Texas Basketball Ends Season On 7-Game Losing Streak

Texas Basketball finished the regular season on a seven-game losing streak after losing at home against Baylor on Senior Night.

Texas lost 75-64 against Baylor in Austin for all of the usual reasons this season. You can rattle them off your game board playing at home – poor guard play, lack of three-point shooting, inconsistent freshmen, The Snowball Effect, poor Big 12 officiating, and the other team just being better.

Texas finished 10-21 overall and 4-14 in the Big 12 to finish in last place behind Oklahoma. Texas will now be the #10 seed in the Big 12 tournament starting Wednesday.

In its last three games, Texas lost by 10 points at home against Kansas,10 points on the road at Texas Tech, and 11 points at home against Baylor. The Horns developed a pattern of being consistently inconsistent.

Like most games this season, Saturday’s game against Baylor was lost in the first half during a key sequence. Throughout the year, Texas has battled teams pretty evenly through the first ten minutes of games, but then there is That Moment that turns into a snowball.

In the second half, Texas tried to battle back, and they got the game within six points midway through the half. But, they just could not find that one player to take over the game and keep pushing closer. It was the story of the season – a lack of a true go-to player in the absence of a true PG.

Texas Guards Putrid in First Half vs. Baylor

Texas scored 29 points in the first half. 24 of those points were scored by big men Jarrett Allen and Shaq Cleare.

Meanwhile, the only guard points were from Kendal Yancy with six minutes left in the half and a three-pointer from Jacob Young near the end of the half. It took 14 minutes for a perimeter player just to put the ball in the bucket.

During that time, Kerwin Roach, Andrew Jones, and Eric Davis were careless with the ball, just giving away possessions by not being strong enough against the Bears’ tough defense.

And, Jacob Young blew a three-point opportunity that would have given Texas control of the game. This was the key sequence of the game.

With Baylor leading 22-18, Jarrett Allen produced a Block of the Year candidate that fired up the Erwin Center. Allen also kept the ball in-play, allowing Texas to set up a fast break the other way. But, Young airballed a three-pointer. Baylor promptly came back the other end and hit a three-pointer. Texas could have been within one point, but instead went down by seven.

That was deflating in the Longhorns’ home arena and captured the whole season. One big play, one bad play, and here comes the snowball.

Baylor promptly extended their lead to 15 points. Texas was only able to get it back within 11 points at halftime.

In the half, Baylor made six three-pointers before Texas made its first one when Jacob Young broke a scoreless streak from the perimeter. The Bears went 6-11 on threes, while Texas only shot 1-7. It captured one of Texas’ biggest weaknesses as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country.

Overall, Baylor shot 54 percent and the Horns only shot 38 percent from the field. Compounding the problem were 10 turnovers that led to easy looks for Baylor.

Jarrett Allen Disappears in Second Half vs. Baylor

In the second half, the Texas guards played marginally better, but Jarrett Allen completely disappeared.

Allen scored 16 points in the first half, but only four points in the second half.

Part of the issue was Texas’ guards returned to their old habits of hesitating to throw the ball inside to Allen or Shaq Cleare. In the first half, the guards’ strength was finding the big men in the post. In the second half, they completely went away from that strategy.

The result was empty possessions or missed three-pointers. Texas only turned the ball over twice in the second half, but there were way too many missed shots.

The issue was compounded on the other end when Texas allowed Baylor to corral 13 offensive rebounds in the second half. Baylor grabbed 19 total for the game, playing much more physically on their end of the court.

Granted, there were plenty of over-the-back calls that the Big 12 officiating crew missed, allowing Baylor to keep the ball. More than once that allowed the Bears to kick out for wide-open three-pointers that extended their lead.

Texas still had chances to respond, getting within 52-46 with ten minutes left in the half. But, on the Horns’ next two possessions with a chance to make things interesting, Cleare and Allen missed inside shots and Kerwin Roach missed a three. Baylor responded with back-to-back three-pointers to turn a six-point game into a 12-game just like that.  (Full Box Score)

Texas’ Last Hope for 2016-2017 Season

Texas now has one game left in the season at the Big 12 tournament. Do they have any magic in them to pull off a miracle? They have to start with their first win away Austin from this season.

The Horns were winless on the road and have not won a neutral-site game this year. All 10 wins were at the Erwin Center, but they lost their last three home games. So, if they can’t win at home, they are unlikely to suddenly turn it around in Kansas City.

Next: Why UT Basketball Will Be National Title Contender In Two Years

Does Shaka Smart’s team have some pride left after how this rebuilding season ended? We’ll find out Wednesday night against Texas Tech in the opening road of the Big 12 conference tournament.