Monday night showcased the run-n-gun style that the Longhorns had talked up during preseason media interviews. The Horns dropped 103 points on an overmatched Xavier University squad and forced the tempo throughout the game. Considering I was on Vicodin at the time, and was most concerned with trying not to drool on myself, here are my scatter-brained observations from the game.

A.J. Abrams continued to shoot lights out. If we can fully convert him to a 2-guard and run a lineup with both him and Augustin, it is going to be amazing. Of course, Abrams showed last year that he has the talent to spell Augustin if need be, but it’s key for the Horns to allow Abrams the freedom to shoot. On the night, he was 7-for-10, including 6-of-7 behind the arc.

D.J. not only looked incredibly comfortable at the point, but he worked his tail off on the glass as well. I remember one defensive board he snatched from between much taller opponents, and another offensive series where it seemed like he grabbed three or four of his own offensive rebounds. The contrarian may wonder why he missed that many shots, but it was really great to see him not give up on the play at any point.

Connor Atchley continued to impress me. He has taken huge strides since last year, and while he’s certainly no All-Big 12, I don’t feel nearly as nervous about him as I did prior to the exhibitions. He had a couple of great blocks, including one where he came up behind a guy going to the glass, swatted a ball into the stands, and then ate a live wolf. It may have been the drugs, but I swear it happened.

Matt Hill still looked scrappy underneath and knows how to get to the line. He was still perfect on the year, until I opened my big mouth to make that comment and he missed his first from the charity stripe. In the two exhibition games, he was 10-for-11 from the line.

Kevin Durant worried me a little bit with his performance in this game. He took quite a few lazy shots, and lost the ball on lazy crossover dribbles. I know that his talent level was so much higher than many at the high school level, and that he invariably felt like he was mailing it in at times. But in college, he’s going to have to man up and play with his nose to the grindstone. When he does that, I can’t even imagine how great he’s going to be.

Seeing the team push the tempo and put pressure on the ball was really exciting. This is a hot shooting team, and on those nights when we finally go cold, we are going to need things like turnovers and transition buckets to keep us in the games. I’m really glad to see that we can run the floor so well.

That’s about all I can remember from that hazy night, but hopefully my recollections will be better following tomorrow night’s doubleheader. Bring the family, and pack the Drum for our season opener. See y’all there!