Golden: A swing and a miss for Texas in Waco, and the Horns' bench didn't do any favors

WACO — The Texas Longhorns are one of the deepest clubs in college basketball, but when that depth was most needed, the nation’s No. 8 team was reduced to the kiddie pool Saturday.

The Baylor Bears might not boast the star power of the 2021 national championship team, but with four players still remaining from that roster — including sharp-shooting guard Adam Flagler — they are plenty good enough to  take down good opposition, especially at home. Texas appeared more than ready for an ambush, but an early offensive surge turned out to be fool’s gold in what was probably Texas' last game in the gold-roofed Ferrell Center. Baylor is expected to move into its new arena in early January of 2024.

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Baylor shrugged off a 14-point first-half deficit, grabbed the lead at the half and sent the Longhorns back down Interstate 35 with drawing boards in their laps. The 81-72 loss wasn’t really that close.

Baylor had more energy, more playmaking and more grit when it mattered most. The Bears took a knockout shot to the head early, rose from the canvas and took out a would-be Final Four contender in impressive fashion.

The Horns can usually depend on a healthy dose of contributions from their substitutes, but the pines were dry on a day the starters could have used a lift. Jabari Rice was the only Texas reserve to score. The others went 0-for-4 with three turnovers.

On the other side, the Bears got double-digit scoring from Dale Bonner and Langston Love. The duo accounted for four 3-pointers and led a bench charge that outscored the Texas reserves 29-12.

“We just didn’t have it today,” interim UT coach Rodney Terry said. "We didn’t get the point production we’ve been getting from those guys.”

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This Baylor program has danced at a championship party unknown to the Longhorns, and while Texas has the depth, experience and ability to make a final weekend appearance realistic, we didn’t see that championship response at money time Saturday.

Try as he might, Terry was unable to conjure up the right mix to turn back a quality opponent that crept ever closer to the conference lead.

The second half was a disaster.

“We got off to a great start,” Terry said. “We started turning the ball a little bit, and that changed the whole momentum of the game. Give (the Bears) credit. They made some big shots, and they found a way to get it done today.”

At 11-5 in the Big 12, the Horns can still win the league but will probably have to win at TCU on Wednesday and at home against Kansas in the finale to make it happen. The Jayhawks, who avoided West Virginia's upset bid to grab sole possession of first place Saturday, are undersized but playing much better now than they did even three weeks ago when they handed Texas an 88-80 loss in Lawrence.

Baylor was winnable, but not with the careless nature we saw from the Horns in an uncharacteristic loss of composure, particularly during that eight-minute scoring drought that cost them a huge lead in the first half.

“We don't view it as a setback,” said forward Dylan Disu, who scored a Texas-best 24 points. “We definitely wanted to win this game, but we're just trying to get better with every game to get stronger as we go into March.”

This was a nice little road test to get an idea of how the Horns would respond away from home after that close overtime shave against Oklahoma and the comprehensive 72-54 beatdown of Iowa State. Texas failed the test, but more important exams lie ahead.

It was a head-scratcher, though.

Team leader Marcus Carr, who would be the leading candidate for Big 12 player of the year if not for Kansas’ Jalen Wilson, was MIA for most of the day. He missed his first six 3-point attempts before knocking one down with just over four minutes remaining, but Texas was down 17 at the time.

Swingman Timmy Allen finished with 12 points, but six came in the final 2:38, when the Horns’ hopes of winning were more heart-based than anything.

As if the first-half drought weren’t bad enough, one stretch of the second half ultimately proved to be Texas’ undoing.

Carr, having one of the most non-impactful starts of his Texas tenure, drained a jumper with 14:03 left, his first field goal in nearly 26 minutes. It was sorely needed on a day when Disu was carrying most of the offensive load. Texas trailed  50-42 at the time, and given this team’s experience and well-earned reputation for coming back from large deficits, things were far from over.

But it was over.

Rice attempted to control a rebound and threw back under the opponent’s basket to a waiting Baylor forward Dale Bonner, who scored. Then Allen threw it away. Then Arterio Morris threw it away.

By now, you get the pattern. The Horns had their chances, but they threw it all away. Worse yet, they got run out of Waco by a Baylor team that was missing its freshman phenom, Keyonte George, who played only six minutes before leaving with an ankle injury.

This was a blueprint for what could lead to a less than desirable finish in the postseason.

They lost it Saturday.

They had better find it soon.

The Horns can’t show this ugly side at money time lest the postseason will end much sooner than expected.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Longhorns listless in road loss to Baylor