The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
10-21, 4-14
Baylor
25-6, 12-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baylor | 40 | 35 | 75 |
| Texas | 29 | 35 | 64 |
Men's Basketball closes regular season with 75-64 home loss to No. 11/11 Baylor
03.04.2017 | Men's Basketball
Cleare posts 14 points and a career-high 9 rebounds on Senior Day, while Allen adds 20 points and 9 boards.
AUSTIN, Texas – Freshman forward Jarrett Allen finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds, but Texas closed out the regular season with a 75-64 loss to No. 11/11 Baylor on Saturday afternoon at the Frank Erwin Center.
Senior center Shaquille Cleare posted 14 points and a career-high nine boards in his final game in Austin. Freshman guard Andrew Jones dished out a game-high seven assists and contributed 12 points for Texas (10-21, 4-14 Big 12).
Junior forward Johnathan Motley led Baylor (25-6, 12-6 Big 12) with 17 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jake Lindsey followed with 16 points and a team-high four assists.
The two teams traded the lead 10 times over the first 12 minutes. Neither team led by more than three points until the 10:23 mark, when Wendell Mitchell hit the back end of two consecutive 3-pointers to give Baylor a 20-16 lead.
Three more Bears knocked down 3-pointers to extend the margin to 37-22 with 4:00 remaining in the first half. Freshman guard Jacob Young drained the Longhorns' first three of the night, and Allen hit a pair of free throws to trim the margin to 40-29 at the half.
Texas' big men led the charge for the Longhorns in the first half, with Allen and Cleare combining to score all 20 of Texas' points in the first 14 minutes. Baylor converted 6-of-11 shots from beyond the arc in the openign 20 minutes, while Texas made just 1-of-7 three-point attempts.
The Longhorns opened the second half with a 6-0 run to trim Baylor's lead to five (40-35) at the 17:33 mark. Motley responded with a layup and a traditional 3-point play to reclaim a double-digit cushion (45-35) for the Bears with 15:54 to play. Baylor built its largest advantage of the afternoon (65-48) following a Nuni Omot dunk with 5:34 left in the contest.
Texas will face Texas Tech in the first round of the 2017 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday, March 8 in Kansas City, Mo. Tip-off is slated for approximately 8:30 p.m. Central at Sprint Center, and the game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU.
Texas Basketball Postgame Notes
#11/11 Baylor 75, Texas 64
March 4, 2017
Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)
Attendance: 12,195
Team Notes
- UT dropped to 162-88 in the all-time series against Baylor. Texas is 32-16 against the Bears since the formation of the Big 12 Conference prior to the start of the 1996-97 season. UT is 88-30 all-time against Baylor in games played in Austin in the series.
- Today's game marked the final home collegiate contest for a trio of Texas senior players: Shaquille Cleare, Mareik Isom and Kendal Yancy. During the last four seasons, the Longhorns have recorded a 74-59 overall record, including a 53-17 mark in games played in the Frank Erwin Center.
- The Longhorns fell to 487-119 all-time in home games at the Frank Erwin Center. The Horns dropped to 215-36 at the Erwin Center in the last 15 seasons (since start of the 2002-03 season). Texas fell to 10-7 this season and 24-10 at home in the Shaka Smart era.
- Texas is the No. 10 seed in the upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship (March 8-11 in Kansas City, Sprint Center). The Longhorns will face No. 7 seed Texas Tech on Wednesday, March 8 at approximately 8:30 p.m. CT (30 minutes following the TCU-Oklahoma game that tips at 6 p.m. CT). The Texas-Texas Tech contest will be televised live nationally by ESPNU.
- Topped the 20-point mark (20 poins) for the fourth time this year (31 games), all coming in Big 12 play.
- Reached double figures in scoring for the 24th time this season and 17th time in Big 12 play (18 games).
- Tied his career high in blocked shots with 3 (had posted 3 blocks three times previously).
- Reached double figures in scoring (14 points) for the 13th time this year (31 games) and 15th time in his UT career (64 games).
- Set a UT career high with 9 rebounds (previous: 8, three times).
- Reached double figures in scoring (12 points) for the 20th time this year (31 games).
- Set his career high in blocked shots with 3 (previous: 2, twice).
- His 7 assists were one shy of his career high (8 at Georgia on Jan. 28, 2017)
Postgame Quotes – March 4, 2017
Texas Quotes
Head Coach Shaka Smart
Thoughts on a 10-21 mark at the end of the regular season: That's obviously highly disappointing. Nobody is more disappointed in that than me. Really wanted to win today for our seniors. It's a game at the end of your career that you're going to remember for the rest of your life, and you want to see those guys go out in the right way. But we didn't do enough of what goes into that, and Baylor made some really good plays.
On lack of energy in past losses: First of all, I think late in the regular season a lot of teams regardless of record kind of have that accumulative fatigue. We had that last year. You just try to find ways to get your guys to play with the energy needed. The next thing, this is specific to our team, is regardless of how the season has gone, it's a job of the coaches and the players to make sure you create a dynamic where you're playing to win that game that you're in, and you're putting everything you have into going where you want to go. Now, human nature dictates that you're affected a little bit mentally by the last game, or how the season has gone. But I've been telling our guys for a while, you've got to fight human nature. We didn't do a good enough job of that today. We didn't do a good enough job of that the other day against Texas Tech.
On what Baylor did to get so many open threes: To start the game, they really got to the basket more than they should have. To be honest it was mostly just one-on-one defense situations. Their guards made some really nice plays. I think once that happened, we got in some positions where we were helping, we were rotating, and they moved the ball well and got those threes. They made a couple that were tough, contested ones, but like you said, they got some that were too open. We needed to rotate better and get a high hand up. They also did a good job of being ready to shoot and just letting it fly. Shooting the ball with a level of looseness and belief that it's going to go in.
On if he's still adjusting to the Big 12: Hopefully you're always adjusting. You're always learning and growing and getting better. This year has been so very different than last year just from the standpoint of who we have on our team and just the overall makeup, but what's been the exact same is the Big 12 in terms of being really tough, night in and night out. I need to continue to learn and progress. And if you want to, call it adjust. It is different I think with every team you coach. It's different from this year to last year. It'll be different next year. It'll be a different dynamic on next year's team.
Senior Forward Shaquille Cleare
On being an example for the younger players: I've just been a shoulder to lean on. I've been where these guys are. Jarrett is really mature for his age. He is a lot more advanced than some freshmen this year. I'm just here for advice and to help these guys. I've been through the good times, the bad times… my biggest thing for them is to continue to work hard and stay humble. Keep your head up. Never go to that black hole, because it isn't a friendly place. I just try to keep these guys' heads in the sunlight. I just want them to continue to gain confidence. Always be humble and continue to work hard.
On facing Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament: We're due for a win. We can play with anyone in this conference. We're going to continue to work hard, we're going to practice, focus on the game plan, go down to Kansas City and try to win the whole thing. There's been a lot of outside talk about our chances, but I still believe. This is March. This is where all the madness happens. We just have to go out there and prepare for Texas Tech. We just played them earlier this week and we're pretty familiar with them, but we're going to go up there, just have fun, play hard and represent Texas.
Freshman Forward Jarrett Allen
On where the fight to compete needs to come from: It comes from within. Coach talks about just one person needing to step up and be that energy guy. That's just all we need.
On heading into the Big 12 Tournament: It's open. You see people making miracle games happen, so we can be that miracle team and take some games.
Baylor Quotes
Head Coach Scott Drew
On the game: Whenever you play on the road, it's tough. And then when you add Senior Night, you know those games are really hard to win, so I'm really proud of the guys' effort and intensity. I thought we struggled stopping them the first half inside. When we were able to get a couple stops, and knock down some threes, and get a little separation, I thought that was a big turning point early in the game. And then second, half credit to Texas. They came out and executed really well. I thought we were able to go on another run, but that's the strength of our team. It's leadership, chemistry and depth.
On if he feels confident going into the Big 12 Tournament: I do from the standpoint that our non-conference schedule was tremendous. We did very well in it. Then you look at the Big 12 and it's another banner year. Everybody is talented with good teams.
On the Texas team: I think they are young – that's the biggest thing. They have a lot of talent. They have good kids. We recruited a lot of them. Shaka does a great job of making sure they are playing as a team. At the end of the day, it's tough when you have a bunch of first-year players playing in the toughest conference in America.
Sophomore Guard Jake Lindsey
On shooting well today as a team: When you have good looks, it's about making open shots. And 9-for-20, you'll take that most days, but we focus on the type of attempts we're taking. You have to take good shots. If someone leaves you open, you have to shoot, you have to play confidently out there. That's our motto. You don't go out there and play timid. You put in hard work in the gym and go out there and do that.
On playing K-State in the Big 12 Tournament: You're prepared to play every team. You give it a go every game, but obviously when someone jumps you like they did on our home court, that drive is a little extra.
Junior Forward Johnathan Motley
On where the team is: I think we are in a good position. We just picked up a good win at Texas. I think we have a lot of confidence going into the Big 12 Tournament. I think we are going to do some big things there. We're all about making history and no Baylor team has cut down the nets out there, and that's our goal. We're heading on the right track to do that.
On what he sees in Texas' team: A lot of young, talented guys. Jarrett Allen is a beast. I think their team will be good in a couple years. They're just young. They've lost home games by four or fewer points, so if a few more shots go their way, this could be a totally different Big 12 season for them. So it's just those things they have to learn as young fellas to be able to pull through at the end.
