KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 10 (UPI) -- A 3-point shot by Brady Heslip with 1:24 left Friday blunted a Kansas rally and sent Baylor to an 81-72 win over the No. 3 Jayhawks in the Big 12 semifinals.
The stunning outcome in front of a partisan Kansas crowd likely gave a boost to Baylor's seeding for the NCAA Tournament and put the 11th-ranked Bears in the conference championship game against No. 5 Missouri.
Missouri reached the title game by subduing Texas 81-67.
Baylor led by 14 points early in the second half but Kansas came back within four with less than 2 minutes to play. Heslip then hit his 3-pointer to give the Bears a 73-66 lead and Kansas could come no closer than five points the rest of the way.
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Six Baylor players scored in double figures, led by Perry Jones III with 18. Quincy Miller and Pierre Jackson had 13 each while Heslip scored 12.
Baylor (27-6) was one of the sensations of the early portion of the season but the Bears faded to fourth in the final Big 12 standings. They lost their two regular-season meetings with Kansas by a combined 32 points.
Tyshawn Taylor led the top-seeded Jayhawks (27-6) with 20 points. Kansas had won the previous two Big 12 tourneys.
Missouri (29-4) led by only four 3:30 into the second half, but then steadily built a lead behind 23 points from both Kim English and Phil Pressey. Ricardo Ratliffe added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Tigers.
J'Covan Brown led Texas (20-13) with 21 points.
Missouri defeated Baylor in both their regular-season meetings, winning by one point in Waco and by 25 in Columbia.
