Baylor drops No. 6 Texas in Austin 83-69 for another double-digit victory

AUSTIN, Texas — The No. 2 Baylor men’s basketball team stole a 83-69 win from the No. 6 Texas Longhorns in Austin to gain even more separation in Big 12 play. 

Baylor is big brother, and Scott Drew is Shaka Smart proof. The state’s first ever top 10 basketball matchup was all Bears as Davion Mitchell and Jared Butler made things look way. too. easy. Mitchell finished with a team-high 27 on 5-7 from deep and Butler contributed 21.

As a team, Baylor led the turnover battle 17-12, bench points battle 17-4 and capitalized on Texas shooting just 3-14 from the charity stripe — that’s bad, bad. Not only that, but the good guys boasted a 11-21 mark from deep and trailed just one minute of the entire game. 

The first half saw Baylor lead most of the way, anchored by a 7-13 performance behind the line. The Bears even jumped out to a double digit lead on a couple occasions at 20-10 and 36-25. While Baylor turned it over eight times, they forced eight of Texas and led the rebound battle 15-12.

Mitchell led all scorers in the half with a red hot 16 points on 6-9 shooting and 4-5 behind the arc. Butler contributed another 13 going 5-9 from the field and 3-6 from deep. The scoring surge from the duo helped Baylor out to their 41-35 advantage. 

The second half was a different story. Texas came out of the locker room hotter than Carrie Fisher in that one Jabba the Hutt scene. The longhorns went on a quick 13-4 run to capture a 47-45 lead over the Bears. That’s when Baylor hit their typical second half stride going on a 16-4 run in just over four minutes. 

Baylor did not look back. While the Longhorns would tighten things up here and there, the consistency of the Green and Gold was just too much for the Burnt Orange to handle. Butler, Teague and Mitchell highlighted the final 20 with eight, eight and 11 respectively to close out the 83-69 win. 

Insert DJ Khaled’s, ‘Another one.’ It always feels good to beat the Longhorns — especially by a margin like this. This was a top 10 road win in Austin where three Bears had 58 combined. Absolute insanity.