4 overtimes not enough for Baylor, Texas A&M

After five extra periods,
the No. 25 Bears prevailed, 116-110.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Scott Drew kept repeating one thing to his team at each break in Baylor’s five-overtime win over Texas A&M Wednesday night.

“Don’t worry,” players said their coach told them as the overtimes piled up. “We can go all night.”

It didn’t quite come to that, but it was No. 25 Baylor, led by Curtis Jerrells’ career-high 36 points, that outlasted No. 18 A&M in a wild 116-110 five-overtime win.

“I wanted to make sure they knew they could go all night,” Drew said. “Personally, I wasn’t going to make it all night, but I wanted to continue to let them know that. We definitely had a deep team, we’ve used a lot of different guys and we wanted to assure them of that.”

Jerrells scored 11 points in the final overtime and another 11 in the previous four to lead his team. He also had eight assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block.

“I don’t even know how many overtimes it was,” Jerrells who played 53 minutes said, looking confused.

Told it was five, he shook his head.

“That just shows the ability, the dedication and the will of this team,” he said. “If we put our minds to it, no matter what happens we’re going to get it done.”

Baylor (16-2, 4-0 Big 12) won its fifth in a row and first since entering the rankings for the first time since 1969 Monday. It broke a 15-game home winning streak for Texas A&M and was the Aggies’ third straight loss.

“I think this has been great for our team and even more enjoyable as a coach, being able to step back and be so happy for our community and fans and everybody that waited so long for this,” Drew said. “And obviously it’s pretty sweet for us to break through in the rankings and then have a game like this.”

Three free throws by Jerrells gave Baylor a 106-103 lead in the fifth overtime. Dominique Kirk got A&M (15-4, 1-3) within a point with a layup on the next possession.

Jerrells pushed the lead back to three with his steal and layup with about a minute left. Aaron Bruce added a pair of free throws before a layup by Bryan Davis made it 110-107 with less than 30 seconds remaining.

“We stuck it out,” Bruce said. “Someone asked me how much longer could I have gone, I said, ‘As long as it takes.’ That’s our mentality. We’re going to fight until we end up on top.”

Jerrells added four more free throws and LaceDarius Dunn chipped in a pair to ensure the win.

The small but vocal group of Baylor fans chanted “B-U!” incessantly as time ticked down in the final overtime and players jumped around wildly and hugged after the clock ran out.

Davis, who led A&M with a career-high 30 points, made a layup with nine seconds left in the fourth overtime to knot it at 99 and send it to the fifth OT.

Jerrells scored six points in the last 1:01 of triple overtime, including the tying layup with 10 seconds left to leave it at 90-all and force the fourth overtime.

“You didn’t want to see anyone lose a game like this,” Drew said. “I don’t think you could come up with any more of a team effort.”