Going into Monday night’s game against Baylor, the Longhorns had lost back to back games against Kansas and Texas Tech, nearly shutting the door on their NCAA Tournament hopes. The Bears completely shut that door closed, as they came into Austin and beat Texas, 52-45.
As usual, three-pointers are what killed the Longhorns’ chances of winning. Texas shot 3-17 from behind the arc, their second time shooting below 20% from three in two games. Both Courtney Ramey and Kamaka Heps were 0-4, struggling all night for the Longhorns.
Another common theme of the season has been the lack of free throws and it continued on Monday night. Texas was right on their season average, getting to the foul line 11 times. Making just over half of them with six, the Longhorns continue to struggle with free throws.
Andrew Jones and Matt Coleman were the only Texas players in double figures with 10 and 11 points respectively but shot a combined 8-24 from the field and 3-8 from the three-point line. The Longhorn offense struggled, killing their chances of an upset.
Baylor was not much better on offense than Texas, scoring their lowest amount of the entire season. The Bears were held to 34% shooting from the field and shot better from deep, making 37% of their threes. They remain unbeaten in Big 12 play, having a 1.5 game lead over Kansas in the Big 12.
Going forward for Texas, the opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament is more than likely over. They will have two chances to get big wins at home against West Virginia and on the road to Texas Tech but even then, it may not be enough.
All focus should be on the Big 12 tournament and how far the Longhorns can make it in Kansas City. With the mountain already a little too steep to climb up, it will be the last chance Shaka Smart has to prove himself as the head coach worthy of leading this program.
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