Texas basketball will finally match up with Baylor for the first time this season. This is the only time these two teams will play this year. This game was supposed to happen back in December but got postponed and has been rescheduled. Let’s take a look at both of these squads.
Texas offense
This loss against Oklahoma hurt especially when it is against your biggest rivals. The Longhorns had their game against Kentucky canceled. The advantage of that is getting to see what went wrong against Oklahoma and find a way to correct the mistakes. The Longhorns will need everyone if they are going to beat Baylor. It is not an easy task, but they must be prepared for a shootout. Texas will have to score around the 80–90-point range. The Longhorns need to keep doing what made them successful this season. Moving the ball will help them upset the Bears.
Texas defense
This defense hasn’t played as well as it should’ve these last few games. To beat Baylor, it will need to put up a similar defensive performance it did against Kansas. The Longhorns haven’t been able to replicate something like that since. To be fair, the Jayhawks aren’t what they used to be this season, but they were ranked high for a reason. The Bears are going to be the best offensive team they’ll play for the rest of the regular season, so everybody must step up on both ends of the court.
Baylor offense
This team is stacked and the Longhorns have a lot to worry about. The Bears won’t stop all of Baylor’s talent, but they can slow them down. The Bears have two players that average over 15 points a game this season, Jared Butler and MaCio Teague. The Longhorns need to slow down those two, as they are the main reasons Baylor is still undefeated. This is going to be a really high scoring game. Make everyone but Butler and Teague beat you and live with the result. One final weakness about the Bears is that they turn the ball over quite a bit. Texas does as well, but each team will try to use that as an advantage.
Baylor defense
To make up for the turnovers, the Bears get a great number of steals per game. This is how they erase in what would be a disadvantage. Texas needs to keep the turnovers low to have a chance to beat Baylor. The Longhorns offense is just as talented as Baylor’s. Taking away the Bears ability to steal the ball will help them get more offensive possessions.
Looking forward
Despite the way the Bears defense has played this season. This is going to be a high scoring game in what should be an exciting one. Baylor is projected to win, but upsets happen all the time. Texas losing to Oklahoma may have given the Longhorns the gut punch they needed. We’ll just have to see if they improved during the small break they were on. Texas can and will pull of the big upset. This would be shocking considering it would be Baylor’s first loss this season. Texas will win this game with a final score of 85-82.
Photo courtesy of BaylorBears.com
