WACO, Texas – Perry Jones III had 15 points and 10 rebounds, A.J. Walton scored a season-high 13 points and No. 9 Baylor won its home finale 77-48 over Texas Tech on Monday night.
Walton matched his season-high with 10 points before halftime, when the Bears (25-5, 12-5 Big 12) were already in total control.
Baylor closed the first half on a 25-4 run over the final 10:05, stretching its lead to 40-15.
Texas Tech (8-21, 1-16) didn't even have 20 points in the game until Jordan Tolbert's dunk with 14:33 left made it 49-21.
Tobert led the Red Raiders with 19 points.
It was the final home game for the winningest senior class in Baylor history — Quincy Acy, Fred Ellis and Anthony Jones.
Acy had 12 points and seven rebounds, including two big dunks just before coming out of the game to a huge ovation with about 2 minutes left. Right after that, Jones hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give him 13 points.
Even the little-used Ellis, who hadn't scored a point since Dec. 19, made two free throws.
With one more regular season game left before the conference tournament next week and then another NCAA tournament, the senior trio has already been part of 95 wins. That includes the school-record 12 Big 12 victories this season.
During the freshman season for each of them, the Bears made it to the Big 12 tournament championship game and were the NIT runner-up in 2008. A year later, they were part of the school-record 28 wins as Baylor advanced to an NCAA regional final against eventual national champion Duke.
Baylor plays its regular-season finale Saturday at Iowa State in a game to determine seeding in the Big 12 tournament.
The Bears and Iowa State began Monday night tied for third place in the Big 12. Iowa State (21-8, 11-5) plays at second-place and No. 7 Missouri (25-4, 12-4) on Wednesday night.
Walton had a step-back jumper, the shot falling through the hoop about the same time he was backpedaling and falling with about 3 minutes left in the first half. After a Texas Tech turnover, he added a jumper that gave him 10 points and the Bears a 35-13 lead.
Pierre Jackson then had consecutive assists for inside-out baskets by Anthony Jones.
Jackson penetrated inside and was in the air when he slipped a pass to Jones for a layup. On the next possession, Jackson passed to Jones in the left corner for a 3-pointer that made it 40-13.
The second half didn't start any better for the Red Raiders. Javarez Willis had a quick turnover and Brady Heslip hit a 3-pointer from the left corner in front of his teammates on the Baylor bench.
With about 9 minutes left and Baylor up 60-31, the crowd began chanting "We want Fred! We want Fred!" As the crowd got louder, coach Scott Drew looked down the bench with a big smile on his face and put Ellis in the game. Ellis made his free throws with 6:35 left.
Baylor never trailed after taking an 8-0 lead, though that was more than 5 minutes into the game. All three Baylor seniors started the final game.
Anthony Jones made a free throw in the opening minute and added a 17-foot jumper for a 3-0 lead. Perry Jones III had a steal and passed ahead for a breakaway layup by Acy, who with 14:42 left made another tough shot inside and came down hard after being fouled.
After Acy stayed down and was checked by a trainer, he came out of the game for a couple of minutes. Walton came on to make the free throw.
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