The No. 6 Longhorns learned why Baylor is ranked second in the country Tuesday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
The Bears had an answer for every play, every run and every mistake by the Longhorns en route to an 83-69 victory.
“They do really well converting on other teams’ mistakes,” redshirt junior guard Andrew Jones said. “Overall, we have to mature, we have to grow up and if we want to achieve the goals that we want to achieve, we just have to get better.”
Texas trailed by seven at halftime but soared out on a 13-4 run to begin the second half and snagged their first lead of the game. But Baylor came roaring back once again to snatch the Longhorns’ short-lived lead soon after. The Bears would hold onto it for the rest of the night.
“Just tip of the hat to Baylor and the way that they attacked, particularly after we took the lead,” head coach Shaka Smart said. “I thought our guys did a terrific job coming out of halftime, that four or five minute stretch for us. But that's how you have to be over 40 minutes, and Baylor makes it tough for sure.”
Smart said the Longhorns’ effort on the defensive end was lacking as Baylor shot 59% from the field and 11-of-21 from three-point range.
“I knew, even if we had found a way to win this game tonight, we've got to get way better on defense,” Smart said.
A crucial juncture in the game came when the Longhorns were down four with just over 13 minutes left in the game. Freshman forward Greg Brown drove into the lane and soared high for a highlight-reel dunk over a Baylor defender, but Brown stared him down as he lay on the floor and was charged with a technical foul. The Bears quickly jumped back out to a 10-point lead by the next time out.
“Definitely that was a momentum swing,” Baylor junior guard Davion Mitchell said. “We responded great.”
Jones and the rest of Texas’ senior leadership used that as a teachable moment for Brown about how to not get caught up in highlight plays.
“It’s not high school anymore,” Jones said. “We want him to continue to dunk on people, dunk on everybody, just get back on defense.”
In addition to their mental slipups, free throw shooting continues to be a problem for the Longhorns, who shot an eye-poppingly poor 3-for-14 from the line tonight. At one point late in the second half, Brown drew a foul on a 3-point attempt but missed all three free throws.
It seemed to be a final blow that sucked any remaining energy from the building as the Bears coasted to victory in the final few minutes.
“We turned the ball over 17 times, and we were 3-for-14 from the foul line,” Smart said. “You just can't have those two things in addition to some of the defensive breakdowns we had.”
Tonight’s loss reminded everyone how much separation there is between Baylor and the rest of the Big 12 conference. Jones hoped tonight would be a reassurance of the work the team put in over the summer.
“It wasn’t enough,” Jones said. “We want to be a champion and create a championship culture. We have to beat those who are in position to be champions.”
