Hot-shooting forward lifts Baylor, 78-64, past Texas in rematch

By Steve Habel/Senior Editor

AUSTIN, Texas — No. 25 Baylor made 32 of 51 shots from the floor Saturday in a 78-64 win against 24th-ranked Texas, but that 56.1 shooting percentage paled in comparison to the performance turned in by Bears’ forward Johnathan Motley.

Motley scored 24 points and made his first 11 field goal attempts on the way to a 12-of-13 showing that help propel Baylor to a crucial win that was more lopsided than the final outcome indicated.

The Bears, with Motley scoring 12 points, took [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]a 40-22 lead at halftime and never looked back. Baylor shot 65 percent from the floor and outrebounded Texas, 14-5, in the opening 20 minutes, in the process taking the sold-out crowd of 16,540 at the Frank Erwin Center out of the game.

“I had no idea I had made my first 11 shots — I was just trying to take what Texas was giving me and keep playing hard,” Motley said. “I want to stay aggressive and attack the basket. My ability to stay out of foul trouble in recent games has allowed me to develop a better rhythm with my shot.”

The Bears also outscored Texas, 26-8, in the paint in a game in which the Longhorns never led.

“Baylor played like a highly, highly motivated team that wanted revenge from when we beat them earlier and our response was low-level today,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “There was some tentative play on our part, and Baylor recognized that and pounced on us. We didn’t look like we had the ‘want-to’ to do the things we needed to at a high level today.”

The Bears are now 20-0 in games in which they have held a lead at any time in the second half. Baylor dominated Texas throughout, despite the fact that its leading rebounder forward, Rico Gathers, did not start the game and played just seven minutes while suffering from the flu.

“It was important for us to get the easy buckets and the stops we got early in the game – it gave us the momentum we needed,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Texas made some really tough shots when they beat us (Feb. 1) at our place, and we made those types of shots today.”

Reserve forward Shaquille Cleare led Texas (17-10 overall, 8-6 against Big 12 opponents) in scoring for the first time in his career with a season-high 14 points. Reserve guard Eric Davis, Jr., added 11 points for the Longhorns, while point guard Isaiah Taylor hit for 10 points.

the Longhorns were just 4-of-18 from behind the three-point arc.

“Our hesitant mindset on offense carried over to the rest of our play,” said Texas forward Connor Lammert, who scored nine points. “We didn’t attack their zone the way we needed to and settled for some tough shots. Defensively, we let Baylor get inside too easily and gave them way too many layups.”

Forward Taurean Prince added 17 points for Baylor (20-7 overall, 9-5 in Big 12 games), while guard Lester Medford scored 13 points as the Bears reached the 20-victory mark for the fifth straight season and eighth time in their past nine campaigns.

“This was one of our better games,” Prince said. “It was Texas, you know? We don’t like them and they don’t like us, but we were focused from the minute we got here today.”

Baylor shot 62.7 percent from the floor, compared to UT’s 41.7 percent, and ended up with a 50-32 advantage in scoring in the paint.

“(Baylor) got the best of us today,” Taylor said. “We came out sluggish and weren’t ready to play — we just never responded. We have to start the game with a better sense of urgency and more fight. We were too passive and waiting for something to happen.”

Baylor took it to Texas early on, scoring the first six points of the game and then building a 16-point lead, at 28-12, on a three-pointer by guard Ishmail Wainright with 7:26 to play in the half. Texas cut the lead to 12 on a jumper by Taylor at the 6:02 mark, but Baylor kept pushing the ball inside for easy buckets.

The Longhorns have very little time to lick their wounds: UT will be back in action Monday when it travels to Kansas State’s Bramlage Coliseum, a.k.a. the “Octagon of Doom,” which is never an easy place in which to play.

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