Texas Basketball: Horns open Big 12 play with chance to upset Baylor

A nice chance lies ahead in the Big 12 opener for Texas basketball to take down the top 10-ranked Baylor Bears on the road.

The Texas basketball program had a topsy turvy end to the non-conference slate this season. Head Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart will enter the New Year with a double-digit win non-conference slate on his hands, but two disappointing losses to try and put behind him. By its usual standards, the non-conference slate went pretty well for this Texas team, though.

With a record of 10-2, the Texas Longhorns basketball program does enter the 2020 calendar year with the opportunity to get back into the NCAA Tournament. But they need to get off to a solid start in Big 12 play, with a Jan. 4 opener on the road in Waco on tap against the Baylor Bears.

The good news for the Longhorns is that the Big 12 slate is very manageable off the top. Beyond facing No. 6 Baylor, the Longhorns get to take on the Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas State Wildcats at home at the Frank Erwin Center. Then they hit the road again to take on a decent Oklahoma State Cowboys team that is pretty volatile under head coach Mike Boynton in conference play traditionally.

The Oklahoma schools both own records of 9-3 heading into the start of Big 12 play. Baylor has a record of 10-1. Their only loss came at the hands of the Washington Huskies, by a three-point margin, at a neutral site in Anchorage, AK, in the second game of the regular season. Baylor has knocked off two top 25 opponents, the Arizona Wildcats and Butler Bulldogs, since losing to Washington.

However, the Longhorns have a decent resume of their own coming into Big 12 play. They have numerous decisive wins over talented teams like the Central Michigan Chippewas and Texas A&M Aggies. The best Longhorns wins thus far came over the Purdue Boilermakers, Cal Golden Bears, and UAB Blazers.

Texas also has a number of players that are producing at high levels coming into Big 12 play. The first name that comes to mind is junior guard Matt Coleman. Just a dozen games into the regular season, Coleman has more than two win shares and is averaging a team-leading 12.6 points per game.

Meanwhile, junior center Jericho Sims leads the team in rebounds, player efficiency rating, and box plus/minus rating. Sims and Coleman are taking to the forefront to show what they can now that this is their team. They are no longer cast in the shadows of other big-time stars. Sims was the main player on this Texas roster that had to sit behind a number of stars in his college basketball career including Mohamed Bamba and Jaxson Hayes.

Baylor won’t be any slouch either, though, as the Longhorns will look to pull the big upset on the road to tip off their Big 12 slate. Sophomore 6-foot-3 guard Jared Butler is enjoying himself a gigantic breakout season while averaging a team-leading 17.6 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.

Butler is pulling that off while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 44.2 percent from three-point range. He is also shooting better than 91 percent from the free-throw line.

Texas is still undefeated at home entering Big 12 play. But they get Baylor on the road this weekend, where they are 1-1 on the season. The home opener will come on Jan. 8 against rival Oklahoma in the first of two Red River Rivalry meetings on the hardwood.