Henri Veesaar has career-high 19 points to help Arizona hold off No. 25 Baylor at McKale Center

The Arizona Wildcats melted another 18 points off a big lead Tuesday, but this time it was somewhat different.

For one thing, they still hung on for an 81-70 win over Baylor at McKale Center, beating their toughest-yet Big 12 opponent to stay undefeated after five games in their new league. They also continued to showcase their ever-improving, multi-skilled big man Henri Veesaar, who threw in 9 of 11 shots while collecting a career-high 19 points.

“He’s a pro,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.

Also, as opposed to during their 88-80 win over UCF on Saturday, when UA coach Tommy Lloyd complained they made “dumb” mistakes, at least part of the Wildcats' late-game slumber could be attributed to sheer fatigue: UA outrebounded the normally rugged Bears 21-14 in the first half and held them to just 25.9% shooting before halftime.

Then UA went ahead by up to 27 points early in the second half before, maybe, it was time for a breath or two.

“We kind of let it dwindle,” Lloyd said. “I mean, we didn't let it get as close as we did (against UCF) last time. But it's something we’ve got to focus on. I’ve got to figure out, why is that happening? Is it human nature? Is it fatigue? Is it a little bit of selfishness? These are the things I got to figure out.”

Arizona led by 23 at halftime and again with eight minutes left but broke down while Baylor went on a 17-4 run to pull within 69-59 with 3:17 left, prompting a timeout from Arizona.

At that point, Baylor had made seven shots in a row and was hitting 76.2% from the field, before going on to cut UA's lead to as little as nine points in the final minutes.

“I think it was just pride,” Drew said of the Bears’ late resurgence. “We were embarrassed how we played.”

Baylor, which dropped to 11-5 and 3-2, was playing without key reserves Jalen Celestine and Langston Love, while leading scorer Norchad Omier picked up two fouls in the first 66 seconds and wound up tying his career-low in rebounds with four.

“Big factor,” Drew said. “You adjust what you do. We got two guys out who play similar positions. In football, you have two quarterbacks out, changes what you do. You have two running backs, tailbacks, that changes what you do, two tight ends… But that's part of the game. Next man up mentality, and you got to find a way.”

Especially with Omier limited, nobody might have been expected to make up for the Bears' issues more than wing V.J. Edgecombe, the top-rated NBA prospect on the floor Tuesday.

A freshman from the Bahamas who played with former Wildcat Deandre Ayton in an Olympic qualifier last summer, Edgecombe was scoreless in the first half while missing all four shots he took and turning the ball over twice.

Right away in the second half, he began looking like an NBA prospect. Edgecombe had seven explosive points in the first six minutes after halftime, with a layup, dunk and 3-pointer, finishing the game with 14 points and seven rebounds.

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But Arizona held off Baylor anyway for most of the second half, thanks in part early to alley-oop dunks from Veesaar, the first of an assist from Caleb Love and the second on a dish from KJ Lewis.

Veesaar wound up scoring 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the second half, while collecting two rebounds and two steals. He finished with the 19 points plus seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks – including an emphatic swat-down of Jayden Nunn’s layup when Baylor was trying to cut what was then only a four-point UA lead seven minutes into the game.

“Man, Henri is amazing,” said point guard Jaden Bradley, who added 13 points, five rebounds and six assists. “He’s off the court as well but he’s a matchup problem – he can go inside, bang with you inside and step outside to make shots. Five men (centers) are not traditionally well-guarded on the perimeter but he can shoot it. So we can do a lot of different things with Henri out there. It's just making our team better right now.”

It was the third time in five Big 12 games that Veesaar has scored in double figures while he’s shot 70.3% from the field and averaged 6.6 rebounds despite playing just 22.4 average minutes in Arizona’s five conference games.

Basically, he’s made Arizona feel a lot better about missing center Motiejus Krivas, who was lost for the season because of an ankle injury after playing in UA’s first eight games.

“Henri’s playing great,” Lloyd said. “I’ve been telling him, ‘You’re turning into a real player. So what you can't do now is relax. You’ve got to keep going for it. You’re on the scouting report now, and you're not a surprise. So you’ve got to keep coming.'

“He just gives us real advantages out there. Henri is an interesting player. He can make a 3, he can pass, and he's a big target on some of your passes, whether it's in the zone, or hitting him on a lob or a tip dunk on a rebound. He's a big target.”

Veesaar’s production in both halves, plus 3-of-4 3-point shooting from Anthony Dell’Orso in the first half, helped give the Wildcats enough to sustain leads of over 20 points for roughly 15 minutes between end of the first half and middle of the second.

UA freshman Carter Bryant also chipped in by firing a three-quarter-court dart at Lewis, who took it and then streaked down the right baseline for a layup, and later by driving in powerfully from the left to give UA a 62-45 lead with 7:47 left.

But Baylor scored seven straight points from there to cut UA’s lead to 16 points, with two layups from Jeremy Roach and a 3-pointer from Nunn. They trimmed the Wildcats’ lead to single digits, 71-62, with 2:52 left when Edgecombe hit a 3-pointer, then again to 73-64 on a pair of free throws by Roach with 2:17 left.

“I think their aggressiveness just had us” early, Baylor guard Robert Wright said. “We were missing a lot of shots, missing open guys, just not making the right decisions. Then once we settled down in the second half, and then the crowd (did) a little bit too… we settle down, we start finding guys, start hitting open shots, and we just start rolling and defending.”

This time, though, UA's opponent didn’t get any further. Bryant and Love both blocked Baylor shots over the final two minutes that helped UA ultimately win by double digits and move to 11-5 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12.

They held the lead, even if they didn’t hold a big lead.

“I thought it left a lot to be desired,” Lloyd said. “But you’re managing a lead and trying to win the ball game. To me, that was the ultimate thing. I wasn't going to get too worried about it, because my main focus was we need to get out of here with a win. Because wins in the Big 12 are hard to come by.”

Photos: Baylor falls at McKale to Arizona 81-70, Big 12 men's basketball