This time Jo Lual-Acuil was where he was supposed to be in the closing seconds of a tight game.

Under the basket in case there was a missed shot.

There was. In the waning seconds of Baylor’s gut wrenching, heart stopping, pass the Maalox 74-73 double overtime win at Texas Monday, senior point guard Manu Lecomte drove the right lane. Trailing, 73-72, Lecomte had defenders hounding and had to take a chance on a banker high off the glass.

It kicked off. Lual-Acuil was right there with the follow flush with 8.2 seconds remaining. Texas’ Kerwin Roach’s shot was off and the Bears continued their rendition of Lazarus.

"I knew Mo [Texas center Mohamed Bamba] was going to come over and try to block Manu’s shot, so I just stayed on the other side,’’ Lual-Acuil said. “I was hoping for the ball to come off the rim the right way and I was able to go up and grab it.”

At 2-7 through the first half of the Big 12 season, the Bears (16-10, 6-7) have won four straight and tied a program record with their sixth consecutive win over their rivals in Austin (equaling a stretch from 1981-83). Big 12 leader Texas Tech comes to the Ferrell Center Saturday evening.

Baylor continues to climb its way back toward a postseason beyond the Big 12 tournament. But there are five games remaining in the regular season and the picture is far from clear.

There are so many places to go with this victory. You can shake your fists with rage because an 8-point lead with 4:15 to play was squandered. That was coupled by the mindless technical foul Terry Maston picked up with a little more than two minutes to play that helped the Longhorns play with a little more purpose.

Closing eyes and shaking heads in disbelief as two shot clock violations deep in each OT period would make you rightfully believe they were going to give this away. Until Texas took the lead with 1:57 to play in the second overtime, the Longhorns had their first lead since 20-17 with 3:28 remaining in the first half.

But then you can turn around and look at Maston who put the foolish play behind him. He scored 22 of his career-high 26 in the second half and 12 between two overtime periods (six in each).

“I think I could have made a better decision on my part to help my team,’’ Maston said. “It gave us a little spark. I didn’t want to go into overtime. It did light a fire under us and definitely me, knowing I had to come back and help my team any way I could. I got hot and did something.’’

You can then look at the calming presence of Lecomte. When plays broke down, he didn’t panic, created a good look for himself and drained two jumpers as the horn sounded. That’s ice. He had 16.

However, you have to give this to Scott Drew and how he brought his team down the stretch. Coaching carries different areas to it. Essentially, it's about trusting your players.

Drew could have easily put Maston in the dog house and sat him for the final 12 minutes of game time after the technical. Few would have probably disagreed. But he knows his players far better than we do. He knows their temperament and how to push the right buttons. He also knows that when Maston gets on one of his patented scoring binges, the idea is to ride the wave for as long as it lasts. Maston was big because Nuni Omot (two points on free throws) was not.

Then Drew had to manage a tight situation with both Lindsey and Lual-Acuil playing with four fouls. Lindsey picked up his fourth with 9:09 to play in regulation. So the old Bears lineup was on the floor. Drew bought about seven minutes of bench time sitting Lindsey. Then he would situational sub Lindsey throughout the balance of the game to ensure he could avoid a fifth.

Lual-Acuil stayed out there but when contact was coming he made sure he would avoid or just recognize when it was time to be aggressive. And Baylor just had to deal with it against Texas big Mohamed Bamba. That second duel was pretty fun again. Lual-Acuil had 14 and 11. Bamba was 16 and 16 and four blocks.

This was a complete team victory. Winning on the road in this league is a little conference championship in itself. The Bears now have two conference road wins, Oklahoma State and Texas.

It’s money time for Baylor at this stage of the 2017-18 season. The Bears are earning every dollar of it.