Bridges' 32 Lifts Bears Past Longhorns on Senior Night, 93-85

WACO, Texas — The No. 11 Baylor Men’s Basketball team (22-8, 11-6) overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat the visiting Texas Longhorns (19-11, 8-9) on the Bears’ Senior Night by a score of 93-85.

Without Jalen Bridges team-leading 32 points, Baylor would likely have been too far down to win.

The senior’s career-high point total came by virtue of a 6-for-7 three-point shooting performance and 10-13 free throw performance. He also snagged 9 rebounds in his 39 minutes.

For the Longhorns, Max Abmas scored a ridiculous 33 points on 13-for-21 shooting. In the first half, he was the reason Texas led. In the second, he was why it took so long for the Bears to take the lead.

The big difference was that Bridges got more help from his teammates with RayJ Dennis scoring 16, Ja’Kobe Walter netting 15 and Joshua Ojianwuna putting 10 of his own on the board.

The Horns only had two other players in double-figures, neither above 14 points.

Looking back, Texas was unlikely to keep up their first-half shooting numbers of 54% from three and 57% from the field. 

Meanwhile, the Bears made getting to the hoop and the free-throw line a second-half priority, taking advantage of a tight whistle to make 21 of 27 free-throw attempts.

The Bears also benefitted from a jolt of energy both from the bench in the form of Miro Little and from the raucous crowd at the Foster Pavilion’s last game of its inaugural season.

Now, Baylor will look to keep its momentum as they travel to Lubbock to finish the regular season with a matchup against Texas Tech. 

That game is set for Saturday at 5 PM CT on ESPN 2.