Texas basketball misses an opportunity in loss to Baylor

In a battle with the No. 3 ranked Baylor Bears and head coach Scott Drew, head coach Chris Beard and No. 21 ranked Texas basketball had a clear opportunity to end the time of playing in the Frank Erwin Center on a high note. And it looked like Texas really was going to push Baylor to the brink through the first half of this game.

Beard and the Longhorns came into this meeting with Drew and the Bears also looking to extend their winning streak to three games. But those hopes didn’t go as planned for Texas in this early-week meeting with Baylor.

A strong start from Texas would go all for naught after taking a 30-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. Texas couldn’t sustain that momentum in the second half, though.

Senior guards Marcus Carr and Courtney Ramey couldn’t ratchet up their offensive production when it mattered in the second half. That guard duo went for 7-of-22 shooting from the field and 3-of-10 from beyond the arc. But they shot well under 30 percent from the field and from beyond the arc in the second half.

Ramey was a particular source of the troubles for the Longhorns on the offensive end in this game. He shot just 2-of-10 from the field and missed two attempts from beyond the arc in this game. At least Ramey did come up with six rebounds and three steals. But his offensive production just wasn’t there when Texas needed it.

Courtney Ramey and Christian Bishop see No. 21 Texas basketball fall short to No. 3 Baylor

While Ramey and Carr struggled down the stretch in this game, Baylor’s guards really heated up. The Baylor guard duo of Adam Flagler and James Akinjo would wind up giving their team more than 35 points in this game. And more than 30 of those points came in the second half from that duo.

Moreover, one of the brighter spots for Texas in this game was the play of senior forward Christian Bishop. In a solid two-way outing for Bishop, he tied a team-high with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. He did struggle from the free-throw line, though, shooting just 1-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Bishop also gave Texas 11 rebounds and three blocks.

This was actually the first double-double of the season for Bishop. It’s just a shame that it went down as a loss in the home finale for the Longhorns.

Texas did not close out well in this game. Baylor started heating up from the field while Texas’ offense largely fell flat. Texas needs a more consistent source of offensive production in clutch time. When Carr is flat, the Longhorns just don’t have that offensive presence when it matters most.

Baylor would wind up pulling out this win in Austin over the Longhorns by the final score of 68-61. But Texas pulled within single digits of Baylor after Carr hit a three-pointer that didn’t matter much with less than 10 seconds to go.

This seven-point loss to Texas snaps their two-game winning streak. And it moves their record on the season 21-9 (10-7 Big 12). Next up for Bishop and the Longhorns is a meeting with the Kansas Jayhawks in the regular season finale on March 5.