Third time is far from a charm. For the fourth straight game and the third this season alone, the Baylor Bears handled the Texas Longhorns. This time, Baylor ran away from Texas in the second half and coasted to a 86-67 victory.
No. 3 seed Baylor advances to take on No. 2 seed Kansas State tomorrow evening, while Texas now heads back to Austin and awaits their NCAA destination.
Given the struggles of Bubble teams in other conference tournaments, I don't see Texas's projected seed falling. The Longhorns are probably staring at a 7 or 8 seed in the NCAA tournament. I'll have my fingers crossed for a No. 6 seed but that is a longshot at this point.
First let's give Baylor their due. Scott Drew's club is a solid one. LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter stand up well against any backcourt in the country; Ekpe Udoh is a difference maker on both ends; and overall, the Bears are very efficient. Baylor is going to be a tough out in the NCAA tournament.
All that said, this was another disappointing game for the ‘Horns. Other than some of the first half and a brief run in the second, Baylor took care of Texas with ease. Texas struggled to shut down Dunn and Carter, got schooled on the low block by Udoh, and failed to get back in transition or provide sufficient help-side defense to slow down the Baylor attack. It's hard to win against anyone when you give up 86 points.
If the defense doesn't get better by this time next week, the 'Horns will be bounced early, regardless of their seed or their opponent.
In addition to the play on the court being frustrating, I do not understand some of the personnel decisions either. J'Covan Brown didn't play until the second half. Last night he played just three minutes. Jordan Hamilton after producing in the first half, doesn't play or barely plays in the second. Jai Lucas for nine minutes. I don't agree with any of these three. In my opinion, Brown and Hamilton need more minutes and Lucas needs fewer.
Brief kudos to Damion James for another performance that should make ‘Horns fans proud. DaMo battled all game and finished with 18 points and 12 boards. Other than that, there wasn't a ton else to like-36% from the floor, 30% from three, and just nine assists on 24 baskets.
We'll get into more later but use this as your post-game disappointment thread.