By Matthew Soderberg | Sports Writer
No. 1 Baylor men’s basketball laid waste to Texas 52-45 in Austin Monday night. The Longhorns were down 42-27 with 8:04 left on the clock in the second half.
In a defensive battle where each team shot lower than 35% from the floor, redshirt junior guard MaCio Teague led the Bears in scoring again with 11. He was also 3-11 from the field but led Baylor in the rebound category with eight and was the only Bear to put up more than 10 points.
Senior guard Devonte Bandoo followed Teague with 10 points on 4-6 shooting, and sophomore guard Jared Butler was right behind with nine points on 3-12 shooting with five rebounds and two assists.
Redshirt sophomore guard Davion Mitchell had a well-rounded box score with eight points, six rebounds and five assists, while junior forward Mark Vital filled up his stats with eight points and eight rebounds.
Baylor’s low-post operators were left without a point scored from the floor. Redshirt senior forward Freddie Gillespie and junior forward Tristan Clark were a combined 0-3 on field goals and managed just seven rebounds in 35 minutes. Gillespie did shoot 2-2 from the line. Clark, however, fouled out after just seven minutes on the court.
Baylor shot 12-16 from the line against the Longhorns, a marked advantage over shooting just 60% from the stripe on Saturday against Oklahoma State. Their ability to knock down shots in the final stretch of the game helped them hold off a last-second comeback attempt from Texas as they scored 18 of the final 28 points.
The Bears’ offensive night was saved by their three-point shooting. Baylor shot 38% from behind the arc, whereas the Longhorns made only 18% from deep. The Bears also took advantage of Texas’ lack of defensive discipline with 14 fast break points.
Baylor will face their first ranked opponent since playing No. 3 Kansas on Jan. 11 at 3 p.m. Saturday as West Virginia comes to the Ferrell Center. The game can be streamed on ESPN+ through the ESPN app and Big 12 Now.
