Baylor rallies from 19-point deficit to stun Texas in overtime, 84-83
WACO, Texas — Baylor picked up their 19th win of the season on Wednesday over the Texas Longhorns in overtime by a final score of 84-83. If you were to ask Scott Drew, it was just like they drew it up.
Views From The Brazos: Baylor stuns Texas in OT
Down six in the overtime period, nothing seemed impossible for Baylor anymore. Texas had connected on two threes to push out to an 81-75 lead with 1:45 to go, but the Bears had just enough fight to answer the bell.
A Jared Butler three and a Freddie Gillispie dunk cut the margin down to one with 46 seconds remaining before Jase Febres’ jumper pushed the lead back out to three. Following a Texas time out, Baylor pushed the ball to the basket and Mark Vital found a layup following an offensive rebound to answer.
Drew used his final time out to set up Baylor’s final opportunity for a steal and it worked to perfection. Forcing the entry pass into post Jaxson Hayes, the freshman took one too many steps and was called for a travel with less than seven seconds remaining.
Following a foul by Texas prior to the bonus, Mario Kegler missed a short jumper but the sophomore was fouled on the shot. With the game on the line, Kegler knocked down the pair to give the Bears the 84-83 lead with three seconds left.
Texas missed a desperation three-point attempt that ended the thriller.
Baylor struggled in just about every way possible to dig themselves into an incredibly deep second-half hole. Trailing by 19 with 14:57 remaining, Mark Vital scored five of Baylor’s next seven points before Kegler and Devontee Bandoo took what looked to be an impossible situation to overcome to at least managable in a matter of seven minutes.
The trio scored a combined 15 points in an seven-minute window to cut the Texas lead to just 11. After a Freddie Gillispie layup broke their streak, Kegler and Bandoo connected on two additional threes to cut the lead down to 62-59 before a Texas basket ended Baylor’s 14-point run.
Bandoo took over for the next two minutes, scoring nine consecutive points for the Bears to even the game up at 67. Freshman Jared Butler finished scoring in regulation for Baylor by hitting his final two jump shots to send the game to overtime.
Kegler finished the contest with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, his second-consecutive 20-point game. Kegler scored 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds against West Virginia on Saturday.
Bandoo (18), Butler (15) and Vital (13) also scored in double figures for the Bears. Gillispie just missed a double-double in the contest with 8 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Baylor (19-9) returns to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT to face No. 16 Kansas State (21-7) in Manhattan. The Bears fell to the Wildcats 70-63 in Waco on Feb. 9.