Baylor forward Jonathan Motley provided an explosion of scoring with 20 first half points. Motley in the second half continued his shooting touch around the rim. Baylor provided cross-screens and isolated Motley on the low post. His gentle feel around the rim and smooth footwork saw Motley finish countless layups over, around and through the Spartan defense. He finished with 26 points on 12-22 shooting. 

An early second half offensive attack gave Baylor the lead, 35-33. Upon the first media timeout, the Bears stretched their lead to seven points off of a fast break dunk, where Baylor forward Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. beat all Spartans down the middle of the court.  

The second half provided a juxtaposition, Baylor being the more aggressive team to the basket. Hard slashes to the basket with dribble-drive layups, the Bears spread the MSU defense, tearing it apart. At the 12 minute mark, Baylor had stretched their lead to a 12 points, shooting 66.7 percent in the those eight minutes during the second half. They would finish the game shooting 47 percent. 

The Spartans, in contrast, shot 38.5 percent in the second half, 43 percent for the game. Unable to find open shots, the Spartans found themselves countless times scrambling to get a shot off before the shot clock expired. 

Second chance points from offensive rebounds heavily damaged the Spartans. The Spartans were out rebounded 36-29, surrendering nine offensive rebounds for 14 second-chance points. Although freshman forward Nick Ward fouled out, the Spartans were out hustled to the boards well before he was in foul trouble. 

A major let down for the Spartans was the ability to get back in transition defense, especially for the front court. Baylor took advantage of jogging Spartans, while the Bears took the outlet pass, looked down the court and delivered over the top passes for easy layups and dunks. 

Despite Motley, even in the second half, the Bears came together to score in bunches. Lual-Acuil would finish in double digit scoring (14) and eight rebounds. 

The frustrations for the Spartans would eventually lead to a Head Coach Tom Izzo technical foul, to which failed to inspire the team. 

MSU received its third loss of the season, 3-3 overall. Baylor stays perfect, improving to 5-0. 

Baylor will go on to play the winner of No. 10 Louisville and Wichita St. for the championship game, tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. MSU will play the loser at 1 p.m. tomorrow on ESPN 2 for third place.