Baker’s career night lifts Texas men’s basketball over hapless TCU

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — Casual fans and onlookers should be forgiven for looking up Will Baker’s profile on their phones midway through the first half of the University of Texas men’s basketball team’s 70-56 win over hapless TCU Wednesday at the Erwin Center.

In a game between two teams fighting for relevance and notice in the top-heavy Big 12 Conference, Baker was the story, scoring a career-high 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting as shorthanded Texas shrugged off a ragged start and outlasted the visiting Horned Frogs before an announced crowd of 8,395.

Baker, a[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] 6-foot-11 freshman who had only 16 points combined in the 17 games in which he has played in this season before Wednesday, canned four of his six three-point attempts in the win as Texas snapped a four-game losing streak.

“It felt good to get those off,” Baker said of his sudden shooting prowess. “I’ve stayed ready, and the coaches told me to stay with it. I never lost my confidence. There is a lot of room to improve — I’m not satisfied at all. This is just a start. I was prepared and staying ready to show what I could do.”

Texas (15-11 overall, 5-8 in Big 12 games) trailed by as many as seven points in the early going and by two points at halftime before assuming command early in the second half. The Longhorns finally put away TCU in the closing minute as guard Andrew Jones hit a three-pointer with 59 seconds left to push the Texas lead to 60-53.

The UT defense was the difference, especially after halftime, as TCU shot just 24.1 percent (7 of 29) in the second half. The Horned Frogs missed all 10 of their shots from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.

“I just think we have to play better than that,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon said. “We have to be a better team than that, and that falls on me. Just when we think we are getting better offensively, we have a game like this. We have had a number of games like this that just get away from us.”

Jones scored a career-high 21 points to lead Texas while guard Courtney Ramey scored 15 points and forward Kai Jones hit for 10. The Longhorns played without starting point guard Matt Coleman III, who has a heel injury, and forward Jericho Sims, who has been ruled out for the rest of the regular season with a back injury.

“We will have to do it by committee with Jericho out,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “Certain guys have different strengths than Jericho, like Will’s shooting, and we were able to take advantage of that. Our guys were genuinely happy to win. There was a sense of excitement that we followed the plan and accomplished some things we wanted to do.”

Desmond Bane led the Horned Frogs (14-12 overall, 5-8 against Big 12 opponents) with 13 points, all of which came in the first half.

Jaire Grayer and Kevin Samuel added 11 points apiece for TCU, which lost for the seventh time in eight games. Samuel took down a game-high 12 rebounds in defeat.

“For the most part this was one of our most aggressive games,” Smart added. “Our effort was really strong in the second half on defense. We did a great job on Bane – he’s a terrific cutter and we needed multiple guys to guard him.”

Both teams shot the ball well in the first half, after which the Horned Frogs led 38-36. TCU hit 63 percent of its shots from the floor and the Longhorns answered with a 15-of-26 showing from the field that included hitting all five shots from beyond the arc.

Baker poured in 15 points in the half, with Jones adding 10 for Texas.

“I’m happy for Will to play the way we know he can play — that’s the guy we recruited,” Smart said. “There have been some that wondered how good a player he is, but we knew a game like this was coming. We told him to be ready, to be aggressive and let it fly, and he did.”

The Longhorns now have a very legitimate chance at a two-game winning streak with their next game on the road against Kansas State, which sits in last place in the league standings.

“We’ve always been a talented group. It’s been about the next man up,” Jones said. “We just kept working and we play hard. It was a win we definitely needed. We are still confident. We’ve been fighting through a lot with our injuries and stuff, and this is a good momentum builder for us.”
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