Isaiah Johnson Scores 26, Matas Vokietaitis Dunk Lifts No. 7 Texas Past Baylor 75-72

Texas and Baylor had not shared a floor since the Longhorns packed up for the SEC, and for 39 and a half minutes on Sunday the reunion felt like an old Big 12 grind. Then Austin Goosby found Matas Vokietaitis inside. The junior center dunked with 34 seconds left, Elyjah Freeman sealed it at the line, and No. 7 Texas held off Baylor 75-72 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio.

Isaiah Johnson carried the Longhorns most of the way with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting, a perfect 4-of-4 from three and 6-of-8 at the line. Vokietaitis finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Freeman scored 10, every one of them after halftime. Texas is 4-0. Baylor, which arrived with a 3-0 record and two exhibition wins over top-three teams, fell to 3-1 despite 23 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals from Kayden Mingo.

Neither team ever led by more than seven. The lead changed hands six times in the final 4:39 alone.

Baylor Throws the First Punches

Johnson opened the scoring with a layup off a David Punch feed, but Baylor's shooters found their range early. Kayden Mingo buried a three, Brett Decker Jr. added another, and Elijah Williams hit two more inside the first five minutes. Baylor shot its way to a 12-9 lead and kept stretching it.

Isaac Celiscar, coming off the bench, scored on a layup from Mingo for an 18-11 edge at 13:33, then hit a three for 21-14. When Mingo pulled up for a jumper at 10:39, the Bears led 23-16 and the Longhorns looked a step slow on the perimeter.

Texas answered the way it has all month, by going inside. Vokietaitis scored on a layup from Goosby, Amari Evans attacked for two more, and after Caden Powell scored for Baylor, Johnson's second three cut it to 25-23. Decker answered with a second three for 28-23 at 7:55, the last time Baylor led by more than three in the half.

Marcus Spears Jr. took over the next stretch off the bench, scoring on three layups in about two minutes, all of them assisted, two by Goosby. The third at 4:55 gave Texas a 31-30 lead, its first since the opening two minutes. Baylor's offense went sideways in the meantime. Dylan Mingo missed three point-blank attempts on one possession, and the Bears burned a shot clock at 3:32. Vokietaitis followed his own miss for a 33-30 lead.

Mayo Soyoye hit two free throws for a 34-33 Baylor lead, Goosby threw down a dunk off a Johnson feed, and Isaac Williams IV tied it at 36 with a jumper at the 24-second mark. Then Williams fouled Johnson on a three-point attempt with one second left. Johnson made all three, and Texas took a 39-36 lead into the locker room.

Johnson Never Blinked

Johnson had 15 points at the break and finished with 26. All four threes came in moments that mattered: the first answered an Elijah Williams three early, the second cut Baylor's lead to 25-23 after the Bears had been up seven, the third (with Goosby assisting) pushed Texas to 46-41 early in the second half, and the fourth was the biggest of the afternoon.

That one came at 7:53. Freeman had just hit a three for a 58-54 lead, Baylor came up empty, and Vokietaitis kicked the ball out to Johnson for another three. Texas led 61-54, matching the largest lead either team managed all day. Johnson added two free throws at 5:13 for a 64-62 lead and a split at 1:12 that put Texas ahead 71-70.

Goosby did not shoot well (2-of-7), but Goosby ran the show with seven assists and six rebounds before fouling out with three seconds to go. The most important of those assists was the last one.

The Kayden Mingo Problem

If Texas had Johnson, Baylor had Kayden Mingo, who was even louder after halftime. Mingo scored 16 of Baylor's 36 second-half points, opening the half with threes at 19:18 and 16:23 to keep Baylor within two each time.

The Bears clawed back from that 61-54 deficit with an 8-1 burst. Evan Chatman scored on a putback, Dylan Mingo hit two free throws, Kayden Mingo knocked down a jumper, Celiscar tied up Spears for a jump ball that went Baylor's way, and Kayden Mingo tied it at 62 from the line with 5:32 left.

Kayden Mingo hit a three off a Powell pass for a 65-64 Baylor lead at 4:39. Punch, quietly excellent all afternoon, answered with a layup and a free throw for 67-65. Celiscar drilled a three from Mingo for 68-67. Freeman hit a jumper, got fouled by Powell and made the free throw for 70-68. Mingo tied it at 70 with another jumper at 2:54, then picked Johnson's pocket on the next trip.

That is where the Mingo show ran out of gas. The guard missed a jumper at 2:06 and a three at 1:20, and Baylor did not make another field goal after the 2:54 mark.

Ninety Seconds of Chaos

Johnson's split at the line gave Texas a 71-70 edge, and Dylan Mingo answered by drawing a foul on Freeman and making both free throws at the 49-second mark. Baylor led 72-71.

On the next trip, Goosby found Vokietaitis for a dunk at 0:34 and a 73-72 lead. The Bears had a full possession to retake the lead. Kayden Mingo missed a jumper, Baylor grabbed the offensive rebound, and Celiscar missed a three with eight seconds left. Freeman grabbed the rebound, got fouled by Isaac Williams IV and made both free throws for a 75-72 lead.

There was one more twist. Goosby fouled Kayden Mingo with three seconds left, the fifth foul on Goosby, sending Baylor's best player to the line down three. Mingo missed both free throws, Freeman cleaned up the rebound, and Texas exhaled.

How Texas Won Despite Losing the Three-Point Battle

On paper, Baylor did plenty right. The Bears made 11 of 25 threes (44 percent) to Texas' 6-of-15, a 15-point edge from deep. They committed only seven turnovers, forced 12, and outscored the Texas bench 26-15.

Texas won the game inside the arc. The Longhorns made 21 two-point baskets to Baylor's 13 and shot 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) overall, while Baylor shot 24-of-66 (36.4 percent). Vokietaitis went 6-of-8, Spears 3-of-3, and Punch added six points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals, including a block on Isaac Williams IV with Texas up two at the five-minute mark. Texas also won the glass 35-33 and handed out 18 assists on 27 baskets.

The Longhorns were far from clean. They made 15 of 23 free throws (65.2 percent), a problem that showed up against Grambling State, too, and Vokietaitis had four of the 12 turnovers. Vokietaitis scored 11 in the first half and only three after it.

For Baylor, Decker scored nine on 3-of-5 shooting from deep and Celiscar added 10 off the bench with two threes. Dylan Mingo, a freshman who entered leading the Big 12 at 4.33 steals per game, finished without a steal and went 1-of-8 from the field, though the guard hit all four free throws. Isaac Williams IV was 2-of-9, and starters Juslin Bodo Bodo and Elijah Williams combined for eight points.

What It Means

For Texas, this is the first real résumé win of the season. The Longhorns had beaten Chicago State by 50, Gardner-Webb by 48 and Grambling State by 31, and none of those nights showed how this group would handle a close game away from Moody Center. Now there is an answer: this team can win ugly. The free-throw shooting and turnovers are a real concern with Louisville and an SEC schedule ahead. Next up is Southern Utah on Thursday, Nov. 19, at Moody Center, followed by Southern Indiana on Nov. 22 and a trip to San Diego for the Rady Children's Invitational.

Baylor will not lose sleep over effort. The Bears had won the last meeting, 93-85 in Waco in March 2024. This group beat No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Illinois in exhibitions and pushed a top-10 team to the final possession on a neutral floor, and Kayden Mingo looks like a guard who can carry an offense in Big 12 play. Scott Drew's team returns to Foster Pavilion against Jackson State on Wednesday, Nov. 18, before a Players Era Sixteen opener against Alabama in Las Vegas on Nov. 24. The full numbers are in the box score (opens in a new tab).

Sources: CBS Sports box score and play-by-play, Texas Athletics, Baylor Athletics, Field Level Media. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

The 264th meeting looked like it belonged in March. Texas got the dunk, the stops and the free throws, and the first meeting since Texas joined the SEC goes to the Longhorns.

Photo: Brooklynn Hawthorne/University of Texas Athletics (file photo).