Another non-conference opponent, another double-digit win for the Longhorns. But while the scoreboard boldly trumpeted a 32-point Texas win on Tuesday night, the play on the court was anything but dominating. The Longhorns had arguably their ugliest game of the season, yet still cruised past a horribly overmatched Gardner-Webb team. It was as if Texas knew they simply had to show up to win, and their effort certainly reflected that sentiment.

What looked good

The high point of the night was freshman Jai Lucas breaking out with a 5-of-7 performance behind the arc. Although his shot is a funky little line drive, the Florida transfer was nearly unstoppable from long range. Gardner-Webb was focused on the post man all night when Texas used the pick-and-roll, and as the Bulldogs doubled down on the rolling big man, Lucas quickly fired up the threes.

If Jai can be that accurate all season, teams are going to have to pick their poison when Texas sets high ball screens. Of course, for the rest of the season Texas will be facing many teams with taller guards than those of Gardner-Webb. On those nights, it might feel a bit like A.J. Abrams is on the court, as the Longhorns work to free up their long-range gunner.

The other big storyline of the game was the improved free throw shooting for the Longhorns. Texas shot 76.2% from the line, a full twelve percentage points better than their season average. Gary Johnson was 7-of-8 from the line after starting the season 15-for-20, but most surprising was Damion James‘ perfect 8-for-8 night. Coming into the game, DaMo was just 47-of-72 at the charity stripe, giving him just a 65% success rate. Hopefully this steady shooting night is a sign of things to come.

The Texas defense forced a season-high 27 turnovers, 19 of those coming on steals. They did it with a variety of traps that completely befuddled the Bulldogs and led to lazy passes that hung over midcourt for the waiting Longhorn defenders. Texas has shown a ton of trapping looks early this season, and as a result are turning their opponents over on nearly a quarter of their possessions. When you consider that the Horns weren’t really forcing a ton of turnovers early in the year, it makes the season-long numbers even more impressive.

What needed work

While the trapping was excellent, the perimeter defense was absolutely atrocious for Texas. The Longhorns allowed Gardner-Webb to hit 8-of-14 from beyond the arc in the second half, and allowed a disgusting 50% success rate for the game. Defenders simply did not close out quickly enough and often failed to get a hand up to even challenge the shooter. Whether it was a result of the week-long layoff after the Michigan State game or just a lack of effort due to a pitiful opponent, it was an embarrassing display, and something that surely had Rick Barnes fired up at practice yesterday.

On the offensive end, Texas looked completely careless with the basketball. The Horns turned it over 19 times, much worse than their previous season average of fourteen per game. Most of the turnovers came on lazy passes or overly-fancy, streetball-style dime attempts. Even the typically steady Dogus Balbay was bit by the turnover bug, recording four miscues to just two assists. Before the game, he was boasting a 3.67 assist-to-turnover ratio.

A mixed bag

Against the Bulldogs, J’Covan Brown was absolutely cold from outside. But Gardner-Webb kept giving him looks, and he kept firing away. For as good of a shooter as J’Covan is, that seems like the correct course of action. On most nights, he would eventually hit a shot, get some confidence, and help out the team. Fortunately for the Longhorns, his 1-of-8 night from long range happened to come against one of the worst opponents on their schedule. To Brown’s credit, however, it should be noted that even though the three-balls weren’t falling, he did still occasionally slash to the basket and earned nine points on the night.

Jordan Hamilton was limited to just eleven minutes thanks to an ankle injury, but played within the flow of the offense. In perhaps the most shocking statistic of the night, Hamilton did not attempt a single shot, and actually had three assists. He made a conscious effort to work the ball into the paint in the hopes of exploiting Texas’ massive size advantage. While Longhorn fans won’t want a healthy Jordan Hamilton taking zero shots in a game, his commitment to fitting into the offensive gameplan was a welcome sight.

Looking forward

The Longhorns have another home game before they travel to Fayetteville next week, where they should likely reach the 14-0 mark for just the first time in 28 years. That Saturday home game will be against the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders, and the Texas Box Office has a slew of promotions available to get fans into the arena. All upper level tickets are just $3, and fans can show their tickets at the box office to also score a free general admission seat to the women’s game that tips at 11 A.M.

It’s been a few days since the Longhorns secured their second-straight win over a top-ten opponent, and unfortunately the post-game review slipped through the cracks as we frantically finished up holiday shopping at the eleventh hour and then enjoyed a few days with the family. But before college basketball gets back in full swing tomorrow, we’d like to take a quick look back at the highlights and lowlights from Tuesday night’s victory.

What looked good

The most impressive part of the Longhorns’ 79-68 win was that it came mostly without Dexter Pittman. Plagued by fouls and referee Rick Hartzell‘s obsession with blowing the whistle, the Texas inside game was quickly hampered. Add in the fact that Damion James seemed a bit too anchored to the perimeter early in the first half, and there was reason for Longhorn fans to be concerned.

It was James’ gutty play that ended up being the difference, though. With his jersey bloodstained and his lip swollen, Damion looked every bit the warrior as he clawed his way to a 23-point, 13-rebound night. It was truly a star performance for the senior, who became the all-time leading rebounder for the University of Texas. And not only did the win underscore James’ ability to carry the team, but it also highlighted how the depth of this Longhorn squad will make it incredibly difficult for opponents to completely shut them down.

Gary Johnson touched on that very fact in the post-game presser. “We can give it to you any way you want it,” the forward said, pointing out that the versatile Longhorns were able to play very different styles of basketball in defeating North Carolina and Michigan State. In addition to making astute observations and providing quality quotes for writers, Johnson also quietly put in a solid effort on the court. The typically shot-happy junior had nearly as many assists (two) as field goals (three), and was a steady 50% from the field.

Johnson’s defense was also a big part of the reason the Longhorns were able to pull away in the waning moments. He stripped the ball from a Spartan guard in the open court not once, but twice in the final minutes, leading to fast break buckets as Texas iced the game. That oft-mentioned depth of the Longhorn bench seemed to play a huge role in the final result, as Texas was able to continue hustling in crunch time, while Michigan State made just one field goal in the final 9:57 of the game.

In addition to that finishing kick, Longhorn fans can also be impressed with the poise their team showed under fire. With Pittman riding the bench in foul trouble, Texas fell as far behind as eight points late in the first half. The Horns closed the gap to three by the time they hit the locker room, where they made adjustments to shore up their perimeter defense. After allowing Michigan State enough time and space to hit 71% of their threes in the first half, the Longhorns locked down the three-point line and allowed just a 12.5% success rate in the second half.

The Texas defense also pressured the Spartans and forced mistakes, earning 22 turnovers in the process. That gave the Spartans a 29.5% turnover rate in the game, their worst performance with the basketball since they coughed it up 33.4% of the time against Florida in a 77-74 loss.

What needed work

For the rest of the season, the first paragraph in this portion of every single game report will likely read the exact same way. The Longhorns simply have no answers from the free throw line. In fact, the Texas free-throw nightmare is so bad that Spartan Coach Tom Izzo instructed his team to foul Dogus Balbay with nearly three minutes left on the clock. Texas quickly responded by giving ballhandling duties to J’Covan Brown, while Izzo changed course and had his team concede the defeat.

While the Longhorns have yet to win a game by less eleven points and they have an average margin of victory of more than 28 points, they will undoubtedly face tougher tests in the future. Games will be closer, and it’s highly likely that whatever losses the team incurs the rest of the way, they will be a result of missed free throws. For a team that is averaging 17 made free throws and 11 missed ones per game, those points left at the line will eventually loom large.

What also needed work was Michigan State’s attempts at distracting the Texas free throw shooters. In the first half, a woman seated in the Michigan State guest pass section decided to blow an air horn before two of James’ free throw attempts. As Murphy would have predicted, the Longhorn big man then made both. (It should be noted that James was just 1-of-5 from the line without air-horn accompaniment.) While it’s embarrassing enough that someone who was allowed into the Erwin Center for free as a guest of the visiting team would break NCAA rules by using an illegal noisemaker, it’s even more embarrassing that she couldn’t even successfully impact the game.

Everything else that Texas needed to improve upon was actually remedied within the game itself. James opened up his game after his early addiction to the perimeter, scoring more inside and getting better position for rebounds. The Longhorns improved their transition defense after letting Michigan State run right past them for easy buckets during most of the first half. And as previously mentioned, the perimeter defense was night-and-day different from one half to the next.

What lies ahead

Fresh off the heels of these two big wins, Longhorn fans are becoming understandably giddy with excitement. The last time Texas started a season 11-0 was in the fall of 2007, when that unblemished start was finally spoiled by Izzo and the Spartans in Auburn Hills. With Michigan State finally vanquished, fans have high hopes that the next two weeks will be smooth sailing for the Longhorns. After home games against Gardner-Webb and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, a road test against the struggling Arkansas Razorbacks provides the only likely hurdle for Texas as it attempts to enter conference play with a perfect 14-0 mark.

For the sports fans sitting at home watching ESPN last night, seeing the score of the Texas game crawl across the bottom of the screen might have raised a few eyebrows. It may have even induced a few grumblings about the “Burnt Orange Media Conspiracy” from our friends northeast of us on the Brazos River. But as good as the Longhorns looked last night, and no matter how many points they ultimately defeated their opponents by, excitement must be tempered. The Texas-Pan American Broncs might have been the worst team we’ve seen in the Frank Erwin Center for at least three years.

The loss was the tenth in eleven games for UTPA, while the 42-point output was the fourth showing in which they mustered 50 points or less. The 62-point margin also surpassed the Broncs’ 56-point loss to Missouri in the category of Most Embarrassing, Demoralizing Loss. I think it’s an ESPY Award, actually.

Suffice it to say, this was simply an overmatched team that Texas toyed with for forty minutes. When walk-on Dean Melchionni sees playing time with more than eleven minutes left in the game, you can be sure things are out of hand. So with all that in mind, what can Texas fans actually take from this one-sided affair?

What looked good

For this game, the subhead title above might be misleading. There was very little that didn’t look good in the midst of a methodical dismantling of the UTPA Lollipop Guild. But there were specific things that will hopefully carry forward and play a part in games against good competition. And from our perspective, the most important development of the night was seeing Avery Bradley adequately handle point guard responsibilities.

Bradley didn’t run the show the entire night, as Dogus Balbay was having yet another spectacular night at the one. But Avery did manage to dish out five assists on the night, and didn’t seem even slightly uncomfortable while shouldering the load of floor general. He’ll certainly have his challenges trying to play the point against tougher defenses, but a game like this is a huge confidence boost for a kid that has been a consistent two-guard all season long.

Off the ball, Bradley continued to impress with his silky-smooth shot. He chipped in 18 points, giving him 50 over his last three games, and seemed nearly unstoppable in the mid-range. He elevates so quickly and has such a smooth release, that he’s able to stop-and-pop over defenders, or immediately take a well-timed pass from Balbay or the blocks that results in a swished jumper. Coming into the season, we all knew that Bradley was considered the top freshman in the nation by some outlets, but his play over the last two weeks has Texas fans giddy over what could be in store the rest of the way.

As mentioned, Balbay again had a masterful performance running the show. He hustled all over the floor, forcing UTPA miscues on defense, grabbing three steals, and even secured five rebounds. He had nine more assists to add to his gaudy numbers for the year, while coughing the ball up just one time. On the season, that gives Dogus a sick 3.92 assist-to-TO ratio.

It wasn’t just defense, rebounding, and facilitating the offense for Balbay last night. He even shocked the crowd by sinking a three-pointer early in the first half, his first successful attempt of the year. For all the statheads out there, here is your Meaningless Number of the Night — the Texas Longhorns are 2-0 in games where Dogus Balbay makes a three-pointer. Who cares that he’s got a lifetime success rate of 15% behind the arc? Clearly opposing coaches must start game-planning for this telling statistic.

It was also reassuring to see that Jordan Hamilton‘s hot start from behind the arc didn’t mean he was going to be anchored to the perimeter all night. He continued his recent trend of attacking off the dribble and crashing the glass when his bank shots weren’t falling. Jordan has been a streaky shooter from outside this season, and early in the year he was content to continue chucking up threes even when he was struggling. Seeing him sink threes and force the issue off the dribble speaks to the fact that his game is already evolving.

While the play of Melchionni and fellow walk-on Andrew Dick isn’t something that will be important in worthwhile games, it was nice to see them both earn significant minutes. Dick scored his first-ever collegiate points on a three-pointer that elicited a roar from the remaining fans and added another bucket later on a nice cut to the rim. Melchionni missed all three of his shots on the night, but did grab his first two career rebounds.

In addition to getting minutes for the walk-ons, Texas also was able to get in a lot of work on their full-court defense, and harassed the Broncs to the tune of 21 turnovers. Had Barnes kept his foot on the gas the entire game, UTPA easily would have had 30-plus miscues, and the Longhorns likely would have won by more than 75 points. Seeing an effective full-court scheme is a great thing heading into Saturday’s match-up with Carolina, as the young Heels have had issues with ball control all season long.

While this final number isn’t that impressive when you consider the opponent, it still must be noted that the Longhorns held an insane 64-31 rebounding advantage in this game. Whether or not Coach Barnes was exploiting the height difference or just responding to his limited backcourt depth, the big lineups that Texas threw out there had an absolute field day against the tiny Bronc roster. UT-Pan Am had just thirteen offensive rebounds in the entire game, even though they missed 48 shots. Giving a team a second chance just once every four possessions is completely dominant basketball.

What needed work

The biggest concern for Texas was that Dexter Pittman once again immediately found himself in foul trouble. It took only two-and-a-half minutes for the big man to be whistled twice in this game. Fouls have limited Pittman’s minutes in a few games in recent weeks, and he will definitely have his hands full on Saturday against North Carolina’s deep and talented frontcourt. If he finds himself in foul trouble again against the Heels, Roy Williams could easily exploit his team’s advantages in the frontcourt.

Beyond that one area of concern, there was not much for Texas fans to nitpick in this game. Coach Barnes mentioned in his post-game interview that the team lost focus a bit, although it seems perfectly normal for a team to do so when rolling to a 60-point victory. Fans can be sure, though, that Barnes will use that observation as a teaching tool the rest of the week leading into Carolina and Michigan State.

The big finish

With perhaps their weakest opponent behind them, the Longhorns now must prepare themselves for one of the two toughest weeks on their schedule. While consecutive road games in January against Kansas State and Connecticut won’t be easy for Texas, the upcoming one-two punch of North Carolina and Michigan State should be the stiffest test the team faces this year. The Longhorns’ performance in these first two mammoth challenges of the season will show fans what they can expect from the team as the season rolls into conference play.

As the team prepares for those two games, we’ll be doing a lot of catch-up work here at LRT. We’ve got a batch of photos to share from Kansas City and ice , along with a few notes to add from those road trips. And of course, an in-depth game preview for Carolina is headed your way at the end of the week.

After a pair of games in which the Longhorns shot just 41% from the field — their only outings below the 50% mark — the pressure was on to bounce back against the pre-season favorite in the Big West Conference. But with Texas’ two big post presences limited to just 31 combined minutes, it was up to the freshmen and the role players to carry the Longhorns to victory. To say they responded to the call would be a gross understatement.

Six different Longhorns scored in double figures en route to a dominating 107-74 victory over Long Beach State, the highest offensive output for a Rick Barnes team in four years. Texas moved the ball well, used dribble penetration with great success, and played stifling defense that led to 23 turnovers and 33 points off of their opponents’ miscues.

Statistically, this was by far the best showing by the offense all season. Long Beach State wanted to run, and the 84 possessions in the game was the most the Longhorns have seen this year. Texas took advantage, scoring at an insane rate of 1.3 points per possession. Even with the 49ers shooting over 40% and knocking down 19 free throws, there was no possible way to keep up with the offensive explosion on the other end of the court.

What looked good

It’d be easy to say that everything looked good in this game, but that would be a tad oversimplified and a bit disingenuous. But it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that nearly everything looked good for the Longhorns on Monday night.

Dogus Balbay made just his second start of the year, and his inclusion in the lineup immediately made things flow. In the first four and a half minutes, the Longhorns had eight field goals, and four of them came off of assists from Balbay. For the night, he finished with a career-high eleven dimes, and managed to play his 24 minutes without a single turnover.

In many of the early games this season, the Texas offense would sometimes grind to a halt without Balbay on the floor. Defenses would switch to zone and double- or triple-team Dexter Pittman immediately as he received the entry pass. When the Texas shooters were off from long-range, the team would often go for minutes without making a field goal. No one seemed to want to dribble-drive, and the ball movement around the perimeter was oftentimes not fast enough to get open looks.

Against Long Beach State, though, it was quickly clear how much Texas had worked on their offense in practices. When teams tried to trap Pittman, he kept the ball high and reacted quickly. Jordan Hamilton, Avery Bradley, and J’Covan Brown all made strong moves to the hoop with the basketball and their stat lines reflected the benefits of that aggressive approach.

On defense, the sudden spike in turnovers was huge for Texas. They forced eight LBSU miscues in less than eight minutes, and the frustration was quickly apparent in the body language of the 49ers. While some skeptics might think that the increase in turnovers was a result of the extra possessions, stat guru Ken Pomeroy would beg to differ. He measures turnovers as a percentage of possessions, and Texas’ 28% rate in last night’s game was head-and-shoulders above their performance in any other game this season.

What needed work

The one thing Texas struggled with all night was slowing down the inside-out guard tandem of Casper Ware and Stephan Gilling. The pair combined for 34 points on the night, nearly half of their team’s entire offense. Ware was constantly beating Texas defenders with a lightning-quick first step, and he earned himself seven trips to the charity stripe. When Ware wasn’t scoring at the rack, Gilling was knocking down three-pointer after three-pointer — to the tune of a 6-for-12 night from long range.

While Texas won the game, and quite easily, the defense against these two guards will surely be highlighted by the coaching staff in film session. The Longhorns are going to face a lot of quick guards this year — Sherron Collins of Kansas and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State come to mind — and against a more well-rounded opponent, these kind of defensive lapses could be killer.

The other focal points in this one will seem incredibly repetitive for anyone who has been regularly reading this website. Once again, Texas struggled from the foul line — they were 8-of-15 tonight — and J’Covan Brown compiled a handful of dumb turnovers. The free-throw nightmare is going to be a season-long theme, but I am supremely confident that Barnes and his assistants will settle Brown down as the season goes on. Many of his turnovers last night were a result of his attempt to be overly flashy as Texas coasted with its big lead. In the post-game interviews, Barnes noted that this is simply Brown trying to “make a great pass instead of just a good pass.” If Brown will stop trying to make SportsCenter’s Top Plays, his turnover numbers will certainly improve.

Handing out blue stars

Practically everyone in this game looked excellent. Even though Brown was responsible for six of Texas’ eleven turnovers, he provided thirteen points and five rebounds. As mentioned earlier, Jordan Hamilton was much more willing to drive from the wings, instead of immediately popping a three-pointer. In fact, Hamilton took just 25% of his shots from behind the arc, a far cry from the 60% of his attempts that were coming from long-range prior to this game.

Avery Bradley was finally able to showcase that silky-smooth midrange jumper that Texas fans have been hearing about so often. He added 17 points in the winning effort, and provided two steals and a block on the defensive end. Down low, Gary Johnson was a beast off the bench. He scored fourteen points and grabbed five boards in just 22 minutes on the court, and his ability to get quality looks inside led to a scorching 88% shooting night.

The bench combined for 61 points in this game, a statistic you might likely never see again. Beyond the players listed above, even the role players who see the floor for just a few minutes were able to get into the act. Alexis Wangmene looked good down low, scoring eight points — four of them coming off of beautiful assists from Balbay. His defense also seems to have improved, as he was able to frustrate the opposing big men without picking up his typical rash of fouls.

While Shawn Williams didn’t showcase the three-point stroke that one recruiting expert had trumped up during the off-season, he continued to hustle and play tough inside in his limited minutes. The guy just knows how to get to the ball, and he’s going to be a feisty rebounder when Barnes isn’t getting what he needs from the front line.

The big finish

On a personal note, last night’s game was probably the closest I’ve come to ending the streak of consecutive games attended. Something nasty decided it wanted to infect me on Saturday, and with finals and papers due for most students, there was nobody else going to guilt me into attending. I managed to make it to the game in time but likely looked like a serial killer, slouched in a seat by myself with a hooded sweatshirt pulled tight around my head. Fortunately, the Longhorns looked great so their performance didn’t make me feel any worse.

Next up for Texas is an I-35 battle against Texas State, a team that is predicted to finish at the bottom of the Southland Conference this year. It won’t be a tough test for the Longhorns, but provides another opportunity to tweak the little things they’ll need to work on before the big 1-2 punch of North Carolina and Michigan State. Game preview will be up on Saturday morning, and in the meantime I’ll be working on photo uploads and Notes from the Road.

Texas played 30 minutes of solid basketball on Monday night in Kansas City, notching a 25-point victory to move to 3-0 on the year. Unfortunately for the Longhorns, it was the other 10 minutes that made things much more interesting than they should have been.

Freshman Jordan Hamilton led the way early for Texas, hitting four three-pointers in the first half. The Texas defense also helped to open things up early, stifling Iowa (1-3) for the first ten minutes of the game. The Hawkeyes had trouble getting open looks, often battling the shot clock before clanging the ball off the rim. The Longhorns built a lead as big as fourteen points with 10:30 to go in the first frame. But then things got hairy.

Perhaps it was complacency due to the large lead. Or perhaps the Longhorn defenders were tired of rotating on defense as the Hawkeyes utilized screen after screen and moved the ball around the court at lightning speed. But whatever the reason, the Texas D was no longer in the face of the Iowa sharpshooters, and they quickly paid for it. The Hawkeyes finished the half by nailing 5-of-7 from behind the arc, including a desperation buzzer-beating heave sunk from the opposite three-point line by Cully Payne. The teams headed to the locker room tied with 38 points apiece.

Halftime adjustments were quickly apparent, as Texas gave Iowa a steady dose of Dexter Pittman. The big man had just four points in the first half, but immediately doubled that — and then some — by scoring three quick buckets in the first two minutes of the second stanza. The Texas defense woke up as well, holding Iowa scoreless for nearly six minutes after a Matt Gatens three coming out of the locker room.

With the defense clicking, the Horns slowly pulled away, building an insurmountable double-digit lead in front of a restless crowd who was rooting for the upset. Texas piled on the fast break points and blocked numerous shots, frustrating an Iowa offense that could only muster an 18.8% second-half success rate against the suffocating D.

If one can look past the mental lapse late in the first half, this was a very impressive win for the Longhorns. The defense played outstanding basketball when they were all keyed in and on the same page. Players were talking and rotating on defense, backup forwards Alexis Wangmene and Gary Johnson were challenging and stifling their opponents all the way out to the high post, and the active hands of the guards led to fourteen fast break points for Texas.

Offensively, Texas showcased a balanced attack. When the Horns pounded the ball inside, Pittman was practically unstoppable, even against the collapsing Iowa zone. The solid outside shooting of Hamilton kept the Texas offense afloat when they weren’t able to score in the paint. Five different Longhorns ended up in double-figures on the night, yet another example of how dangerous the Texas depth will be for opponents.

But despite all the positives, there were still issues the team will be working on. Texas turned it over 16 times in this one, which actually seems like a small victory after the 21 turnovers against Western Carolina last Wednesday. Unfortunately, many of the Longhorn miscues were the result of being fancy or sloppy — sometimes on the same play — when they were enjoying large leads. The argument could be made that Texas felt over-confident and knew they would be able to beat Iowa, fundamentals be damned. But will these bad habits resurface later against quality opponents who can make the Longhorns pay if they get lackadaisical with a big lead?

Free throws were once again a dicey proposition for Texas. The Longhorns made 70% of their attempts from the stripe, thanks in large part to the steady hand of J’Covan Brown, who made all four of his attempts. While that number was a vast improvement from the 62% they posted against UC-Irvine and the hide-your-face-in-shame 53% mark they had against Western Carolina, the struggles of guard Varez Ward were still worrisome. Ward is doing a great job attacking the rim and getting to the line, but he has only made 50% of his attempts from the stripe. His ability to drive and get defenses reacting is greatly diminished when opponents know they can hack at him and limit Texas to no more than one point that possession.

The final area of concern was another lengthy drought for the Texas offense. The Longhorns went three-and-a-half minutes late in the first half without scoring, and had another four minutes in the second where they suffered the same fate. Credit must be given to a tough Iowa defense, but fans of the Longhorns will recall the stagnant periods that plagued last year’s team and briefly reappeared against Western Carolina.

The Longhorns have a ton of weapons to kill you from anywhere on the floor, but it seems like they are content to shoot threes when they are unable to get it inside. Texas definitely has the long-range gunners to make this work, but their insistence upon constantly launching it from behind the arc is leading to long droughts. If you take Hamilton out of the equation in this game, the rest of the Longhorns went 4-of-16 from behind the arc. That’s far too many attempts when there is such a size advantage down low, and especially when the three-point shots aren’t falling.

Let’s revisit our keys to the game as we wrap this one up…

Exploit the height advantage – Texas didn’t do a great job of this in the first half, but it was clear that Coach Barnes made it a point of emphasis at halftime. Pittman and Damion James combined for 25 points, and the Longhorns enjoyed a 40-31 rebounding edge.

Strong perimeter defense – Late in the first half, it felt like this might be Texas’ undoing. But the Longhorns clamped down on defense the rest of the way, and the Hawkeyes sputtered to a 10-of-37 night behind the arc. If you take out the flurry of threes that Iowa made in the last seven minutes of the first half, they were just 5-of-30 on threes in the other 33 minutes of play.

Control the tempo – Texas scored 14 fast-break points in the game, and in the closing minutes of the contest, their ability to run completely crushed any last-ditch comeback attempts from the Hawkeyes. It was mentioned earlier that the Texas half-court offense sputtered for stretches, but there is no doubt that the Longhorns look their best when running the floor and getting easy fast-break and secondary-break points.

The Longhorns advance to face Pittsburgh in tonight’s championship game at 9:15 P.M. A pre-game look at the Panthers will be headed your way in just a few hours.

Wednesday night’s victory over Western Carolina was certainly impressive for the Longhorns. They logged a 32-point win, held their opponents to a scant 26.2% shooting percentage, and won the rebounding battle by an overwhelming 47-32 margin. But while the scoreboard and the stat lines were tilted heavily in Texas’ favor, some old issues managed to resurface for the Longhorns.

Most concerning for fans should be the continued struggles from the free-throw line. Last season, Texas made less than 80% of their attempts from the line, with nine players shooting hitting less than 70% of their tries. Of those nine, eight are on this year’s roster. As a result, the Longhorns have made just 59.6% of their free throws over the first two games. Damion James was the only Longhorn to truly shine from the charity stripe against the Catamounts, as he made 8-of-10 on the night. Alexis Wangmene also made both of his attempts, so perhaps the pair can put on a clinic at the next practice.

In addition, the youth of the team showed in the form of turnovers. Texas coughed it up against the Catamounts 21 times, for a differential of negative six. While we discussed in the game preview Western Carolina’s tendency to force steals, the complete lack of ball control will be absolutely killer if it continues into the new year. Yes, it’s still very, very early in the year, but the inability to get entry passes to the post was painful to watch.

It was also difficult for the Longhorns to develop any real offensive rhythm in the game. This isn’t worrisome like the free throw struggles and turnovers, but it’s something that could prolong the establishment of steady rotations off the bench. Any flow to the offense was constantly stifled by a combination of the turnovers, liberal substitutions, and whistle-happy refs — who called an excessive twelve fouls in the first eight minutes of the second half. With different players constantly running on the court and the choppy, whistle-interrupted style of play, it was tough to find any unit of players who excelled for any length of time.

In the winning effort, J’Covan Brown came closer to showing fans just how special of a player he is, but turnovers still plagued his game. Brown lost the ball six times against Western Carolina, giving him eleven TOs on the season. But the rest of his offensive game continued to blossom, as he once again showcased his three-point range and even brought the Frank Erwin Center crowd to its feet with a buzzer-beater to end the first half. J’Covan is going to be a star in the near future, but it’s clear that his unfortunate one-year absence has put a little bit of rust on his game.

Elsewhere on the freshman front, Jordan Hamilton is quickly proving that there is not a shot he doesn’t like. While this is a habit that will certainly need to be broken as the season wears on, Hamilton has at least made up for his quick-trigger by constantly following shots. Even though he missed four of five long-range attempts, each time he was crashing the glass and hustling for offensive boards. It’s hard not to like the drive and determination he’s exhibiting, but he will need to remember that on a team this talented, the last thing Texas needs is the Hamilton Catch-and-Shoot Extravaganza.

While we’ve picked out these negative aspects to dissect, the game was by no means a disappointment for Texas. The D was superb for a second-straight game, putting Texas first in the nation for defensive efficiency. Ken Pomeroy’s number-crunching shows that the suffocating Longhorn defense is allowing just .589 points per possession. Texas likely won’t see a true test of that defensive mettle until they take on the up-tempo Tar Heels on December 19th, but it will be interesting to keep tabs on that stat as the season rolls on.

Moving past the team accolades and on to the individual achievements, Gary Johnson is to be lauded for an excellent showing off the bench. The forward made all four of his shots from the field, chipping in ten points with seven boards. Although most players would expect to see an increase in minutes from their sophomore to junior seasons, Johnson is making the most of his decreased playing time.

Varez Ward also showed flashes of brilliance, looking once again like the exciting, lane-slashing guard that we saw at the end of last season. Ward provided ten points on 4-of-6 shooting and even logged three steals. Some fans questioned his inclusion in the starting lineup, but it’s quickly becoming clear that his late-season surge back in March was just the beginning of great player development.

Texas will face Iowa tomorrow night in the semi-finals of the CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. We’ll bring you a game preview sometime in the A.M. hours.

The Longhorns are back, ladies and gentlemen. And boy, do they look good.

Sure, it’s important to keep in mind that the team that Texas absolutely dismantled on Sunday afternoon is coming off a season in which they finished 12-19. And yes, the Longhorns were far more talented than their opponents, and their frontcourt towered over the Cal-Irvine big men. But to see Texas pushing the tempo, knocking down shots, and running fresh bodies off the bench for 40 full minutes…well, it was a thing of beauty.

Things weren’t pretty the whole way, though. Texas stumbled in the opening minutes, with point guard J’Covan Brown clearly suffering from some first-game jitters. And for a kid who hadn’t seen the court in actual competitive action for nearly a year and a half, it’s understandable. Brown turned it over four times in the first few minutes of the game, earning himself a pair of breathers on the bench and a few words of wisdom from Coach Barnes.

The early miscues provided Cal-Irvine the opportunity to jump out to a 15-10 lead just eight minutes into the game. But after that, it was all Longhorns. Texas closed out the half on a 32-6 run in which they held their opponents to a scant 16.7% success rate from the field.

The unquestioned leaders for the Longhorns were in the senior frontcourt, where Damion James and Dexter Pittman each chipped in with 21 points. James added 15 boards to start the season with a double-double, while Pittman grabbed seven rebounds of his own and blocked three shots. Although Dexter against the undersized ‘Eaters forwards was one of the great mismatches of all-time, seeing him play for more than 20 minutes while picking up just one foul — albeit 16 seconds into the game — was incredibly reassuring for Texas fans.

The dominating play inside was complimented by the three-guard lineup that Barnes started, featuring Brown, Justin Mason, and Varez Ward. While Ward only scored one bucket, the ‘Eaters respected the offensive threat he brought to the floor. This was made perfectly clear by one exchange where Varez dribbled at the high post and directed Pittman to slide over for a screen. As soon was Ward made his first step towards the basket, both his defender and Pittman’s defender rushed out to cut him off, leaving the big man open for an easy lob pass and dunk. While it was certainly a defensive lapse for the Anteaters, it also underscored the fact that having a guard like Ward who can slash to the basket will open up things inside.

Even Dogus Balbay had improved over the summer, as evidenced in his 19 minutes off the bench. Balbay was not afraid to shoot the ball on Sunday, even tossing up a three-point attempt from the top of the key. And although the Turkish point guard was just 1-of-4 on the afternoon, it is going to keep defenses more honest this year if they know Balbay is now likely take it to the rim when he drives the lane.

But beyond the heady play of the returning Longhorns, the most exciting thing about Sunday’s blowout was the debut of the freshmen talent. While Brown had his early struggles with turnovers, he settled down in the second half and unveiled a silky-smooth long-range shot. J’Covan went 3-of-6 from long range on the day, and only coughed up the rock one more time after his initial hiccup.

Jordan Hamilton and Avery Bradley also gave Longhorn fans much to be excited about this season. Hamilton showed that he can truly do it all, knocking down a three, handling the ball on the wing and inside, moving through traffic with ease, and throwing down a dunk that brought the Erwin Center crowd out of its seats. His stat line was a testament to his contributions all over the floor: twelve points, a pair of steals, a blocked shot, and three rebounds.

Bradley, meanwhile, turned in a solid performance on defense, added ten points, and dropped two dimes in his 22 minutes on the floor. The freshman from Tacoma is certainly going to be something special this season. He seemed calm and collected on the floor at all times, never once looking like an 18-year old kid playing in his first collegiate game.

While we didn’t get to see as much of freshman forward Shawn Williams as we’d hoped, he did scrap on the boards while he was playing. Williams had six rebounds in his thirteen minutes on the floor, but struggled with fouls in his short stint. Shawn picked up three personals rather quickly, so if he hopes to earn any extra playing time throughout the year, he’ll have to control that issue.

As mentioned in the game preview, we’d hoped to use this game as a benchmark for the offseason improvements of the other Longhorn big men, namely Matt Hill, Alexis Wangmene, and Clint Chapman. But with Chapman sidelined by the flu and Hill and Wangmene limited to three and eight minutes, respectively, it was nearly impossible to get a read on either of them.

All told, it was an exciting, promising start for this batch of Longhorns. Coach Barnes had ten players who played for at least thirteen minutes, which means that foul trouble from any player besides the irreplaceable Pittman will likely be just a minor speedbump. Texas also shot extremely well from long range, hitting 6-of-13 from beyond the arc. Coming off a season in which they shot just 32.8% on threes, and had no true threats beyond A.J. Abrams, this added dimension to the Longhorn offense is a welcome relief.

Texas now enjoys a few days off before returning to action in the CBE Classic on Wednesday night against the Western Carolina Catamounts. Tickets are still available through the Texas Box Office website or by calling 1-800-982-2386.

When the final buzzer sounded following Baylor’s third-straight win over a higher-seeded team in the Big 12 Championship, thoughts weren’t on the end of the Bears’ 24-game losing streak to Texas. “We came in here with a mindset, with a task,” Curtis Jerrells said. “Today was step three.” With their 76-70 win over Texas, the Bears have finished step three and have only one remaining — a win over 3rd-seeded Missouri on Saturday to reach the NCAA tournament.

Just a day after hitting six three-pointers in the huge upset victory over Kansas, LaceDarius Dunn was limited to just one long-range bomb in this one. But he timed it well, sinking the three with just over a minute left on the clock to give Baylor a 67-65 lead it would never relinquish. The sophomore finished with 16 points, including five out of six free throws as Texas desperately fouled over the final 24 seconds.

Once again, the big man for Baylor was senior Kevin Rogers. He abused the Longhorns for 20 points by getting to the rim, kissing jumpers off the glass, and even knocking down fifteen-footers without batting an eye. But most importantly, Rogers combined with Josh Lomers and Mamadou Diene to limit Texas to just 26 points in the paint, just over half its average for the tournament.

One reason the Longhorns couldn’t get anything going down low was the defense that trio played against Dexter Pittman. The big center had only seven points in this game, and was completely ineffective over the final six minutes after he injured his leg in a loose ball scrum. Pittman missed all four of his free throws after that point and grabbed just two rebounds.

His injury may have also played a factor on the crucial rebound where he failed to box out Jerrells after Dunn missed a free throw with 24 seconds left and Baylor leading by only three. With the offensive board secured, the Bears hit their next two free throws and kept the game out of reach for good.

For Texas, the biggest problem once again was an inability to close out halves. All season long, the Horns have had issues letting teams put together runs in the final few minutes of a half, and this game was no exception. Over the final 2:13 of the first half, Texas allowed Baylor to put together an 8-2 run, and the Longhorns gave up six straight points in the next-to-last minute of the game which allowed the Bears to seize the lead for good. Whether it is a lack of focus or a result of tired legs, the simple fact of the matter is that Texas has struggled with this issue all season long, and the Horns will have to address it if they plan to make any noise in the NCAAs.

One reassuring trend for this tournament was the play of A.J. Abrams, who was much more efficient with his shot selection. The senior guard was 14-of-27 over the three-game stretch, including a 40% success rate from behind the arc. If Abrams is still shooting close to 50% once the elimination games start next weekend, Texas has much better odds for success. But if he reverts to the early-season form in which he continued to force up bad looks when he was struggling, the Longhorns could be done after just one game.

For the Baylor Bears, the fourth step of their task awaits them this evening. We’ll be back with a wrap of the Oklahoma State/Missouri game and a quick look at tonight’s championship match-up.

If you told most people that a team would post a minus-11 turnover differential, give up 20 offensive rebounds, and still win the game, you’d likely get laughed at. But somehow that is exactly what the Texas Longhorns found a way to do in an ugly, gutsy win over the Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals.

It’s often said at this time of the season that any win is a good win. That’s very true, although if Texas fans expect their team to play their way past the 7- or 8-seed line, a convincing win would have certainly helped things. Texas is 6-6 against teams currently in the RPI Top 50, and would have to get past Baylor — ranked 59th in this morning’s RPI approximations — to earn a shot at another Top 20 team in Oklahoma State or Missouri. A narrow win over a bubble team like K-State just three days before Selection Sunday could be something that sits in the back of the committee’s mind when they are making their final adjustments to the S-curve.

Of course, the most important aspect of this game was the fact that Texas managed to pull out the win when playing well below their capabilities. Those 20 offensive rebounds for the Wildcats were equal to 37% of the chances that KSU had on the offensive glass. While that might not sound like a large number, it gains importance once you realize that Pitt leads the nation in that statistical category by grabbing 42% of their chances per game. The fact that the Longhorns gave the Wildcats that many extra possessions and still won is a clear indicator of the high level of defense the team was playing yesterday.

Statistically, that defense was stifling. They allowed the Wildcats an effective field goal percentage — a measure of shooting percentage that gives added weight to the three-pointer — of only 33.9% That was the fourth-best outing from the Texas D all season, with the only better games coming against sub-par opponents Appalachian State, Stetson, and St. Joseph’s. If Texas can play that kind of defense the rest of the season, they won’t need to score many points in order to advance.

The leader for Texas once again was big man Dexter Pittman, who powered his way to 19 points and 20 rebounds. Although a bunch of Dex’s boards came off of his own misses of point blank shots, having him be a human vacuum underneath the goal ensures that Texas will get lots of second- and third-chance opportunities. He played a surprising 34 minutes in this game, which came just 24 hours after he played 28 minutes against Colorado. For a large man who averaged less than 15 minutes a game the rest of the season, this weekend will be a true test of how far he has progressed with his endurance.

The bench play for the Longhorns was also incredibly encouraging. With point guard Dogus Balbay struggling for a second straight game, Coach Rick Barnes looked to Varez Ward for some quality minutes in the backcourt. Instead of just hanging on to the ball, Ward attacked the basket for three buckets, and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the line. For a Texas team that has been searching for an answer to its backcourt woes all season long, this sudden flash of brilliance from Ward is a reassuring thing heading into the Big Dance.

Clint Chapman also gave some solid minutes from the bench, hustling for some early buckets on tip ins and awkward moves near the rim. While he was only on the floor for eight minutes, he managed nine points and sunk three free throws on only five attempts. That last stat is notable only because Chapman has been absolutely abysmal all season long at the charity stripe, having made just three other free throws all season for a pitiful 15.7% success rate at the line. I still wouldn’t want to see him at the line in crunch time (or really any time), but it’s nice to see him getting some kind treatment from the iron for once.

The win sets up a semifinal with the Baylor Bears, a team that is suddenly playing inspired basketball and would want nothing more than to end their seemingly interminable string of futility against the Longhorns. A game preview for that one will be headed your way within the hour.

When Texas and Colorado played just three weeks ago in Boulder, Dexter Pittman was a non-factor. The big man played awful defense in the post, and as a result Coach Rick Barnes let him sit on the bench for most of the game. Pittman saw the floor for just 12 minutes in the Coors Event Center, and dropped in only four points.

Fast-forward to yesterday, and it’s a different story. Dex was absolutely unstoppable, and the Buffaloes looked completely lost when it came to defending the big man. Pittman threw down a multitude of rim-rocking dunks en route to a 26-point performance, and even added a pair of assists when Colorado tried to double down on him in the blocks.

Defensively, the Longhorns also made huge strides from their initial meeting with the Buffaloes, relying mostly on a zone look in this contest. Texas cut their fouls from 24 in the February 14th game to just 14 in yesterday’s win, which in turn resulted in 10 less free throw attempts for Colorado. It’s a good thing, too — the Buffs were nearly perfect from the line in this game, missing just one of their 19 attempts.

Without the bevy of free throw attempts to buoy his scoring, super soph Cory Higgins had only five points for Colorado after dropping 34 in the first game between these two teams. In the previous match-up, Higgins had nine from the charity stripe, while he only had four attempts from the line in this one.

The only troubling aspect for Texas in this one was the backcourt play. While they did a great job working the ball inside, where Texas enjoyed a 38-20 scoring advantage, the guards seemed just a bit… off. Dogus Balbay reverted to his early-season play at random points, playing a bit out of control and trying to force the issue. His bi-polar ballhandling only resulted in one turnover, but there were a handful of close calls. The most redemptive part of Balbay’s game was a pair of clutch defensive rebounds, something the Longhorns needed in their zone set.

In addition, Justin Mason and A.J. Abrams sometimes played a bit too actively on the defensive end, resulting in five fouls for the pair. But even in those instances where they overplayed passing lanes, the highly effective team defense of Texas was able to communicate, recover, and reset. Although it was just a game against the league’s worst team, it is a very reassuring sign to only have these minor things as issues we can nitpick.

On the injury front, Texas came out of this one in fairly good shape. Both Pittman and Gary Johnson had some ankle issues during the game, but both continued to play and were effective. Johnson’s injury was the most concerning, as he missed action in three straight games near the end of the year. But since the small forward was back on the court just minutes later, it seems that he will still be able to play a key role as the tournament continues.

The win advances the Longhorns to the quarterfinal round, where they will have a re-match with Kansas State. The Wildcats previously defeated Texas in an overtime contest at the Erwin Center on January 31st.