74-70, with 34.5 seconds remaining. Bruce, whose free throw with 31.1 seconds left put Baylor up by five, then stepped into the lane in front of a driving Eaton, drawing the charge and giving Eaton his fifth person foul.

“Aaron taking that charge at the end of the game sealed the victory,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.

Baylor’s 14-2 start is its best since the Bears also went 14-2 to open the 1945-46 season. Oklahoma State’s road woes continued, however, as the Cowboys have lost 15 consecutive games away from home, 12 of those in conference play.

Colorado 55, Nebraska 51

Boulder, Colo. – Cory Higgins scored 13 points, and Richard Roby added 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead Colorado over Nebraska. It was the lowest scoring game between these two schools in nearly 28 years since Nebraska won 53-44 on Jan. 19, 1980. Colorado (9-7, 1-1 Big 12) ended its two-game losing streak as the Buffaloes held the Cornhuskers to a season low 51 points.