Sports

Baylor beats BYU to reach NIT Championship Game

Over three months’ time and hundreds of miles could not provide a different outcome between the Baylor and BYU.

In their second meeting this season, Baylor advanced to the NIT Championship Game for the second time in the past five years by beating BYU 76-70 in the tournament semi-finals at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.

“I think any time there is only two happy teams at the end of the year, the team that wins the NCAA tournament and the team that wins the NIT,” Baylor head coach Scott Drew said. “We want to be one of those happy teams.”

The first time Baylor and BYU faced one another, the Bears mauled the Cougars, winning 79-64 at home on Dec. 21.

In addition to having a win over BYU under their belts, the Bears entered MSG looking to replicate their recent postseason success. Baylor advanced to the finals of the NIT in 2009, losing to Penn State, and made the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament in 2010 and 2012.

“No Big 12 team has won an NIT championship,” Drew said. “At Baylor, we’ve been runner up, we haven’t won a championship.”

In the first meeting the Bears were able to contain the Cougars’ leading scorer, sophomore guard Tyler Haws, holding him to just 13 points, his third-lowest scoring output of the season.

This time around Haws would find his shooting stroke, hitting 9-of-15 shots for a team-high 25 points.

“I think in that first game I got in a little foul trouble and it kind of disrupted the rhythm of the game the first time we played,” Haws said. “Today I just wanted to attack and be smart and stay aggressive for 40 minutes.”

BYU’s dynamic front court combo of Nate Austin and Brandon Davies (13 Points) powered the Cougars on the glass, giving them a 36-28 rebounding advantage.

Baylor’s Pierre Jackson and Cory Jefferson, the team’s two leading scorers, combined for 45 points for the Bears. Jackson added a game-high ten assists for his fifth double-double of the season and third straight in the tournament.

“We just don’t want to lose,” Jefferson said. “We lose a game, that’s the end of our season and that’s one of the main things that have been motivating me.”

Freshman center Isaiah Austin had ten rebounds and 14 points to pick up his tenth double-double of the year.

The two teams were evenly matched for the majority of the game. For the first 35 minutes of the game, neither team would lead by more than five points. With Baylor leading 57-54 with 4:55 to play, Jackson scored seven straight points to give the Bears a double-digit lead and put the game out of reach for BYU.

“I was kind of frustrated the way my shot was going,” Jackson said. “My teammates and coaches were just keeping me positive. I was able to stay focused on every shot after that.”

Matt Carlino (19 Points) did his best to make a game of it in the final minutes, hitting three 3-pointers to bring BYU back within three points with under a minute to play.

“We knew Matt was going to get really good looks at the basket because of how Baylor played his screens,” BYU head coach Dave Rose said. “Could have used those shots a bit earlier but I’m glad he hit them late and tried to make it a game.”

The Cougars were unable to find their shooting stroke from beyond the arc, shooting just 2-of-15 on 3-point attempts before Carlino’s flurry. BYU entered the game averaging over nine made treys per game in its three tournament games.

“Matt is a guy that has a shooter’s mentality and when he misses one, it doesn’t bother him,” Haws said. “He’s got a lot of confidence in himself.”

BYU’s first field goal from long distance came with 18:37 left to play in the second half after Carlino drilled a trey to bring the Cougars back even with Baylor at 38. Carlino would again hit a game-tying 3-pointer to even the score at 52 with 7:37 to play and end a 7-0 Bears run.

asulla-heffinger@nypost.com