Texas Outmatched 80-63 By No. 10 Baylor in Waco

The Longhorns come out of a tough five-game ranked slate 3-2
Texas Outmatched 80-63 By No. 10 Baylor in Waco
Texas Outmatched 80-63 By No. 10 Baylor in Waco

The Longhorns headed into a weekend matchup with No. 10 Baylor in Waco with heads high and momentum at their backs after picking up a top-10 win over No. 8 Kansas on Monday. 

But it was the home team who gave little doubt about who was better poised for victory, as Baylor (21-4, 9-3) cruised past No. 20 Texas (18-7, 7-5) 80-63 on Sunday. 

"I think from where I stand, we’re a team that hasn’t proven that we can handle some success," Texas coach Chris Beard said postgame.

All five Baylor starters finished in double figures, led by guard Adam Flagler's 20 points. The Longhorns were led by Andrew Jones, who put up 11 points off the bench as the only player on the team to reach double digits. 

The Bears were efficient all afternoon, shooting 50 percent as a team and hitting 22 of 27 from the free throw line.

The Longhorns led 8-7 in the first five minutes but it would be their last lead of the day. Baylor used a quick 12-0 run to begin what was a dominant day for coach Scott Drew's team, particularly on defense.

The stat sheet shows that Texas had fewer turnovers (10) than Baylor (12), but the Bears' hounding defense in the paint and on the perimeter allowed little room for open shots all afternoon.

Baylor had seven blocks, with forward Flo Thamba leading the team with four rejections. He stepped up wonderfully after Baylor forward Jonathon Tchamwa Tchatchoua left the game in the first half with a serious knee injury. His departure seemed to light a fire in the Bears. 

"Baylor basically beat us with seven players after Jonathan went down," Beard said. "We tried 12 or 13 to find a spark, and their seven beat our 12."

Baylor was already without leading-scorer LJ Cryer (13.9 points), but point guard James Akinjo still found a way to dominate Texas' backcourt tandem of Courtney Ramey and Marcus Carr. 

"We let the Kansas game be our championship," Ramey said. "They wanted it more. All 13 players can say we played soft today."

Ramey hit a fadeaway jumper at the half-time buzzer to make it a 44-31 deficit after the first 20 minutes, but there was little hope for a Texas comeback.  

Jones was the lone spark, with all 11 of his team-leading points coming in the second half, including three 3's. But the Longhorns were never able to pull within single digits as the outcome seemed inevitable down the stretch.

Texas will hit the road again to Norman, Okla. for a matchup on Tuesday night against Oklahoma. The Sooners are coming off of 70-55 win over No. 9 Texas Tech on Wednesday. 

Tipoff between the two old rivals is scheduled for 6 p.m. C.T from Lloyd Noble Center. 


Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Longhorns? Click Here

Want to join in on the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Longhorns Country message board community today!

Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.


Published
Zach Dimmitt
ZACH DIMMITT

Zach Dimmitt is the Deputy Editor for Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI. He also contributes as a writer for the On SI channels of the Oregon Ducks, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Buffalo Bills on SI, Philadelphia Eagles on SI and Seattle Seahawks on SI. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Dimmitt received his Bachelor’s Degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin in 2022. He originally started with SI’s Fan Nation network in 2021, providing extensive coverage of the NFL and NBA along with college football and basketball. In that time, Dimmitt has published thousands of stories and has reached millions of people across multiple fan bases. You can follow him on X at @ZachDimmitt7

Share on XFollow ZachDimmitt7