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Texas Longhorns Literally Fighting To Save Their Season

By Cody Daniel

Mar 2, 2015; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Isaiah Taylor (1) and forward Jonathan Holmes (10) react after beating the Baylor Bears at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. Texas beat Baylor 61-59. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 2, 2015; Austin, TX, USA; Texas Longhorns guard Isaiah Taylor (1) and forward Jonathan Holmes (10) react after beating the Baylor Bears at the Frank Erwin Special Events Center. Texas beat Baylor 61-59. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports /
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For the first time this season, the Texas Longhorns successfully dug themselves out of the hole they inevitably end up in on a game-to-game basis. The story of the season for Rick Barnes’ club had been the same in nearly every one of the Longhorns’ conference losses: Texas would fall behind early, only to mount a comeback that ultimately fell short, every single time.

But in a game that served as a must-win in an early start to March Madness for the Horns, Texas saved their season and it literally took some real fight for them to do so after upsetting the No. 14 Baylor Bears 61-59 in OT in Austin.

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On a night that was filled with emotions for a team that now found themselves on the outside of the NCAA tournament bubble looking in, the 18-12 (7-10) Longhorns displayed several positive signs in a season-saving victory. As usual, Texas was facing an uphill battle with time running out after being down 46-36 late in the second half.

Several key guys, including Cameron Ridley and Isaiah Taylor, weren’t having much luck and were watching from the sidelines in the game’s crucial moments, and as a team, Texas finally started to overcome the adversity they’ve been faced with time after time this season.

Jonathan Holmes recent struggles had been well documented, as the senior forward had scored a combined 20 points in his previous six outings. In Texas’ win over Baylor, Holmes came up with some confidence-boosting buckets down the stretch, before ultimately hitting the game-tying three that would force overtime.

But with the game now in OT and Taylor on the bench after some struggles early on, the perfect opportunity for Texas to make a statement win – not only to stay alive in the NCAA tournament hunt, but for their confidence, as well – the Longhorns stepped up and fought to save their season.

Taylor returned during OT, only to hit a quick floater and get a steal that would ultimately lead to a bench-clearing shoving match that saw seven players between the two teams get ejected; Johnathan Motley, Ishmail Wainright and John Heard for Baylor, while Ridley, Kendal Yancy, Connor Lammert, and Prince Ibeh were tossed for Texas.

Ibeh was amid a tremendous defensive effort for Texas after registering three blocks, which all came at key moments of the game.

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    • With tempers now flaring, the shorthanded Longhorns did the only thing they could do with a chance to take the lead and control of their season with a tie game and the shot clocked turned off: put the ball in the hands of Taylor – who had become a fountain of emotion down the stretch – and let him keep Texas season alive in the face of adversity, where Texas had continually fallen short.

    A spur of the moment defensive stop later and the Longhorns had finally shown the toughness and confidence that had been lacking in so many games before. Albeit, it resulted in the two teams running into more confrontation after the final buzzer, but even that served as a positive sign for the Longhorns, who had lacked that aggression and tenacity throughout much of the season.

    For Texas, their focus must now shift to Saturday’s home matchup with Kansas State, who is fresh off of back-to-back upsets over Kansas and Iowa State.

    Maybe now, with the tallest task of the foreseeable future now being a test that the Horns’ past with their season on the line, Texas may finally be able to string together some wins and some confidence in time for the NCAA tournament.

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