A four-game winning streak - and turmoil in the Top 25 - has allowed Baylor to jump into the rankings for the first time this season. The Bears' next opponent doesn't appear to have a great chance to knock them out.
Baylor plays its final game before the holiday break Monday night when it hosts Southern University.
The Bears (9-1) played only once last week, defeating New Mexico 66-55 on Wednesday, but that was enough to allow it to enter the poll at No. 22. Helping its cause was four teams falling out due to a series of upsets.
Baylor was hardly dominant against the Lobos, shooting 52 percent on free throws and 39.3 percent from the field, but it got 16 points from Johnathan Motley and 12 rebounds - six offensive - and seven steals from Rico Gathers. The Bears also went 7 of 15 from 3-point range.
''We always shoot free throws. Maybe we shouldn't shoot free throws. It would save us a lot of practice time. We can't do worse,'' coach Scott Drew said.
Drew's team is shooting 61.4 percent from the line - among the poorest marks in the country. The defensive play of the 275-pound Gathers helped Baylor overcome the bad foul shooting, as he set a career high in steals.
''It was pretty obvious where they were going to pass it, so I was just reading their eyes,'' he said. ''And as soon as (they) let it go, I just reacted. Just being precise on the gamble. That's basically what I was doing tonight, a lot of gambling. We call that false hustle.''
Motley, averaging 9.1 points and 4.6 rebounds, has totaled 37 and 16 in the past two games.
The win was Baylor's 10th straight at home, and they've won 21 in a row there against nonconference opponents.
That's not good news for Southern (3-9), which lost 57-39 to Wyoming on Saturday. The Jaguars shot 32.7 percent from the field and had one player, Adrian Rodgers (12), score in double figures.
Tre Lynch, who leads Southern with 14.0 points per game, was held to five on 2-of-5 shooting. He had averaged 19.0 in his previous four games.
Trelun Banks (10.3 ppg) went 2 of 9 and scored five points.
Baylor has won all six meetings with Southern, outscoring the Jaguars by 20.8 points. The most recent came last Dec. 22, an 81-56 home victory in which Gathers had 12 points and eight rebounds and the Bears held a 45-30 scoring edge in the second half.
Following this game, Baylor is off until Dec. 30.
