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No. 11 Baylor holds on for a 53-52 win over No. 18 Butler

USC v Baylor

TULSA, OK - MARCH 19: Head coach Scott Drew of the Baylor Bears instructs his team against the USC Trojans during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at BOK Center on March 19, 2017 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)

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WACO, Texas -- Mark Vital blocked Kamar Baldwin’s potential go-ahead shot with 1.5 seconds left and No. 11 Baylor held on to beat previously undefeated No. 18 Butler 53-52 on Tuesday night.

It was the second win in a row, and third this season, for Baylor (8-1) over a Top 25 team.

Butler (9-1) was the third team to lose for the first time, after No. 1 Louisville and No. 4 Maryland lost earlier Tuesday night. That left five undefeated Division I teams.

The Bulldogs never led, but had the ball after Aaron Thompson rebounded Davion Mitchell’s missed shot before a timeout with 7.9 seconds left. After Baldwin inbounded the ball, he got it back and drove for a layup that was swatted away and out of bounds and last touched by the shooter.

After MaCio Teague missed a free throw for Baylor, the Bulldogs had 0.7 seconds left. A desperation shot by Baldwin, who finished with 19 points, wasn’t close -- and likely came after the buzzer anyway.

Teague and Devonte Bandoo each had 10 points for Baylor, whose coach, Scott Drew, is a 1993 Butler graduate and faced his alma mater as a head coach for the first time.

Sean McDermott had 16 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Bulldogs.

Butler, after trailing by 16 points in the first half, had a chance to tie the game with 3:46 left after Baldwin -- whose 15-footer had just gotten the Bulldogs within a basket -- rebounded a missed 3 by Baylor. But Baldwin had his potential tying shot blocked by Mark Vital, who then scored on the other end to make it 53-49.

The Bulldogs had gotten within 44-40 midway through the second half after Baldwin’s third consecutive basket came in a stretch when they made seven shots in a row.

BIG PICTURE

Butler: The Bulldogs were trying to get to 10-0 for the first time since 2006-07. They were still good defensively, having come in allowing only 56.2 points a game -- and holding Baylor to under that.

Baylor: The Bears are one bad stretch from being undefeated. Their only loss was to Washington in the second game of the season in Alaska, when they had a 10-point lead before not making another field goal in the final five minutes.

UP NEXT

After five games in a row against teams from major conferences, Butler is home Saturday against Southern University.

Baylor has only two more games in December. The Bears play UT-Martin on Dec. 18 in Houston, then are home against Jackson State on Dec. 30 in their last game before opening Big 12 play.