Undefeated former conference rivals No. 7 Texas and unranked Baylor both seek their biggest win of the season when they meet Sunday afternoon in the San Antonio Hoops Showdown.
The teams have not played each other since Texas left the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference after the 2023-24 season.
Texas (3-0) has delivered three impressive wins, including a 93-62 home decision over Grambling on Monday. Matas Vokietaitis scored 26 points and had a game-high nine rebounds, the third time in three games that he’s led the Longhorns in scoring.
The Longhorns scored 30 of the game’s first 35 points against Grambling, were up 28 at halftime and led by as many as 44 midway through the second half. Joe Sterling added 13 points while Marcus Spears Jr. had 12, Elyjah Freeman 11 and David Punch 10.
Texas has won its games by a combined 129 points and has scored at least 93 points in each one. The fast pace is something veteran coach Sean Miller tried to implement last season, during his first campaign in Austin, but has it working well now.
“It’s just, eventually you have to coach your players,” Miller said about last year’s team. “Sometimes you’re forcing a style onto them that isn’t in their best interest.”
It has been one thing running up and down the floor and scoring almost at will versus inferior opponents. It will be another to accomplish that against a team as talented and well prepared as Baylor.
“Against Baylor, one of the key stats in the game is just our team’s ability to play without turning it over in an early-season game against pressure and a team that I think plays really hard defensively,” Miller said.
The Bears (3-0) have been just as impressive to start their season, also winning their games in dominating fashion including 90-61 at home over Yale on Tuesday. Baylor’s average margin of victory is 35.7 points per game.
Brett Decker Jr. scored 18 points to lead a balanced attack while the Mingo brothers, freshman phenom Dylan and Kayden, added 16 and 15 points, respectively. Isaac Celiscar finished with 15 points against his former team.
“We have a really deep team, which is our strength this year,” Dylan Mingo said. “It can be anybody’s night.”
The Bears shot 53.2% from the field, held Yale to 40.7% and forced 17 turnovers (12 of them steals) that led to 24 points.
“Everybody has their nights and anybody on this team can be the catalyst on any given night,” Kayden Mingo added. “One thing we talked about in the locker room was always having our brothers’ back. It was great to take on that challenge and help our team win.”
–Field Level Media
