Texas vs Baylor Basketball Recap

Baylor 80, Texas 77 (OT)

Baylor just went a long way toward securing a berth in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Texas continued a freefall that has turned a promising season into a nightmare.

There was little room for in-between statements or murky realities on Saturday afternoon in Austin, Tex. The Frank Erwin Center is home to the Texas Longhorns, but on the next to last day of January, the rounded edifice didn't feel very safe or secure for a talented team that's squandering its immense potential. The same UT squad that started the season 17-0 has now lost three of its past four games. A juggernaut that appeared to be headed for a No. 1 regional seed in March Madness is now hanging by a thread in the Big 12 Conference race.

It's time for a crisis watch in Longhorn country after this latest letdown for Coach Rick Barnes. A spell of timid and insufficient basketball which began with a Jan. 18 loss at Kansas State and continued with a 14-point stumble at a not-so-great Connecticut club (on Jan. 23) only picked up momentum - downward momentum, that is - in this home-court failure against coach Scott Drew's ballsy Bears. There are many explanations for Texas's troubles, but they go deeper than the numbers would suggest.

Sure, a lot of critics will note that Texas hit just 19 of 31 foul shots and made just 4 of 8 free throws in the final 72 seconds of overtime. Razor-close games won't be won with leaky foul shooting, but it's a cop-out to assign all the blame to that statistic, which naturally pertains to dead-ball events and not the live workings of end-to-end sequences. When these two teams weren't shooting standstill 15-footers awarded by the officials, Baylor outplayed Texas, anyway.

The Bears scrapped and hustled more than the limousine Longhorns managed to do. Texas's star performer, Damion James, grabbed 19 rebounds in this game, but he had precious little help from his teammates.

Texas's guards brought very little to this Lone Star State hoops rodeo. Shooting specialist Avery Bradley had more turnovers (five) than made field goals (three). Veteran point guard Dogus Balbay, who eschews shots so that he can set up everyone else on the Horns, handed out only three assists in 31 minutes of playing time. Center Dexter Pittman - a bruising and imposing low-post presence who has destroyed many opponents this season, including North Carolina - got only 10 shots in this game, which is in many ways a reflection of his backcourt's inability to get him the ball in good spots on the low blocks.

Baylor simply worked harder, particularly on the defensive end and also on the glass. The Bears and Longhorns both grabbed 37 boards, but Texas possesses more power and muscle than the string-bean-like Baylor bunch. When this game's outcome hung in the balance, the wonderboys from Waco, Tex., snagged the most important rebound of the afternoon.

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Baylor, amazingly enough, entered the final seconds of regulation on a major-league field goal drought. BU's Tweety Carter hit a layup with 10:16 left, but when the Bears got the ball back with just 15 seconds remaining, they hadn't hit another shot since that point in time. Yes, Baylor went just over 10 full minutes without a field goal, but because of its effort on defense, Drew's roster trailed by only two, at 64-62. One made field goal would win or tie, and thanks to the elbow grease which covered the guys in road green jerseys, they did indeed live for five additional minutes.

BU's Ekpe Udoh missed a game-winning 3-point attempt with four seconds left, but teammate Anthony Jones cradled the miss on the right side of the lane and put the ball in the bucket with two seconds left. Given a fresh start, Baylor went on a 9-3 run to start the extra period and survived a few late turnovers when Bradley - at the tail-end of his awful day - missed an open three at the buzzer.

The win gives Baylor a huge scalp in the conference after falling two points short on Jan. 26 against Kansas State. Baylor beat Arizona State, Xavier and South Carolina out of conference while losing only to Alabama in the pre-Big 12 portion of its schedule, but this win in Austin will dramatically improve the Bears' profile. As long as they protect home court, avoid really bad losses, and pick off another high-value win along the way, the Bears should be able to return to the Big Dance after settling for an NIT runner-up showing in 2009.

As for Texas? Well, that No. 1 seed - thought to be a likely proposition a few weeks ago - now looks like a No. 5 seed unless Rick Barnes can transform his team's deteriorating sense of confidence.

By Matt Zemek
Big 12 Fans Senior Staff Writer