Monday, January 10
Texas 79 Baylor 60
Texas used a barrage of 3-pointers to defeat the visiting Baylor Bears on Monday night, 79-60. Texas hit 11 shots from beyond the arc, including four from Daniel Gibson and five from Kenton Paulino. It marked the seventh time this year the Horns have hit at least ten 3’s in a single game. Baylor decided they weren’t going to let Texas pound them away inside and played a tight zone, challenging the Texas guards to shoot from outside and the Horns made Baylor pay.
This is why Texas is impressive this year—they have the ability to beat you inside or out. Taylor, Gibson, Harris, and Paulino can all hit the open jumper. In recent years’ past, teams were able to pack in a tight zone and watch as Texas struggled to hit the open long-range jump shot. This year’s team is full of quality shooters, which makes a tight zone defense strategy more problematic.
Equally impressive was freshman Lamarcus Aldridge, who scored 16 points and snagged 11 rebounds. Aldridge is improving rapidly and, according to Barnes, working diligently in practice on his game. The results are dramatic. Aldridge is quickly becoming a force on the inside and a problem for opposing defenses to match up with. Once he gets stronger and learns to control his body a little more, he’s going to be devilishly difficult to defend. The future is very bright for this young man, and for this Texas team.
--PB--
