Baylor, No. 11 Texas Set For I-35 Showdown At The Ferrell Center
By Denton Ramsey, NCAA Basketball Sportswriter
WACO, Texas — In just under two hours, the Bears (17-6 overall, 5-4 Big 12) will host the Longhorns (20-4, 7-2) as Baylor aims to end a two-game skid in conference play.
With their backs against the wall, the green and gold men’s hardwood team faces a Big 12 challenge when they tipoff against No. 11 Texas at 5 p.m. CT at the Ferrell Center.
The annual I-35 Lone Star showdown will be broadcast live on ESPN, with Terry Gannon and Steve Bardo calling the action.
Today’s game is sold out to the general public, and Baylor Head Coach Scott Drew and company expect a full house tonight in BU’s home dome.
“A lot of excitement – should be the largest crowd in the school’s history and we’ve got students camping out,” Drew said. “They [had] a pep-rally [on Friday] night, so we need to make sure to give them a lot to cheer for come [game time].”
For the Bears’ newest young gun guard, true-freshman LaceDarius “Kool” Dunn believes that the crowd - as well as going back to playing solid defense - will help propel Baylor to a major upset this afternoon in Waco.
“It’s going to be a big game and a big crowd – so I think one of the things we need to do is to go back to what got us here at the beginning of the season, and that’s defense,” Dunn said. “Each teammate has to go back and find that mold or that spot in their bodies that had us motivated that we wanted to play defense. I think that we’ve got to go back and pick that up – whatever it is we have to go find – and bring it to [today's] game.”
In just under an hour and a half, we’ll begin getting some answers when Texas and Baylor tipoff under the Bears’ gold dome in Waco…
Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com