After suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the Phog on Saturday at Kansas, the Texas Longhorns were in a predicament that few thought they would see the Longhorns suffer this season. With virtually only 1 quality win on the season (vs. West Virginia way back in the middle of January in Austin), and an unimpressive 6-10 record in the wacky Big 12, the team that started out the year in the top 5 had likely fell out of the top 68, their bubble near the needle. In the midst of a 4 game losing streak, to save their season, a win against the Baylor Bears was imperative for Rick Barnes & Co.
After a brutal, chippy, and exhilerating overtime session, the Texas Longhorns came out on top after an Isaiah Taylor floater with 5 ticks left in the bonus time. Baylor tried to tie by gunning down the other end quickly after Taylor's bucket, but Kenny Chery's shot was blocked by freshman Myles Turner, saving the day for the 'Horns.
Baylor led for most of the game due to a combined 19 points from Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers down low, but a combined 5-20 shooting by the backcourt of Kenny Chery and Lester Medford dramatically hurt the Bears.
After a Johnathan Motley jumper with 6:41 seconds left gave Baylor a 10 point lead, Texas knew it was time to get down and dirty to push towards the finish line. Demarcus Holland, who led Texas with 12 points, took over late, getting to the free throw line and hitting some deep shots as well. Big Jonathan Holmes stepped back for the trey with 1:08 left in regulation, drilling it to knot the game up 54 a piece. Holmes missed a last second three, and the game went to OT.
A mini-brawl marred the exciting overtime, as Isaiah Taylor and Royce O'Neale tusseled for the ball. Players on both sides jumped off of the bench and started the skirmish, having to be broke up by the refs and coaches. 7 players were ejected, including UT's Cameron Ridley, Kendal Yancy, Connor Lammert, and Prince Ibeh, along with BU's Johnathan Motley, Ishmail Wainright, and John Heard.
Despite this, it was still a fun 5 minutes, and Isaiah Taylor took over when the Longhorns needed him, getting the easy jump shot to give Texas the much-needed victory, 61-59.
This was great revenge for Texas, as they suffered a humiliating 83-60 loss in Waco in late January. This loss does not hurt anything for the Bears but their seeding for the NCAA tournament, but this is a massive boon for the Longhorns. Make sure to stay tuned for our Matthew Evans' next Bracketology piece to see where the Longhorns will be. Texas will now prepare for inviting Kansas State to town on Saturday, while Baylor will try to bounce back vs. lowly Texas Tech on Friday.