BYU basketball: Cougars lose an early first half lead, fall to Baylor 79-64

At the eight-minute mark in the first half, BYU had a 10-point lead. It soon found out it would not last when Baylor caught some momentum and ultimately defeated the Cougars, 79-64.

Baylor begun chipping away at the early deficit and took a nine-point advantage over BYU into halftime. The Bears continued to roll offensively in the second half behind Isaiah Austin and Corey Jefferson, expanding their lead to as much as 23 points midway through the second half.

Austin, Baylor's 7-foot-plus star center, led the way for the home team with 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Austin's presence was felt in the paint, forcing BYU to take several perimeter shots and heavily contested layups.

The Cougars tallied a 38.7 field goal percentage and only shot 2 for 12 from beyond the arc.

Much of the weight of the game for BYU was on Brandon Davies and Tyler Haws. Davies finished the game with 26 points and 17 rebounds, Haws came away with 13 points.

BYU had little production from the rest of its squad, forcing Davies and Haws to both play more than 33 minutes in the game.

Whitney O'Bannon is currently a new media sports intern for the Deseret News.