Shooting from the Corner: Baylor Scored a Lot More than Texas and I'm Not Surprised

Obviously, I'm not a golfer. But when you start 0-fer-12 while your opponent goes 8-of-8, it's probably not your night.

Like Scipio, I DVR'ed the game. Unlike Scipio, I didn't know the final score prior to viewing. But it was obvious from the first few minutes that the Texas Longhorns were in no way ready to win this game, and that Rick Barnes was about to be thoroughly outcoached by Scott freakin' Drew.

The Baylor Bears eschewed their base 1-3-1 zone defense and switched to a 2-3 for most of the game. And they were good at it. Baylor's guards sagged off of any Texas perimeter player not named Javan Felix by about 6 feet, regardless of whether that Longhorn had the ball or not. Texas' guards thought the best way to break this zone was to start the game by hoisting up a pair of long 2's (one by Holland, one by Taylor), the very type of shot Daryl Morey's nightmares are made of. Predictably, they missed both.

Demarcus Holland and Kendal Yancy playing at the same time is comical. The Bears basically had two extra defenders clogging the paint, while Holland and Yancy passed up open 3 after open 3. Can't shoot, or won't? It matters not.

Isaiah Taylor and Cameron Ridley had some nice counting stats, I guess. Both players posted their first double-double's of the season. Taylor had 16 points and 10 assists; Ridley had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Of course, it took 12 shots for Ridley to score his points, 18 for Taylor, and 16 for Holmes' 17 points. Which is the start of ending up with a 0.95 points per possession metric.

Jordan Barnett posted a 16 trillion, which might be some kind of record.

Tip of the cap to Kenny Chery, who was en fuego (9-12, 5-7 BTA) en route to a game-high 23 points. Wag of the finger to Texas' defense, which has bottomed out since starting the year as one of the best defensive teams in the nation. Rick Barnes abandoned the 2-3 zone early, got some run from M2M, then used some bastardized variant of a zone/M2M/trap/press-hybrid which I may not have properly diagnosed because of multiple frosty beverages and a quick trigger on the fast-forward button of my DVR.

Throughout, this was really more a 15-point MOV than a 23-point one. Bully. Somewhere midway in the 2H, I had given up, and it looked like Texas did too. A common refrain in the Rick Barnes era. On to the next one, I guess.