Chuck Carlton

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OKLAHOMA CITY – The end of The Streak became a mere footnote Friday night.

Under normal circumstances, Baylor beating Texas to break a 24-game losing streak against the Longhorns would have overwhelmed all other story lines.

As Baylor fans know and everybody else discovered, what's happening at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship is anything but normal. With their 76-70 win over Texas in Friday's semifinals, the Bears are one victory from an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

A train wreck of a conference season has become an express to the unthinkable.

Asked which was bigger, beating the Longhorns or continuing a season that still doesn't have an expiration date, Baylor senior Curtis Jerrells didn't hesitate.

"I say getting to the championship game," Jerrells said. "I think we came in here with a mind-set, with a task."

The final step is today's title game against Missouri, which defeated Oklahoma State, 67-59 on the other semifinal.

No Big 12 team has ever won four tournament games in four days to turn disaster into destiny.

For all its talent, Baylor didn't exactly qualify as a likely suspect.

Baylor entered the tournament on the bubble – the NIT bubble.

As a program, the Bears have never won a conference tournament in the Big 12 or the Southwest Conference. None of that mattered as they rallied from an early 12-point deficit.

Maybe no sequence showed Baylor's persistence better than one second-half possession.

With Texas leading by one and 80 seconds remaining, Baylor's LaceDarius Dunn eyed a go-ahead 3-pointer from the wing just as he had done in the second-round upset of Kansas.

Then UT's Damion James airmailed it into the Texas pep band.

On the ensuing out-of-bounds play, Dunn let fly from the other side, draining a 3-pointer for a 67-65 lead. Baylor never trailed again.

"I just felt I had the first one before Damion smacked it out of bounds," Dunn said. "I felt great. I heard Curtis saying, 'We've got to get him the ball. We've got to get him the shot.'

"They got it to me, and I was willing to shoot it and it went in."

Baylor made nine of 10 free throws in the final 34 seconds. On the one miss, by Dunn with Baylor clinging to a 3-point lead, the 6-1 Jerrells sneaked into the lane to grab the rebound and draw a foul.

Kevin Rogers led four Baylor players in double figures with 20 points, and helped the Bears win the rebounding battle, 35-27.

As for The Streak – 24 straight losses dating to Feb. 21, 1998 – Baylor coach Scott Drew managed to crack a joke.

"I really didn't like that streak," he said, drawing laughter. "It is a situation where you had so many close games with Texas and chances, and you just knew it was a matter of time before you would break through.

"I really hoping it would be this group of guys, because they had persevered and been through so much from their freshman year until now. I'm so happy they are the ones that broke through the streak."

The three previous teams to reach the Big 12 tournament final with three wins in three days:

Breaking down Texas' 24-game winning streak against Baylor that ended Friday: