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

The Longhorns come out of a tough five-game ranked slate 3-2

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. 

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