AUSTIN – After sitting on the bench for more than two-thirds of the game, Isaiah Taylor made his presence known is the largest of ways during overtime in Texas’ do-or-die 61-59 victory against No. 14 Baylor Monday at the Erwin Center.
Taylor, who said he was not hurt but regulated to the bench for most of the game, was involved in a scuffle for a loose ball near mid-court late in the overtime period that grew to a bench-clearing grab-and-hold session between the two team’s players and coaches.
After seven players (four from Texas and three from Baylor) were ejected for leaving the bench, Taylor was left open on the left wing when Baylor moved to[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] triple-team Javan Felix. Felix found him with the pass and Taylor hit the running, game-winning jumper that handed the Horns’ a lift while keeping alive their chances at playing in the NCAA tournament.
“This win gives us a new day – a new breath of life but we have to make the best of it,” Felix said. “We know what’s at stake on every play – we just have to find a way.”
Texas (18-12, 7-10 in Big 12 play) trailed for most of the game until Jonathan Holmes canned a 3-pointer with 1:04 left in regulation to tie the score at 54-54.
On Baylor’s ensuing possession, point guard Kenny Chery juked to his right and seemed to have a clear path to the basket for the game-winning shot until the Longhorns’ Prince Ibeh came out of nowhere to block it.
Texas had a chance at its own game-winner at the end of regulation but didn’t get off the shot they wanted and settled for overtime.
With the Longhorns up 59-56 with 2:03 to play, the scrum just out of bounds near midcourt sent the contest into an even higher pitch. After Baylor tied the game on a 3-pointer by Royce O’Neale, Texas played for the last shot and Felix found Taylor for the game winner with 4 seconds to play.
“I was not hurt, I just didn’t play because that’s what coach wanted to do,” Taylor said. “I thank my teammates for getting us into overtime.”
“(Taylor) wasn’t doing what we needed him to do and when he does that he can’t play,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “We have to have guys that are going to compete every single second. The game was intense and heated and we wanted it.”
Demarcus Holland led Texas with 12 points while Kendal Yancy added 11 and Felix had 10. The Longhorns’ Myles Turner had a team-high seven rebounds and six blocks.
“We believed the whole time,” Holland said. “As long as we rebound the ball we know we have a chance. We have to keep winning. Pretty soon it’s going to be win or go home.”
Baylor was paced by Taurean Prince’s 17 points and the 12 points and 11 rebounds from Rico Gathers. The Bears (22-8, 10-7 in Big 12 play) led for more than 36 minutes of the game and was ahead by 10 points with 6:38 to play.
“We did some things down the stretch that we can’t do if we want to advance in the postseason,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “You have to credit Texas for battling and fighting.”
UT returns to the court Saturday afternoon at the Erwin Center vs. Kansas State in its regular-season finale and another do-or-die game for a chance in the NCAA tournament.
“There’s a lot of basketball still to be had,” Barnes said. “I just want to see us give ourselves a chance. I don’t know what we’ll see when K-State comes in here – I really don’t.
“We are who we are right now,” he added. “If we can get everyone together we could win it all. We haven’t seen it all year – everything we asked for from every single guy. I think we are getting close.”
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