Men’s basketball falls at home to Baylor, 83-69
AUSTIN, Texas — Guard Andrew Jones, the Texas men’s basketball team’s leading scorer in 2020-21, had arguably his best game of the season Tuesday night when the No. 6 Longhorns hosted No. 2 Baylor. The junior hit 10 of 16 field goals, including 4 of 9 from beyond the three-point line en route to a team-high 25 points, but his stellar performance was not enough, as the Bears pulled away for an 83-69 victory over the Longhorns at the Frank C. Erwin Center.
The loss dropped Texas to 11-5 overall and 5-3 in games against Big 12 opponents. UT lost three of its last four games, all of which have been played at home. Baylor, meanwhile, retained its perfect record, improving to 17-0 overall and 9-0 in conference games.
The game was the first matchup of two teams ranked among the top six in the country by the Associated Press since the 2002-03 season.
Guards Davion Mitchell and Jared Butler scored 27 and 21 points, respectively, to lead the Bears.
Jones was one of four Longhorns who scored in double figures. Guards Matt Coleman and Courtney Ramey tallied 13 and 12 points, respectively, while forward Jericho Sims added 10.
UT’s starting five, which also included freshman forward Greg Brown, accounted for 65 points Tuesday, but where the Bears really separated from their hosts was in bench scoring, in which Baylor enjoyed a 17-4 edge.
The Longhorns had an opportunity to keep the game closer at the free throw line, earning 14 free throws compared to just four for the Bears. The difference was that Butler and guard MaCio Teague each hit both of their shots, while Texas players shot just 3 of 14 from the charity stripe, or just 21.4 percent — less than half of its accuracy rate from three-point range. For comparison, the Longhonrs entered the game shooting 70.5 percent from the line this season.
The Longhorns will try to get back in the win column at 2 p.m. Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., when they face Oklahoma State in a game that will be broadcast on ABC.
