Anthony “Pig” Johnson racked up 19 points off the bench as 12th-seeded Arizona State controlled 13th-seeded Baylor on the way to an 83-79 win on Tuesday afternoon in a first-round clash in the Big 12 Conference tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
The Sun Devils advance to play fifth-seeded Iowa State (which is ranked No. 7 nationally) on Wednesday afternoon in a second-round contest.
Arizona State (17-15) set the stage for the win in the first half, building as much as a 13-point lead despite leading scorer Maurice Odem producing zero points and playing just 12 minutes before halftime because of two early fouls.
Into the breach stepped Grbovic and Johnson, who combined for 22 points in the first half as the Sun Devils forged a nine-point margin at halftime.
Arizona State expanded its lead to as many as 15 points just 2 ½ minutes into the second half before Baylor responded, clawing back to 67-64 with 5:47 to play. The Sun Devils countered with an 8-0 run punctuated by a free throw by Meeusen with 3:04 left and held on for the win.
Andrija Grbovic added 14 points for Arizona State, with Santiago Trouet hitting for 13 points and taking nine rebounds, Meeusen scoring 12 points and Massamba Diop tallying 11.
Cameron Carr led Baylor (16-16) with 25 points and seven rebounds. Isaac Williams added 15 points, Tounde Yessoufou hit for 14, and Dan Skillings Jr. and Caden Powel scored 10 each for the Bears.
The Sun Devils jumped to the lead in the early minutes, using a 13-3 run capped by a layup by Trevor Best with 9:46 left in the first half after a steal by Bryce Ford to open up a 21-10 advantage.
Arizona State pushed its lead to 13 points and still led by a dozen with 7:24 left in the half before the Bears found their stride. Success in the paint was the key as Yessoufou hit two straight layups before Powell had a dunk and Williams cashed in on a putback tip-in, the latter allowing Baylor to trim the deficit to 29-25 with 5:41 remaining.
Carr poured in two 3-pointers around a jumper from beyond the arc by Meeusen to allow Baylor to pull to within 44-35 at the break. Carr led all scorers with 15 points in the first half. The Sun Devils shot 61.3% from the floor over the first 20 minutes of play and 57.4% for the game.
Baylor shot 42.6% from the field.
