No. 2 Houston may have just locked up the Big 12 title and set itself up to be No. 1 on Monday with an 82-76 overtime win at No. 11 Baylor on Saturday.

The Baylor game was the hardest left on Houston’s schedule, as it tries to keep its lead over Iowa State in the conference standings, who is just a game back in the loss column. The Cougars looked like they were going to cruise to a win in the first half, building a 16-point halftime lead with its suffocating defense that forced Baylor into 11 first-half turnovers.

The Bears were much smarter in their pick-and-roll attack in the second half, using off-ball screens to find shooters on the perimeter when Houston sucked in to help. Baylor had just four turnovers in the second half and made 6 of 11 3s.

Houston built its lead by smartly attacking Baylor’s zone in the first half and playing through power forward J’Wan Roberts. The Cougars got away from Roberts in the second half but went back to him in overtime. He finished with 17 points on just nine shots and also had four assists, the final dish setting up Ja’Vier Francis for a short shot in the lane that put Houston ahead by three in overtime.

Baylor could have cut the lead to one on the next possession when Yves Missi was set up for an uncontested dunk, but the ball slipped out of his hands as he was going up and went out of bounds. That missed opportunity, Missi missing an and-one free throw with four seconds left and a missed bunny by RayJ Dennis in the final minute will leave Baylor kicking itself. If the Missi free throw or the Dennis layup falls, Baylor likely wins the game.

Missi had scored in double figures in five consecutive games and was playing the best ball of his freshman year, but he struggled against Houston’s length and physicality, finishing with just two points on 1-of-5 shooting. He did make the layup that sent the game to overtime, a heady read by Dennis, who recognized Houston had a smaller defender on Missi so was switching in the pick-and-roll instead of hedging.

Knowing there wouldn’t be a tag, he lofted the ball to Missi over the head of Houston guard Damian Dunn, who fouled Missi on the made layup.

Baylor was carried by Dennis (21 points and five assists), freshman Jakobe Walter (23 points and five made 3s), Jalen Bridges (17 points and 13 rebounds) and Jayden Nunn (11 points and five assists). Houston had more balanced scoring with Emanuel Sharp leading the way with 18 points and making some timely buckets in the second half as Baylor heated up.

Houston senior point guard Jamal Shead struggled shooting in the second half — 1-of-10 — but he played a smart floor game and finished with 10 assists. He also nearly won the game with a 3-pointer that left his hand about a tenth of a second after the buzzer at the end of regulation.

Houston, now 11-3 in the Big 12, has a chance to give Kelvin Sampson the second Big 12 title of his career. Sampson won one Big 12 regular season at Oklahoma in 2005 but shared it that season with Kansas. The Cougars will be heavy favorites in their four remaining games.

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(Photo: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)