Off-the-radar rivalry offers plenty of heat
Horns freshmen quick to discover unspoken secret enveloping Bears
AUSTIN — Growing up in Saginaw, Mich., Eric Davis never heard much about Baylor basketball.
But during his first few months at Texas, he has learned at least two things about the Bears.
First, their series against UT can get intense. Second, the Longhorns aren’t supposed to publicly acknowledge it.
“I don’t want to say what goes on in the locker room,” Davis said. “But Baylor is a team we really want to beat.”
Ever since a resurgent Baylor program ended a 24-game losing streak to UT in 2009, the Bears and Longhorns have traded blows in one of the most bitter college basketball grudge matches that few acknowledge as a rivalry.
Even-steven
Part of the fervor stems from how evenly the teams have been matched. Over the last 18 meetings, the series is tied 9-9. Over the last 14, it’s 7-7. Over the last 10, it’s 5-5. And when UT upset the Bears 67-59 in Waco on Feb. 1, it meant the two programs split the last four games, too.
But even though most of those games are close and fans get riled up for Longhorns-Bears showdowns like they do for few other matchups, older players for 24th-ranked UT aren’t willing to say facing the No. 25 Bears on Saturday at the Erwin Center is any more special than playing other conference foes.
“There are a lot of teams that are rivalry-esque,” senior forward Connor Lammert said. “You’re not going to like a lot of the teams in the Big 12.”
But seldom has any of that distaste for other opponents boiled over in recent years like it has between Texas (17-9, 8-5 Big 12) and Baylor (19-7, 8-5).
Last year in Austin, a scuffle broke out along the sideline, and UT point guard Isaiah Taylor emerged with a bloody lip. This month in Waco, Baylor forward Rico Gathers shoved Longhorns center Prince Ibeh from behind with an elbow that drew a technical foul. Taylor responded by getting in Gathers’ face to earn a technical, and officials had to pull players from both teams away from each other.
“Sometimes things get physical,” Lammert said. “But if things get out of hand, you’ve got to respect the game.”
A key Big 12 clash
Both teams have plenty of reasons to think about the bigger picture. The Longhorns and Bears are tied for third place in the Big 12, two games behind front-runner Kansas. And both are in line for what could be a fifth seed or better in the NCAA Tournament.
UT, which has won eight of its last 11 games, is looking for its sixth victory of the season against a ranked opponent. Would it be all the sweeter knowing that two of them came against the Bears?
The Longhorns’ upperclassmen won’t say it. But to freshmen like Davis and Kerwin Roach, it’s becoming too obvious to deny.
“Before, I really thought it was just an A&M thing,” Roach said. “But now that I’m here, I see (Baylor) really is a big rivalry.”