Texas @ Baylor preview
Ferrell Center
Last Meeting ( Feb 10, 2020 ) Baylor 52, Texas 45
No. 2 Baylor hosts 13th-ranked Texas in a Lone Star State showdown on Sunday afternoon in Waco, Texas, as the Big 12 Conference gets an early start to its league schedule because of the specter of potential problems from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bears have already had to adjust their schedule, postponing a game last week with No. 1 Gonzaga after two members of Gonzaga's travel party, one student-athlete and one non-student-athlete, produced positive COVID-19 test results.
Baylor (4-0) heads into Big 12 play after beating Stephen F. Austin 83-52 in the Bears' home opener on Wednesday. Baylor was supposed to play Nicholls State on Dec. 8 to begin its home schedule, but that game was canceled because of the coronavirus.
Texas (5-1) also won on Wednesday, pulling away late to beat Texas State 74-53 to rebound from a 68-64 home loss against then-No. 12 Villanova on Dec. 6.
The Bears got double-figure scoring from five players in their win, with Adam Flagler leading the way with 14 points off the bench. Reserve Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua added 13 points for Baylor, Davion Mitchell scored 11, preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Jared Butler had 12 points, and Matt Mayer scored 10 against SFA.
Baylor's bench outscored Stephen F. Austin's reserves 43-13.
"If we're going to try to make this run to the national championship, it's good to have great players on the bench," Mitchell said afterward. "The starters can't score all of the time -- they're not always going to have good nights. So, it's great to have someone on the bench that can be starters."
"Coming off finals, I was obviously worried about the players' energy and rhythm with not practicing as much," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "But I thought they did a great job."
If there's a team in the Big 12 that can match up with Baylor's depth and experience, it's Texas, which got scoring from 10 of the 12 players that saw the court against Texas State on Wednesday.
The Longhorns have ridden early-season success and a tournament victory in the relocated Maui Invitational -- which featured wins against Davidson, Indiana and North Carolina -- to their highest ranking in the Associated Press poll since they were No. 10 on Jan. 5, 2015.
Wednesday's win featured a breakout performance by freshman forward Greg Brown III, who's considered a likely one-and-done player for the Longhorns. Brown poured in a career-high 18 points, all but two of them in the second half, against Texas State and scored 12 straight points for Texas in a late-game, two and a half-minute stretch to help salt away the victory.
"It's been a kind of a struggle for me on the offensive end," Brown said despite scoring in double-figures for the fourth time in his six-game collegiate career. "What I'm trying to keep learning is how to play with pace, just play off my teammates and hope the game slows down for me."
Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey added 11 points each for the Longhorns. Texas tallied a season-high seven blocked shots in the win and forced 16 turnovers that it turned into a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
"We're going to have to play tougher, and we are going to have to grab the ball better," Texas coach Shaka Smart said. "Our guys did fly around and played with good energy on defense, but we'll have to play better on Sunday for sure."
--Field Level Media