National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Baylor 71, Memphis 47
When: 11:59 PM ET, Thursday, November 27, 2014
Where: Orleans Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials: # Louis Andrakakos, # Tim Comer, # Keith Fogleman
Attendance: 2241

Baylor 71, Memphis 47: Taurean Prince scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and the Bears held the Tigers to 15 points after the break in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Royce O'Neale added 16 points and six rebounds for Baylor (5-0), which meets Illinois in Friday's championship game. The Bears, who also received eight points and 11 rebounds from Rico Gathers, outrebounded Memphis 43-32 - 29-12 in the second half - and 19-11 on the offensive glass.

The Tigers settle for a consolation game against Indiana State on Friday after missing 17 of their 21 shots from the field in the second half. Pookie Powell scored 13 points while Austin Nichols recorded nine points and six rebounds for Memphis (1-2).

Baylor scored the first eight points, Memphis registered the next 10 and neither team led by more than four in the first half, which ended with Powell's 3-pointer that gave the Tigers a 32-29 lead. Memphis moved in front by six after Avery Woodson's 3 on the first shot after the break before the Bears responded with a 16-2 run - highlighted by alley-oop dunks from Deng Deng and Johnathan Motley on assists by Lester Medford and Ishmail Wainright.

Al Freeman's 3-pointer with 10:29 remaining created the largest lead to that point 48-38 as the Tigers went nearly eight minutes without a field goal. Baylor finished off Memphis with a 12-2 spurt - capped by four points from Gathers, including a dunk - to make it 62-42 with 4:30 to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Baylor senior G Kenny Chery (10.3 points per game) did not play because of a foot injury and is day-to-day. ... The Bears improved to 32-4 in November since 2009. ... O'Neale is 14 points shy of 1,000.
Top Game Performances
 
Baylor   Memphis
Taurean Prince 20 Scoring RaShawn Powell 13
Lester Medford 6 Assists Trahson Burrell 2
Rico Gathers 11 Rebounds Austin Nichols 6
Johnathan Motley 3 Free Throws Made Nick King 3
Al Freeman 1 Steals Chris Hawkins 2
Deng Deng 1 Blocks Shaq Goodwin 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Baylor 71 42.9 11-25 6-10 15 39 2 4 8
Memphis 47 34.0 6-15 9-15 8 27 4 4 14