National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Baylor 76, Brigham Young 70
When: 7:00 PM ET, Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: # Tim Clougherty, # Brian O'Connell, # Earl Walton
Attendance: N/A

Baylor 76, Brigham Young 70:
Senior point guard Pierre Jackson scored 12 of his team-high 24 points in the final 4:55 and also dished off 10 assists to help propel the Bears into Thursday night's National Invitation Tournament championship game.

Cory Jefferson finished with 21 points and Isaiah Austin added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Baylor (22-14), which will meet Iowa for the title.

Tyler Haws scored a game-high 25 points, Matt Carlino finished with 19 points and Brandon Davies added 13 points for Brigham Young (24-12).

The first half featured nine ties and six lead changes with neither team leading by more than four points. Baylor went into halftime with a 35-33 advantage thanks to a tip-in by Taurean Prince of a missed jumper by Jackson with four seconds to go.

The contest continued to see-saw back-and-forth during the second half until the Bears, with Jackson scoring seven straight points, went on a 12-2 run to pull ahead 64-54 with 3:24 to go. BYU, thanks to three 3-pointers by Carlino in a 49-second span, got as close as four points with with 19 seconds left before Jackson sealed the win with a pair of free throws a second later.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Baylor will be making its second appearance in the NIT title game in five years. The Bears lost to Penn State, 69-63, in the 2009 championship game. ... BYU, which had a season high 11 3-pointers in its 79-62 quarterfinal win at Southern Mississippi, was 0-for-6 beyond the arc in the first half and didn't sink its first trey until the 18:31 mark of the second half when Carlino connected. The Cougars finished 5-of-20 on 3-pointers. ... Haws, the West Coast Conference scoring leader (21.6), broke the 20-point scoring mark for the 25th time this season.
Top Game Performances
 
Brigham Young   Baylor
Tyler Haws 25 Scoring Pierre Jackson 24
Matt Carlino 5 Assists Pierre Jackson 10
Nate Austin 11 Rebounds Isaiah Austin 10
Tyler Haws 7 Free Throws Made Pierre Jackson 9
Nate Austin 2 Steals Gary Franklin 1
Nate Austin 2 Blocks N/A
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Brigham Young 70 41.7 5-20 15-20 9 36 4 3 11
Baylor 76 43.3 5-15 19-24 16 29 0 3 7