4 Biggest Takeaways After No. 7 Texas Holds Off Baylor for Thrilling Win

The Texas Longhorns have secured their biggest win of the season four games in.

Isaiah Johnson scored a game-high 27 points and No. 7 Texas rallied in the final few minutes to take down the Baylor Bears for a 75-72 win in San Antonio on Sunday afternoon.

The Longhorns now have a resume-building win that will follow them to Selection Sunday.

Isaiah Johnson Can Contend For SEC First Team

Texas Longhorns guard Isaiah Johnson (2) warms up before the start of the game against Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs at Moody Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In a loaded SEC, Johnson is proving he can already be one of the conference's best players in just his second year of college basketball.

His 27 points came in a variety of ways, and was further proof how elite of a three-level scorer Johnson can be. He finished with 4 of 4 from deep and had just two turnovers.

It's looking like Austin Goosby will continue to be the primary facilitator with Johnson providing the scoring punch on most nights for Texas' starting backcourt.

Texas Defense Bounces Back After Shaky Start

Baylor started off hot from deep, but this was due in large part to Texas giving up multiple open looks on defense.

This could have allowed the game to unravel for the Longhorns against a talented Baylor team, but Texas turned things around, particularly at the end of the second half.

In the final 2:53 of the game, Texas held Baylor 0 of 4 from the field to secure the win.

Elyjah Freeman Steps Up Big

Freeman has made some notable plays early this season but there remained some questions about how he could impact the offense against a stronger opponent.

He squashed any potential concerns against Baylor.

Freeman finished with 10 points eight of which came in the final 8:49 of the game. He hit a triple in the closing minutes, had an and-one to put Texas back in front with 4:15 to play and hit the game-sealing free throws with five seconds left.

Texas Still Has a Fouling Virus

After the loss to Kentucky last season, Sean Miller went viral for his comments about Texas "having a virus called fouling."

Despite a new-look Texas team this season, the Longhorns are still experiecing similar issues -- and it nearly cost them against Baylor. Multiple offensive fouls and some wild elbows from Matas Vokietaitis were unnecessary at times.

Yes, there were certainly a few soft whistles by the officials but many of the fouls called against Texas were very avoidable. The team will need to improve in that regard moving forward.

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