Men’s basketball eliminated from Big 12 Championship by Baylor, 75-61

By Steve Lansdale

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Senior forward Connor Lammert tied his career high with 15 points to lead three Texas players scoring in double figures, but the No. 23/22 Longhorns fell, 75-61, to the No. 22/20 Baylor Bears in the quarterfinal of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Thursday at Sprint Center.

Texas head coach Shaka Smart was understandably disappointed after the game, and said the deciding factor in the game was simple: aggressiveness.

“Congratulations to Baylor. — I thought they were the more aggressive team for the majority of the game,” Smart said. “That’s what allowed them to win. It was really disappointing for our team because we felt like we had a great opportunity to advance, but here we are.”

In addition to Lammert’s 15 points, UT got 13 points from guard Kerwin Roach, Jr., and 12 from forward Shaquille Cleare. But those three [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)]tried to carry the offensive load themselves, hitting a combined 16 of 30 shots from the floor. The other eight Longhorns who played went just 7-for-30 from the floor.

Roach also led Texas with six rebounds, but the Bears enjoyed a decided advantage on the boards, collecting 46 rebounds to just 27 for the Longhorns.

With the loss, Texas fell to 20-12 overall this season, with an 11-7 record against Big 12 teams. Baylor, which will play Kansas in Friday’s semifinal, improved to 22-10 overall with a 10-8 mark in conference games. The setback — UT’s second in three games this season against Baylor — also means the Longhorns dropped below the .500 mark (6-7) this season against teams ranked in the Associated Press top 25.

Guard Isaiah Taylor, who had a game-high nine assists but was limited to just eight points, dismissed questions about his health, saying the game biggest factor was the Longhorns’ slow start that contributed to a 38-27 Baylor lead at halftime.

“My foot is fine,” Taylor said. “I think we didn’t come out with enough urgency. The past two games, we always come out sluggish. We come out slow and we end up fighting back, and I think that’s what puts us in a hole late.”

 

Smart gave the Bears credit for their performance, but also did not back away from his view that the Longhorns had chances to cause a different outcome.

“I thought offensively we missed a lot of easy shots,” Smart said. “We got a lot of really good looks. We missed some free throws early. Unfortunately, it’s a pattern that we have yet to break that when some things don’t go our way offensively. Some or all of our guys on the floor get bummed out and disappointed, and that impacts the defensive focus and aggressiveness.”

Smart said that he is less concerned with a lack of momentum going forward than he is with his team’s ability to execute in a way that creates victories and momentum.

“I mean, you’d love to have great momentum going into the tournament, but I don’t think that necessarily dictates that you don’t have a chance to win,” he said. “To me, as a coach, it’s more about we’ve got to play better, you know, and all the things that go into that. So momentum would be great. We don’t have that. But what’s more important is all the things that go into winning.”

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