In the season’s first major challenge for the No. 7 Texas Longhorns, sophomore guard Isaiah Johnson scored a game-high 26 points and Sean Miller’s team made winning plays down the stretch in securing a 73-71 victory against the Baylor on Saturday in San Antonio.
Johnson’s speed and shotmaking ability had a huge impact on the game as he made all four of his three-point attempts, went 6-of-8 shooting at the free-throw line, and only needed 14 shot attempts to outshine Baylor’s star freshman guard Kayden
Mingo, who was less efficient in going 8-of-20 shooting for 23 points, but also added seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals in an impressive all-around performance.
For Texas, sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. The only other player to reach double figures for the Longhorns was junior wing Elyjah Freeman with 10 points. The Auburn transfer had an important three-point play late in the game before coming up with two huge rebounds in the final seconds.
Texas secured a decisive advantage in the paint, outscoring Baylor 42-26, and defended well on possessions extended by offensive rebounds as the Bears only managed to turn 17 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points.
Despite a poor shooting start from beyond the arc this season, hitting just 27.7 percent through three games, Baylor started hot at the Frost Bank Center, taking a 12-9 lead into the first media timeout thanks to 4-of-5 shooting from three. One came in a scramble situation after a near steal by Texas, but the other three simply weren’t contested well enough by the Longhorns.
Kayden Mingo hit his first three on a second-chance opportunity before Vokietaitis tipped in a miss for his third basket of the game.
The entrance of freshman forward Marcus Spears Jr. into the game was a bit rocky — the 17-year old committed a shooting foul that turned into two points for Baylor and was then called for goaltending on the next possession. Bouncing back, Spears drew a shooting foul on the offensive end, hitting both free throws.
The best early defensive possession of the game for Texas forced a shot-clock violation before a good one-on-one move by junior forward David Punch saved a late-clock possession with another trip to the line. When Spears missed a block out, the Bears secured an offensive rebound and hit a three to take a 21-14 lead into the under-12 timeout as the Longhorns went three minutes without a made basket. It was the fifth offensive rebound by Baylor in the first eight-plus minutes of the game compared to four defensive rebounds by Texas.
A good downhill drive by Johnson ended the stretch without a basket, sparking a surge by the Longhorns that also included a layup by Vokietaitis after an offensive rebound by Punch and a transition layup by sophomore guard Amari Evans.
After Baylor head coach Scott Drew called a timeout, the Bears scored a basket while drawing a foul against Punch, but couldn’t convert the three-point play. On the other end, Johnson hit a three assisted by Vokeitaitis on zoom action as the game went into the under-eight timeout with Baylor leading 28-23. Johnson and Vokietaitis had combined for 18 of those points.
The pace of Texas in transition flashed with Johnson racing for a layup assisted by junior wing Elyjah Freeman, who came up with a steal, and Spears beat the Bears to the rim for another layup assisted by Goosby. After a wild sequence, Spears made his third layup of the game, once again assisted by Goosby. A bucket at the rim by Vokietaitis gave the Horns a 33-30 lead with the help of eight straight missed shots by the Bears, capped by a shot-clock violation that sent the game into the final media timeout of the first half.
Meanwhile, Texas was in the midst of an 8-of-9 shooting stretch, all layups with the exception of Johnson’s three, keying a 10-2 run.
Spears looked like he might have another layup, but Kayden Mingo ripped it away from him, turning the steal into a transition layup. Texas took its turn on a fast break finished by a Goosby layup on an alley oop by Johnson.
A tough bank shot by Baylor tied the game at 36-36 before Texas head coach Sean Miller used a timeout with 13.6 seconds remaining to set up a final play before halftime. The set didn’t run smoothly, but Johnson was able to get his defender in the air to draw a foul on a three-point shot, hitting all three free throws.
After a sweet pass by Goosby turned into a layup by Freeman to open the half, Johnson got hot, using his quickness in the lane to produce a layup and hitting a corner three. For Baylor, Kayden Mingo hit two early threes sandwiched around a transition dunk. At the under-16 timeout, Texas held a 46-44 edge.
Over the next stretch, the pace remained high, but the execution level dropped beyond the Horns continuing to get to the rim for three fast-break baskets — a dunk by Punch and layups by Goosby and Evans, the latter of which came when Spears battled for a physical rebound before leading the break.
Playing sparingly on Sunday, freshman guard Joe Sterling hit a big three from the top of the key to extend the Texas lead to six points, the largest of the game, but Baylor responded with a basket at the bucket and Johnson missed the front end of a one and one.
The Bears clawed back as the game turned into an even more tightly-contested battle.
Three-point plays by Punch and Freeman were important for Texas as Kayden Mingo took control for Baylor, scoring nine points down the stretch and assisting on the only other basket by the Bears, a corner three from Isaac Celiscar.
In the last 90 seconds, Johnson split a trip to the line, but Dylan Mingo hit both of his attempts on the other end to take a 72-71 lead. A good set called by Miller got Vokietaitis a dunk with the help of a back screen by Johnson. Trying another patented floater, Mingo missed, but Texas couldn’t secure the rebound and Baylor maintained possession as Drew called a timeout with 22.1 seconds left and a one-point deficit.
Freeman nearly came up with a huge steal helping on Kayden Mingo, who was trying to take advantage of his matchup against Vokietaitis, but the scramble for the ball resulted in Baylor keeping possession with 13.3 seconds left. Before the Bears had a chance to win the game, Miller took his final timeout.
With the ball in Kayden Mingo’s hands, he tried to go back to Celiscar in the corner, but Punch contested the shot well and Freeman came up with a huge rebound, drawing a foul with 5.8 seconds left and hitting both. Instructed to foul, Goosby committed his fifth with 2.7 seconds left, sending Kayden Mingo to the line, but Mingo missed the first and Freeman secured another carom on the intentional misfire by Baylor’s star freshman to end the game.
Texas returns to the Moody Center for a Thursday matchup against Southern Utah. Tip is at 7 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
