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Baylor routs Southern

Dec 23, 2013 - 1:12 AM Waco, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Isaiah Austin tallied 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the 12th-ranked Baylor Bears to a 81-56 win over the Southern Jaguars.

Brady Heslip had 13 points while Cory Jefferson and Rico Gathers scored 12 points apiece for the Bears (10-1), who have won 10 straight at home. Gathers added eight rebounds and Kenny Chery contributed 10 points.

"We weren't as sharp and crisp the last game we played, but we still found a way to win," said Baylor head coach Scott Drew. "Today we wanted to come out and do a lot better and I thought we really executed a lot better."

Tre Lynch poured in a game-high 27 points for Southern (3-9), which has lost four of its last five.

"The thing we talked about is the energy and intensity level that you play with," said Southern head coach Roman Banks. "If we can emulate Baylor's physicality with our bigs and the energy that they play with, I think we will be a better basketball team."

The first 3:25 of the second half only saw three baskets from both teams combined. With 16:16 to play the Jaguars were within seven points before the Bears went on an 8-0 run.

Yondarious Johnson scored his first points of the game on a layup which cut the deficit to 45-32 and halt the run with 13:54 to play. Southern did not get closer the rest of the game.

With 7:21 left in the game Baylor stretched the lead to 20 points and led by as many as 28 on their way to the finish.

Four minutes into the game Chery made a layup to break a 7-7 tie which was a part of an 11-2 run for Baylor. A pair of free throws from Lynch stopped the run with 13:05 left in the first half and Southern trailed 16-11.

With 8:51 left in the half Jefferson knocked down a jumper to spark an 8-0 run. Lynch halted this run, with 3:02 left in the half, after a 3- pointer to make the score 32-19 Bears.

The Lynch trey started a 10-1 Southern surge before Austin nailed a jump shot with 46 seconds left in the first. Baylor headed to the locker room with a 10 point advantage, 36-26.

Game Notes

Baylor leads the all-time series 6-0 against Southern ... Calvin Godfrey had seven rebounds and Christopher Hyder had six assists for Southern ... Baylor shot 22-for-44 and Southern shot 18-for-53 from the field ... Southern made 14-of-19 free throws while Baylor netted 32-of-47 from the stripe.