Texas Basketball: Analytical breakdown of loss to Baylor

Behind a season-high 33 points from senior guard Max Abmas, Texas basketball looked like it would pull the No. 11 Baylor Bears on upset alert on the road in Waco on March 4. Texas got off to a great start offensively, scoring 48 first-half points (largely thanks to 17 from Abmas) while taking an eight-point lead into the locker room at halftime.

Yet, despite the strong start from Abmas, the Longhorns couldn't find that same juice on the offensive end in the second half. Texas went on multiple scoreless droughts in the final 15 minutes of the game, even though Abmas still managed 16 points in the second half.

Baylor controlled the game on both ends of the floor down the stretch, including outrebounding Texas by a margin of 15 and taking 21 more free-throw attempts than the Longhorns.

How Texas basketball was defeated by No. 11 Baylor

The Bears won the second half by a score of 53-35, squandering the Longhorns' hot start. Here's an analytical breakdown of Texas's 93-85 loss to Baylor on the road at the Foster Pavilion in Waco on March 4.

Four Factors

True shooting percentage

Texas-61.4%

Baylor-71.0%

As one of the more telling stats of the night, Baylor registered a season-high in Big 12 play 71.0 true shooting percentage. Baylor was getting it done inside the paint, from beyond the arc, and from the free-throw line tonight.

Turnover percentage

Texas-6.7%

Baylor-16.6%

Winning the turnover battle was one of the few positives that emerged from this loss to Baylor for head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns. Texas converted on 15 Baylor turnovers by scoring 22 points, while the Bears scored only seven points from five Texas turnovers.

Offensive rebounding percentage

Texas-15.6%

Baylor-36.0%

The other show-me stat from the advanced metrics in this game, Texas was completely decimated on the glass by the Bears. Texas posted a 15.6 offensive rebounding percentage, second-worst in Big 12 play this season.

FTA Rate

Texas-.350

Baylor-.894

Texas completely lost its way in the second half while Baylor was finding ways to draw contact and get to the line at an extremely high rate.

Baylor's .894 free-throw attempt rate is the second-highest any team has gotten in a Big 12 game this season (per Sports Reference).

Style Metrics

Assist percentage: Texas-50.0%, Baylor-56.0%

Assist/Turnover Ratio: Texas-3.0, Baylor-1.1

Baylor was a bit sloppy moving the ball at times in the first half, leading to over a dozen points for Texas off Bears turnovers in the first 20 minutes. But Baylor cleaned things up in the second half, which was a big reason for their comeback after being down by 14 points with 15 minutes remaining.

3PA Rate

Texas-.383

Baylor-.277

Texas shot the three ball well in the first half, largely thanks to the hot start from Abmas. Baylor, meanwhile, didn't need to rely on three-point attempts much to comeback against Texas in the second half with how effective they were driving to the rim and drawing contact.

Pace

Texas-66 possessions

Baylor-68 possessions

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