The No. 7 Texas Longhorns had already done enough to beat the Grambling State Tigers on Monday when the final eight minutes gave head coach Sean Miller something else to address.
The Longhorns won 93-62, their third straight victory by at least 30 points, but they also let Grambling outscore them 19-8 down the stretch, a finish Miller did not want buried beneath the final margin.
“You have to be good at the end, the beginning, and that’s the standard,” Miller said afterward.
Sunday should give the Horns fewer opportunities to get away with those lapses.
Texas faces Baylor at 2 p.m. Central at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, with ESPN carrying the San Antonio Hoops Showdown. Both teams enter 3-0. For Texas, the game brings a stronger opponent after an opening homestand that allowed Miller to establish his rotation and work through mistakes without much suspense on the scoreboard.
Against the Bears, the possessions Texas gives away could decide the game.
Rebounding has to finish the defensive work
Miller’s assessment of Baylor began with a familiar Scott Drew priority.
“They’re physical, they’re athletic, but you could tell that rebounding is a real emphasis in what they do,” Miller said Wednesday. “I think when they’re at their best, they get those key second shots, which breaks the other team’s back.”
That puts responsibility on more than the Texas frontcourt — the Longhorns have to defend the initial possession, then make sure the Bears do not turn a contested miss into a second chance. Guards will have to help finish those stops rather than leaving every rebound to Matas Vokietaitis and David Punch, an area where Austin Goosby excels, ranking third on the team in rebounds pre game at 5.0, including seven boards in his debut against Chicago State.
Entering Saturday’s matchup, the Bears rank 14th nationally in offensive rebounding rate at 43.6 percent, a stat that goes hand in hand with a finishing rate of 84.1 percent on close twos, the best mark in the country. In the 109-53 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Friday, Baylor secured 20 offensive rebounds, nearly matching the number of offensive rebounds by its opponent, turning those extra opportunities into 25 second-chance points, but the Bears have been more efficient at recording offensive rebounds than scoring on those extra opportunities.
Baylor’s 90-61 win over Yale on Tuesday offered another reason to keep the Bears from getting comfortable near the basket. Baylor outscored Yale 48-18 in the paint and 23-2 on fast breaks.
Those numbers came against a different opponent, but the problems they describe translate — Texas cannot allow extra chances inside while also giving Baylor easy baskets before its defense gets set, an issue for the Longhorns in last month’s exhibition loss to the Red Storm in New York.
The backcourt has to handle pressure
The other number Miller wants to see Sunday is the turnover total.
Texas committed eight against Grambling. Baylor will put more pressure on the guards responsible for keeping that number manageable, forcing turnovers on 29.3 percent of opponent’s possessions, fourth nationally. With a 13 percent turnover rate, the Horns rank 36th in the country.
Miller singled out brothers Dylan and Kayden Mingo for their ability to disrupt an offense. Dylan, a freshman, finished with 16 points, six rebounds, and three steals against Yale. With 13 turnovers, Dylan leads the team with a 10.4 percent steal rate.
“They get steals, they pressure the ball,” Miller said of the Mingo brothers. “You feel them.”
Guard Isaac Williams IV has added seven steals this season.
Goosby and Isaiah Johnson will have to keep Texas organized through that pressure. Against Grambling, Miller noted that the two combined for six assists and one turnover despite making only two baskets between them. Their value also showed up in passes that put teammates in position to draw fouls, which don’t count as assists even if the teammate converts at the line.
Texas needs that same willingness to make the next pass Sunday. Getting the ball into the paint matters, but so does reaching that point without forcing a pass through a defender or allowing pressure to turn a routine possession into a scramble.
A turnover gives Baylor a chance to run and takes away a Texas shot. Against a team Miller expects to challenge the Longhorns on the glass, that is an expensive combination.
Keep making the frontcourt work together
Vokietaitis scored 26 points against Grambling, and his developing partnership with Punch gives Texas more than one way to attack inside.
Miller has emphasized the value of their high-low passing and the work around it. Screens, rolls, and decisions away from the ball help create the opening. Simply having two big men on the floor does not produce the same result.
The spacing around those possessions matters, too. Joe Sterling gives Texas a shooting option defenses have to account for, and Miller wants his teammates to recognize when they can find him.
Texas can also get more from the opportunities it has already created — the Longhorns attempted 42 free throws against Grambling and made 27, 64 percent.
Although drawing that many fouls created an advantage, leaving 15 points at the line reduced it, which could make the difference in a closer game against a much more talented opponent.
Carry the standard through the final possession
The opening three games gave Texas room to build. Now Baylor gives the Longhorns a better opportunity to measure how much of that work holds up under pressure.
Miller described the matchup Monday as a big game because Texas is facing a good team. By Wednesday, his priorities were straightforward — rebound and take care of the ball.
And that’s not even considering the need to finish better because the Horns can’t afford to lose focus in the final eight minutes of the game and expect to win.
Game information: Sunday, Nov. 15, 2 p.m. Central
Location: Frost Bank Center, San Antonio
Radio: Longhorn Radio Network