Chaminade Silverswords 86, Texas Longhorns 73

There are so many things that can go wrong on a vacation: your flights can get delayed, luggage can be misplaced, local delicacies can disagree with your stomach, you can get the hotel room with the shower that won’t stop dripping. Or, you can lose to a Division II program on national television.

The Texas Longhorns did exactly that last night in Lahaina, falling to Chaminade, 86-73, and becoming just the seventh team to lose to the host school in 83 Maui Invitational games. For head coach Rick Barnes, it was his second loss to Chaminade, having dropped a game to the Silverswords when he was coaching Providence in 1991.

Chaminade celebrated a huge win over Texas
(Photo credit: Eugene Tanner/Associated Press)

There is no sugar-coating this loss, no spin to put on the results. It was an ugly and uninspired game, plain and simple. You could call it the lowest point of the Barnes era, and there would be no argument from anywhere in the burnt orange fanbase. In fact, you could probably widen the scope just a bit when measuring the depths of this low point, as this was the first Texas defeat at the hands of a D-II opponent since the 1980’s.

Despite being much bigger than the Silverswords, the Longhorns were pushed around and out-muscled in this game. Chaminade has just two players listed at 6’7″ on their roster, and used only two others who are 6’6″. They challenged the Longhorns with physical play early, and the whistles were plentiful for both sides. But Texas backed down, failing to exploit their size advantage inside for easy points.

Chaminade took that aggressive, physical approach and used it to turn the tables on the glass, as well. The Silverswords grabbed 38.5% of their offensive rebounding opportunities and held the Longhorns to just 28.2% on their own offensive glass. Texas shot 46.4% from the field, much higher than the 36.8% that Chaminade could manage, but winning the rebounding battles kept the Silversword possessions alive and allowed them to overcome the shooting disparities.

The Silverswords also took advantage of their opportunities at the charity stripe, while the Longhorns continued to struggle. With Chaminade playing aggressively, they posted an impressive free-throw rate of 68.4%, which equates to roughly two free throws for every three field goal attempts. At the line, they logged a steady 34-of-39 performance, while the Longhorns struggled to make just 17 of 30. That number includes misses on the front ends of one-and-ones by both Cameron Ridley and Jonathan Holmes in the second half, costing the team not only two points, but two more free throw opportunities.

The Texas offense looked lost on most possessions until the final few minutes, as players stood anchored to the ground and hoped that others would make a play. There was no inside presence to speak of, as the Longhorns struggled against the physical nature of Chaminade’s undersized frontcourt. Guards waited around the perimeter for cuts and screens that never came, and simple passes were bobbled out of bounds.

On one second half possession, Coach Barnes called a timeout during an unproductive halfcourt set. The players came towards the huddle, arguing about who was supposed to go where. “It doesn’t matter!” Barnes screamed at the team. “It doesn’t matter! Don’t stand around!” After the vitriolic timeout, the Longhorns wasted the possession by turning it over on a shot clock violation.

If you must look for the silver linings in this disaster, there were a few slivers of hope for the future. Although Ridley continued to shoot like Shaq at the free throw line, picked up offensive fouls, and left a baseline drive completely undefended when he ran away from the ballhandler, he did show off some solid moves in the post. On two or three different occasions, he took the entry pass and made a quick, strong move for the bucket. He obviously has a long way to go, but the fundamentals and raw talent are clearly there.

The Texas defense couldn’t stop the Silverswords
(Photo credit: Eugene Tanner/Associated Press)

The Longhorns also made a late charge as they tried to cobble together a futile and short-lived comeback bid. Texas turned up the backcourt pressure to force mistakes, and the Horns actually started knocking down long-range looks. Fans have to wonder why it took 30-plus minutes for Texas to put forth that effort and play with some intensity.

Coach Barnes didn’t feel encouraged by the late-game surge, telling reporters, “Sometimes there is such a thing as phony tough guys when you’re playing with house money now. You’re coming back saying ‘What the heck,’ and you play.”

The coach also shot down any excuses for his roster full of freshman and sophomores. “We’re not going to buy the youth thing. It chalks up to toughness. It chalks up to guys doing their job, chalks up to leadership or lack of.”

With Myck Kabongo still sidelined due to an NCAA investigation and Jaylen Bond limited due to injuries, Texas is still searching for that leader. Sheldon McClellan made some big plays late, but was held mostly in check by the Chaminade defense and had to grind out his points at the line. Freshman point guard Javan Felix led the team in scoring and logged five assists, but turned it over three times and couldn’t get the team running their halfcourt sets. With major-conference opponents looming in the next two days, the Longhorns will need to answer the leadership question immediately.

Up next: vs. USC; Tuesday, 4 P.M. CT