Expect defense to be on display and likely the deciding factor when No. 9 Baylor and host Texas square off on Saturday in a key early Big 12 clash at Austin, Texas.
The longtime rivals come into the contest off of losses, with Baylor falling at Kansas State 68-64 in overtime on Tuesday and Texas losing 77-71 against UCF at home on Wednesday to drop its second straight game.
Baylor (14-3, 3-1 Big 12) led by five points against Kansas State with 1:12 to play in the extra period but surrendered the game’s final nine points. Langston Love led the Bears with 15 points while Jalen Bridges added 11 and freshman Yves Missi had nine points and 11 rebounds.
Baylor shot just 32.9 percent from the floor and made only 5 of 28 shots (17.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
“We weren’t playing tight, we were just playing basketball,” Love said. “We all believe in ourselves, we all work hard, we’re in the gym every day. Shots just didn’t fall tonight. We just need to get back in the gym and keep working.”
RayJ Dennis contributed seven points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Baylor, which had a five-game winning streak snapped.
“In the Big 12, wins feel so good and losses hurt so much,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “I was proud of our effort. We gave ourselves a chance to win on the road. Credit K-State for making the plays down the stretch. They did, we didn’t so they got the job done.”
The Bears’ three wins in conference play have been by an average of 5.7 points per game; Baylor is also 1-1 in two Big 12 overtime games.
The Longhorns (12-5, 1-3) have lost both Big 12 home games so far, first to Texas Tech on Jan 6 and now to UCF, a team picked to finish last in the Big 12’s preseason poll.
In Wednesday’s game, Texas squandered a 16-point first half lead before building its advantage back to 55-40 after a jumper by Ithiel Horton with 14:30 to play.
The Longhorns could not get the stops they needed the rest of the way as UCF came on strong and rolled to the win thanks to a zone defense that forced Texas into settling for 3-point shots.
“I don’t think that there’s anything wrong per se with us,” Texas forward Dylan Disu said. “We just need to figure out how to play as hard as we possibly can for 40 straight minutes. And once we do that, we’ll have some more success.”
Of the Longhorns final 13 shots, 12 were from beyond the arc, while they made four of those. Texas lost the rebounding battle 37-22, including 12-4 on offensive glass, and was outscored 15-5 on second-chance points.
Horton, who earned the start against his former team, made the most of it by leading the Longhorns with 20 points. Max Abmas and Dillon Mitchell added 15 points each as Texas shot just 34.5 percent in the second half.
“There’s no quit in that room over there,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “I mean, every night you only keep it for one night whether you win or lose, and it’s on to the next really good opponent. You don’t have time to have a hangover and feel sorry for yourself. You got to continue to roll up your sleeves, go back to work.”
–Field Level Media