Texas' 2022 loss at Baylor was one of many necessary growing pains, according to Timmy Allen
Just over one year ago, the No. 20 Texas Longhorns traveled to Waco to face the No. 10 Baylor Bears. Then head coach Chris Beard’s team was no match for the eventual Big 12 regular season co-champions, as the Horns dropped to 18-7 after an offensive onslaught from Baylor. Every BU starter reached double-figures in an 80-63 affair.
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That event recently re-entered the national consciousness as the game where Baylor forward Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua suffered a severe knee injury. “Everyday Jon,” as he’s called, battled back and has become a key part of another high-quality BU team.
For Texas, that game stands out for a different reason. Following the game, a Beard sent all five starters — Marcus Carr, Timmy Allen, Courtney Ramey, Christian Bishop, and Brock Cunningham — to the podium to take questions from the media in the postgame press conference.
“Obviously coaches are always held accountable and sometimes I think veteran players need to be held accountable,” Beard said on February 12, 2022.
Before the close of his own press availability, Beard, a self-proclaimed truth teller, said his team was soft on the court versus the Bears.
That was over a year ago. One of those starters, Ramey, is now an Arizona Wildcat. Every bench player from that game save for Dylan Disu is no longer a member of the Longhorn basketball roster (Tristen Licon traded his jersey for a manager’s polo). It would be the last game Tre Mitchell ever played in a Texas uniform.
The other four starters returned to Texas for the 2022-23 season. After 15 games as part of a challenging Big 12 schedule, the Longhorns are now tied for first in the league ahead of Saturday’s trip to Waco.
Allen was asked about that game on Thursday. In what has been a memorable year for the super senior averaging 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists per contest, he said he hadn’t thought about that game in some time.
Upon the reminder, he did remember the message it sent.
“You’ve got to grow up,” Allen said Thursday.
“Looking in the mirror, when I think about last year and this year, I think about two completely different situations personally and as a whole,” Allen continued. “Humbling yourself, knowing what you need to get better, and just a moment of realization that you’re not where you’re supposed to be or where you want to be.”
After that loss to Baylor, Texas split the final six regular season games before losing in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. A round one win, the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory since 2014, was a mark of progress, but it was followed by a 10-point loss to Purdue in the second round.
Allen believes growing pains like the ones felt in Waco in 2022 were needed to set up for Texas’ success this season.
“This year doesn’t happen without last year,” Allen said. “None of this greatness happens without last year’s struggle, and last year was a struggle. As good as we played in some moments, we were all grinding to get better. Now, we’re here. I’m thankful.
“I’m not naïve to the fact that was necessary to get here. In that moment, it was a moment of being humble enough to look yourself in the mirror and getting better. We’ve done that.”
Allen, Cunningham, Disu, and Carr are all key parts of the 22-6 Longhorns, currently ranked No. 6 in the country. For Carr and Allen, two fifth-year super-seniors in their final season of collegiate eligibility, there is no “better luck next year.” They have high aspirations for the rest of their final season in college hoops.
That includes making sure there’s no repeat of last year in Waco.
“We’re not trying to have that feeling again, that’s for sure,” Allen said.
Texas will face a Baylor team looking to derail the Longhorn hopes for a Big 12 regular season title. UT enters the weekend tied with Kansas at 11-4 at the top of the conference, and wanting to make the March 4 matchup between the Jayhawks and Longhorns in Austin the game that decides the regular season crown.
To get there, the Horns have to at least split the upcoming two games on the road versus Baylor and TCU considering KU’s schedule features home games versus Texas Tech and West Virginia. Both the Red Raiders and the Mountaineers are tied for eighth in the Big 12.
That starts Saturday for Allen and company, who’ll strive to make sure 2022’s contest in Waco was a one-off performance.
