Bears top Horns as recent trends continue
AUSTIN — Mo Bamba had no answers for why Texas played so poorly in consecutive losses to Kansas State and TCU. The team, he said, lacked the proper spirit. Its intensity waxed and waned on a whim, though too often their vigor was missing altogether. But those were symptoms, not a diagnosis.
Whatever sickness infected UT last week remained against Baylor, at least during the game’s early portions. In fact, it seemed to have grown more critical before a late surge.
In a game it desperately needed to win, Texas fell to the Bears 74-73 in double overtime Monday night at the Erwin Center.
Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.’s dunk off a rebound with six seconds to play in the second overtime was the difference.
Going in opposite directions
The defeat, UT’s third straight, was just the latest scene from what has quickly turned into a disaster film. The Longhorns (15-11, 5-8 Big 12) dropped into a tie with TCU for eighth in the Big 12 with five games remaining, including Saturday’s trip to take on 23rdranked Oklahoma.
“We’ve got a lot of guys trying to figure it out,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “This league is very unforgiving. No one is going to feel sorry for you.”
Baylor (16-10, 6-7) has won four in a row to put itself back in NCAA Tournament consideration.
“We need every game right now,” said Terry Maston, who led Baylor with 26 points. “I think we’re really turning it around in conference. We’re just clicking right now on offense and defense.”
UT showed more fight Monday than it displayed against TCU, just not enough to stop this disastrous losing skid.
The Longhorns started 1-of13 from the floor, the only make coming on a Dylan Osetkowski putback. Seven of those attempts came from behind the arc, and most were the byproduct either of panic or impatience.
It took about 11 minutes for UT to finally wake up. A 12-0 run featured two alley-oops from Kerwin Roach to Bamba, the second of which featured the 6-11 freshman soaring to grab the lob above the backboard square and slam it down.
Baylor immediately responded with an 8-0 run of its own to reclaim the lead, which it carried into intermission after Eric Davis missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The slog continued for both teams in the second half. UT and Baylor combined to miss their first nine shots of the half before Lual-Acuil finally finished an attempt inside.
Baylor had opportunities aplenty to run away with the game as UT continued hoisting hopeless jumpers — it finished 3 of 19 from 3-point range and shot 36 percent overall — but the Longhorns’ defense forced enough stops to stay within striking distance.
Matt Coleman busted through the door Baylor left open, scoring UT’s final seven points, including two game-tying free throws with 12 seconds left, to force overtime.
Roach followed suit in the first extra period, sinking a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining to tie it at 64 before Manu Lecomte’s potential game-winner bounced off the rim.
Dunk the difference
Roach put the Longhorns ahead by one with a finish inside on UT’s penultimate possession, but Lual-Acuil ruined those heroics by slamming back Lecomte’s missed jumper with six seconds remaining.
Lual-Acuil took adavantage of Bamba challenging Lecomete’s shot.
“I knew Mo was going to come over and try to block the shot. I stayed on the other side and was just hoping for a good miss. It came off the rim the right way and I was able to go up and grab it,” Lual-Acuil said.
Coleman finished with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Bamba matched his career high with 16 rebounds and added 16 points and four blocks.
Lual-Acuil went for 14 points and 10 boards.