The Texas Longhorns entered Saturday’s game with the Iowa State Cyclones boasting the nation’s fifth-most efficient defense. On the perimeter, the Texas D was the stingiest in the country, holding opponents to 23.2% shooting behind the arc.

With the stifling Longhorn defense facing an efficient, sharpshooting Iowa State team, something had to give. Unfortunately for the burnt-orange faithful, it was the Cyclones who imposed their will on Saturday afternoon, as Iowa State cruised to an 82-62 win in front of 14,376 at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones posted an incredible 1.302 points per possession in the win, powered by an impressive 42.3% mark from behind the arc. Iowa State kept Texas safely out of reach for most of the game, holding a lead that often hovered around the double-digit mark. The Longhorns repeatedly chipped away at the lead in the second half, but could never get closer than five points. Iowa State ended the game on a 17-4 run over the last seven-plus minutes, sending the Longhorns to their first 0-3 start in conference play since the Tom Penders era.

What looked good

Jonathan Holmes had another solid performance for Texas, emerging as a team leader as fellow sophomore Sheldon McClellan continues to cool his heels in Rick Barnes‘ doghouse. With McClellan on the floor for a grand total of 59 seconds against Iowa State, Holmes led the team with 15 points.

Texas fed Holmes immediately, as he scored the team’s first hoop on a drive from the baseline. He also added a nice finish a few minutes later on a quick spin move from the block. In the second half, Jonathan drove strong to his left and used a jump stop to get to the rim, finishing as the crowd howled for a travel.

Holmes added a triple on a good shot in rhythm, further underscoring the fact that he could develop into a legitimate stretch four. When the sophomore shows any hesitation before his three-point attempts, he tends to miss in an ugly fashion. As he develops more confidence and takes the open long-range looks without thinking about them, that part of his game should improve and force defenders to follow him to the perimeter.

Freshman Demarcus Holland saw his minutes increase with McClellan riding the bench, and he turned in a generally positive performance. Although Iowa State’s Tyrus McGee poured in 15 from the bench, Holland was the Longhorn defender who had the most success limiting McGee’s damage in halfcourt sets. The freshman guard also showed off his quick hands, poking a few balls free from the Cyclone guards. While none of those plays resulted in steals, that defensive pressure will certainly frustrate Big 12 opponents.

On the offensive end, Demarcus easily had his best game of the season. Although he only scored six points in 25 minutes, Holland showed off a nice driving ability on one slashing layup from the left wing, and he used his dribble penetration to set up teammates on four assists. Texas repeatedly worked to free Holland up with screens off the ball, running him through two and three different picks on some sets.

The Longhorns desperately need another shooter to compliment Julien Lewis, and if McClellan is not going to be able to shoulder that load, the possible emergence of Holland is a much-needed development. He was responsible for a pair of turnovers when he dribbled out of control into a double team and threw an interior pass through Holmes’ legs, but the overall performance was encouraging for a guy who was averaging just 12.6 minutes coming into the game.

Julien Lewis also chipped in 15 points for Texas, but had a highly inefficient performance. His scoring came on 40% shooting from the field, including just 20% from behind the arc. Lewis elevated well on his jumpers, but was lacking accuracy until he heated up late in the game.

What needed work

Unfortunately, Lewis also coughed it up four times, including a pair of frustrating, unforced errors. On one possession, he was whistled for a five second call as he simply watched the screening and cutters inside the arc. Late in the game, he rolled the ball off of his foot as Chris Babb defended him on the baseline.

Those turnovers were representative of the kind of frustrating afternoon Texas had at Hilton. Every time the Longhorns tried to make a run to make a serious dent in the Iowa State lead, turnovers or questionable shot selection stifled the momentum. With Texas down just six in the second half, Lewis was called for a carry as Texas rushed up the court. Late in the game, he threw a pass behind Ioannis Papapetrou in transition when the Horns were down by seven.

In the first half, the Texas turnovers were just as painful. Holmes dropped a pass off his foot, Papapetrou couldn’t handle a heater from Lewis as he crashed in from the corner, and the team was called for a 10-second violation against backcourt pressure from Iowa State. Although the Longhorns posted a turnover percentage of 17.5%, much better than their season average, the miscues were either unforced or came at the worst possible times.

In addition, the Texas turnovers exposed some very bad transition defense. The Cyclones repeatedly beat the Longhorns down the court, and spread the floor very well. Texas players failed to find shooters as they ran back on defense, and Iowa State knocked down multiple transition threes as a result. On the afternoon, the Cyclones scored a whopping 23 points off of Texas miscues.

The transition scoring wasn’t limited to possessions after a turnover. The Longhorns also failed to get back after missed shots, allowing open threes or easy buckets at the rim. In one instance midway through the first half, Javan Felix drew the wrath of Coach Barnes when he failed to stop the ball after missing a fadeaway jumper. Will Clyburn easily put the small guard on his hip and hit a trailing Percy Gibson in the lane for two.

Texas also had a very difficult time closing out on the Iowa State shooters, although much credit has to be given to the Cyclones for crisp ball movement and hustle plays. A few of the wide-open threes came after Iowa State won a loose ball or long rebound and the Texas defense was caught scrambling. On many of the others, the Cyclones exploited one mistake by a defender and moved the ball quickly to get the Horns rotating and chasing the play.

On the offensive end, the Texas struggles continued in this game. Papapetrou had a few nice plays and knocked down a pair of triples, but at times forced things out of the flow of the offense. In the first half, a few of his three-point attempts came early in the shot clock as he tried to quickly respond to an ISU trey. On the afternoon, Papapetrou sank just 36% of his looks. Texas clearly needs more scorers, and Papi has the ability to boost the offense, but he has to be smarter with his shot selection.

Jaylen Bond also had a mixed performance on Saturday afternoon. He did some excellent work on the glass early, but struggled to put the ball in the basket. Bond showed the ability to drive from the perimeter, but the end result was often an ugly, contested shot in the lane. If Jaylen can actually use that newfound driving ability and convert some short jumpers, the Longhorns suddenly have another offensive option. On the other hand, if those drives end in the kind of looks he threw up on Saturday, that will simply waste possessions.

Texas also had trouble scoring inside on second and third chances, despite the size advantage. The Longhorns reclaimed 36.8% of their missed shots, a very strong showing against an Iowa State team that was ranked in the Top 20 for defensive rebounding. However, Texas missed numerous tip-ins and putbacks, failing to turn those extended possessions into points. With an offense that struggles to score in halfcourt sets, Texas has to start converting those offensive boards into easy buckets.

Up next: vs. Kansas (14-1 overall, 2-0 Big 12); Saturday, 1 P.M. CT

In front of a raucous crowd of nearly 15,000, the young Texas Longhorns faced their first true road test of the season in East Lansing yesterday afternoon. While they didn’t escape the Breslin Center with an improbable win, the team responded to adversity and battled down to the final minutes in a game that was much tighter than the final score indicated.

The Horns came out of the gate very shaky, hitting just one of their first nine shots, with the make coming on a simple stickback by Jonathan Holmes. Texas turned it over five times in the team’s first ten possessions, giving fans flashbacks to the disastrous start against Georgetown in New York. After eight minutes of play, the Horns had already fallen behind 12-4 and had gone more than seven minutes without a field goal.

This time, the Longhorns didn’t wither under the pressure. The team suddenly heated up from long range and charged into the lead, while Sheldon McClellan woke up late in the half against a Michigan State defense that was keyed in on denying him the ball. He fought through tight defense, earning six free throw attempts as the half wound down, all of which he converted.

The one player Texas couldn’t stop in the first half was Derrick Nix, who had half of his team’s 28 points when they headed to the locker room. He put the Longhorn bigs in foul trouble early, sending Holmes and Cameron Ridley to the bench for extended periods of time. Michigan State continued to feed the big man in the second half, and the rotating Longhorn frontcourt was eaten alive. Nix finished with a career day, scoring 25 points to go with 11 boards. Eleven of his points came at the line, as he hit 84.6% of his free throws, well above his career average of 51%.

With Nix dominating and the Spartans putting on a run, the Longhorns found themselves down by as many as 10 points. Once again, they relied on stout defense down the stretch to hold the Spartans in check while they slowly mounted a comeback. Texas didn’t allow an offensive rebound and forced three turnovers during a seven-minute stretch where they clawed back to within two points of Michigan State. In the end, an inability to score in the clutch allowed the Spartans to slowly pull away over the final two minutes.

What looked good

Once again, the Longhorns were active in setting screens for their shooters, who had to fight through tight defensive pressure on every cut and curl. Texas has been much more active on the offensive end in their last four games, looking like a completely different team than the one that stood around on the court in the Maui Invitational. Javan Felix logged 11 assists on the afternoon, hitting the shooters at the right time for midrange jumpers.

Julien Lewis was the leading scorer for Texas, putting up 16 points for the game. Ten of his points came in the second half, where he repeatedly knocked down tough, contested jumpers in the lane. He was the only Longhorn who could be counted on to consistently score as the game wound down, and his buckets kept Texas in it until the final minutes.

Lewis is much more reliable this season, thanks to his new role as a catch-and-shoot guy. Last year, he often tried to create his own looks, and especially struggled if he couldn’t get going early. Now, Felix and the Horns are working hard to get Lewis open, and his quick release means he doesn’t need much space. The tight defense he is drawing is also opening up opponents to the shot fake and drive. Julien has done this on a few occasions this year, but with future opponents likely to throw additional pressure at him, he’ll have to mix it in even more.

The most important thing for these young Horns to take from this game was the experience. They are learning to respond to adversity and different players are trying to shoulder the load down the stretch. Connor Lammert had a huge bucket in the final minutes, although it appeared to be released after the shot clock had expired. Jonathan Holmes worked hard inside during the comeback push, but had a key hoop wiped out by a controversial charge. Lewis was a workhorse, and even Ioannis Papapetrou added a key three-point play and snagged timely defensive rebounds.

The Longhorns came up short in close games time after time last season, with most of their final possessions turning into an adventure. Texas’ primary option was clearly J’Covan Brown, and many times the late-game sets were simply him clearing out and trying to drive on an isolated defender. Opponents knew that and help defense was quick to respond.

This year, there are more players who are willing to step up and the team has more options. Unfortunately, the Longhorns are still not shooting the ball consistently, so those opportunities are not being converted. Only time will tell if this leads to a repeat of last year’s close-game frustrations, or if some of the youngsters will emerge as heroes and pull out a few tight victories.

What needed work

The player that most observers expected to take over Brown’s go-to role was sophomore Sheldon McClellan. Opponents have put a lot of energy into denying him the ball and making Texas have to work very hard to free him up. It’s been a struggle for Sheldon to get going in most games this year, as he often seems frustrated by the suffocating defense.

While he fought through the pressure late in the first half and earned some trips to the line, he was forcing things from the field all game long. He knocked down only one jumper on the afternoon, a three-pointer during Texas’ first-half run. His other two buckets came on drives to the rim, and he finished with an ugly 3-for-10 line. Most importantly, he missed two technical free throws with Texas down by one in the second half, energizing the crowd and fueling a nine-point run that gave Michigan State its largest lead of the game. He pressed the rest of the way, forcing terrible, off-balance looks.

Sheldon is drawing the bulk of the defensive attention, and it is going to be that way all season long. He has to stop backing down from the challenge and continue to fight for his looks, even when blanketed by top defenders. McClellan also has to start taking the ball to the rack. With defenders right on him as he catches the ball, almost all of his shots are contested. Shot fakes and head fakes will get the defense off balance and open up driving opportunities. Even if help shuts off those lanes, it forces opponents to rotate and will open up looks for his teammates.

Felix also forced things at time, taking some of the luster off of his 11-assist performance. The Texas bigs certainly had major issues handling passes in this game, but sometimes the blame rested on the point guard. Late in the game, Lammert bobbled a pass in the middle of the lane, but Felix had thrown it low and right into the middle of a gaggle of Spartan defenders. Also in the second half, Felix zipped an inbounds pass above the head of Prince Ibeh, which the big man tipped out of bounds. Prince often has trouble handling even easy passes, so a high heater only highlighted that weakness.

Javan also failed to make layups once he got to the rim, a problem that has been a team-wide affair in recent weeks. Felix missed a pair of layups after shaking the defense, and he also lost the ball on the way up in the final possession of the first half. Papapetrou also failed to convert his own open look at the rim after deftly slipping through the Spartan D.

The missed layup was the least of the problems for Papi on Saturday afternoon, however. He once again left a ton of points at the line, making just four of his nine free throw attempts. The Longhorns missed five other free throws, hitting only 58.3% at the stripe. A miss by Lammert also came on the front end of a one-and-one in the second half, essentially costing the team a possible two points. In a game that was close until the final minutes and in which the Spartans made nearly 77% of their free throws, the charity stripe played a huge role.

Even with that many points left at the line, the biggest problem for Texas came in defending the post. Nix and sixth man Adreian Payne had their way with the Longhorn bigs throughout the game, scoring against whoever Texas threw out there. They piled up the fouls on the Texas bigs, limiting both Ridley and Holmes to less than 20 minutes.

Ibeh was the only player to find much success against Nix, blocking two shots in consecutive second-half possessions. Nix was whistled for a technical after the second block as he argued for a foul, but Ibeh could have easily earned his own T for staring down the big man as he sat on the floor. When fighting hard for a win on the road, Ibeh’s preening after a good play could have been disastrous. He has to show some maturity and restraint in the future.

The lack of double teams on Nix was mystifying, as the Spartans had struggled with that at times this year. Michigan State players often forgot to help their big man, abandoning him against the pressure when he was doubled in previous games. In addition, the Spartans’ lack of a consistent midrange game and outside shooting meant that they likely would have struggled to beat Texas with the jumper. Instead, the Longhorns waited to offer post help until after Nix had beat the primary defender, resulting in easy buckets and needless fouls.

If one thing can be taken from the Texas struggles against Nix and Payne, it’s that the post players were forced to defend one-on-one. Against a team like Baylor that has length all over the court, doubling would be much less effective. If the Longhorn frontcourt can learn from their mistakes against MSU, perhaps it will pay off against some of the bigger teams in the Big 12.

Texas will also need to lock down the defensive glass in key situations as they move into conference play. On the whole, the Longhorns did an excellent job closing out defensive possessions with rebounds, limiting the Spartans to an offensive rebounding mark of 31%. The Longhorns performed even better in that category than UConn, Kansas, and Miami did against the Spartans, holding them well below their season average of 37.4%. However, the offensive boards that Michigan State did manage to control often resulted in second chance points. One was a big bucket at the end of the first half, and a clutch three by Keith Appling during Michigan State’s second-half push came after the Spartans reclaimed one of their missed free throws.

Texas has done good work on the defensive glass this season, but has struggled when the game is on the line. An inability to box out late in the UCLA game helped fuel that Bruin comeback, and the second chance points given to Michigan State were crippling. The Longhorns have to maintain their focus and close out defensive possessions with strong rebounds when the pressure is highest.

Finally, it must be noted that once again the turnover bug cost Texas in a big way. Although the Longhorns settled down for a long stretch of the first half, the five early turnovers killed their offense for nearly eight minutes. The team wasted 26.1% of their total possessions with miscues, the worst ball-control performance since the Georgetown game, and the third-worst of the season. It’s been said time and again, but for an offense that already struggles to score points, simply throwing away possessions is a recipe for failure.

Up next: vs. Rice (3-8); Saturday, 1 P.M.

Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns knew they needed to control the basketball against an athletic, talented Georgetown team at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. “We talked over and over about turning the ball over,” Barnes told reporters after the game.

Those talks didn’t seem to have much effect, however, as Julien Lewis coughed it up on the very first possession. It was the third straight game in which Texas turned it over on their first trip down the court, and it was one of six miscues the Longhorns would log in the first four minutes of the game.

That disastrous opening to the game set the tone for the entire night, as Texas turned it over 22 times, wasting 32% of their possessions. It marked the third time this season the Longhorns posted a turnover percentage of 32% or more, and it raised their season mark to 28.3%, seventh worst out of 347 Division I teams.

The problems started at the top, with point guard Javan Felix having one of the worst games of his young career. The freshman turned it over five times while logging just three assists, and he was a hideous 1-of-9 from the field. Although Felix was able to drive the lane against the Georgetown defense, he missed numerous shots, had others blocked, and had no touch on his preferred weapon of choice, the floater.

The poor shooting was a team-wide epidemic, with the Longhorns making just 29.2% of their shots on the night. Although Georgetown made Texas work for their looks, there were far too many missed opportunities when the Horns did manage to get the ball to the rim. Texas missed 13 shots that were classified as layups on the play-by-play, while Cameron Ridley actually came up short on an embarrassing dunk attempt.

It’s certainly worth noting that Georgetown has length up and down the lineup to a degree that Texas had not yet faced. The Hoyas started four players at least 6’8″ tall, although big man Mikael Hopkins only ended up playing nine minutes on the night.

While that kind of height and length can make it incredibly difficult to score inside or to get off good outside looks against quick closeouts, the Longhorns will soon face many more teams with similar makeups. North Carolina, Baylor, and Kansas all have rosters loaded with athleticism and length, and the Longhorns will face the latter two teams twice each. If Texas can’t figure out a way to make their opportunities count when they get to the rim, the rest of the season is going to be a long, painful journey.

What makes the team’s woes in the paint even more worrisome is that the Longhorns are also not taking advantage at the free-throw line. Ridley made just three of his nine attempts at the charity stripe, dragging the team’s percentage down to 52.4% for the game. It was certainly productive and a sign of progress that the big man earned so many touches in the paint against Georgetown, but he can easily be rendered useless when opponents can simply hack him to prevent scoring. With his season free-throw mark now under 40%, there’s no reason why any opponent should ever give Ridley an easy layup or dunk.

This game also underscored the problems this team will face if Sheldon McClellan is going to be the only player able to create his own looks. Felix is shooting just 34% on the season, including a horrendous 7.7% mark behind the arc. Defenses don’t have to respect his shot and can easily sag off to take away his driving threat. Julien Lewis has proven to be a catch-and-shoot guy, so he’s not one that can be counted on to penetrate and force the defense to react.

At this point, all the eggs are in the Kabongo basket, as the team waits to learn the fate of their sophomore point guard. Although he struggled at times to capitalize on his drives as a freshman, even the mere possibility that he has improved in that regard is better than the options on the table with the current roster.

Texas is also anxiously awaiting the return of Jaylen Bond, a forward who plays much bigger and tougher than his size. The Hoyas repeatedly beat Texas to 50-50 balls in last night’s game, and even ripped a rebound right out of the arms of Jonathan Holmes. If the Longhorns are going to be a poor-shooting team this season, they simply have to show some toughness on the boards. Being held to 28.9% on the offensive glass isn’t going to cut it against the upcoming schedule, so Bond’s return cannot come a minute too soon.

Texas has to bounce back quickly, as a showdown with UCLA awaits on Saturday in Houston. Although the Bruins are under-performing to a shocking degree this season, the Longhorns will still face an uphill battle to earn the win. If they continue to repeat the same mistakes and show the same lack of focus that they have displayed during the first four weeks of the season, this could be the start of a very long December.

Up next: vs. UCLA (5-3), in Houston; Saturday, 4:15 P.M. CT

The Texas Longhorns used a barrage of three-pointers and another stout defensive performance to dispatch UT-Arlington at the Erwin Center on Saturday afternoon, pushing their winning streak to three games as they head into a daunting week of neutral-site games. Although the final margin of victory was only 16 points, the game was much more one-sided, with Texas holding a lead as large as 28 points just eight minutes after halftime.

What looked good

Texas put forth its second-best offensive performance of the season, and its third-best effort on the defensive end. The Longhorns managed exactly one point per possession and an eFG of 57.8% against a UTA defense that was top-five nationally in eFG coming into the game. Julien Lewis led the way for Texas with 6-of-10 shooting from behind the arc, part of the team’s impressive 13-for-26 day from long range.

For the Longhorns, the success from three-point range is a welcome change. Last season’s team was the worst three-point shooting Texas squad in 13 years, with the five returning members of that team combining to hit just 30.7% of their threes in 2011-12. The beginning of this year wasn’t much better, as the Longhorns managed just an ugly 21.5% mark behind the arc in their first four games. Their fortunes have turned during the three-game winning streak, however, as the Horns have hit 26 threes for a success rate of more than 44%. If Lewis, Sheldon McClellan, and Ioannis Papapetrou can continue to knock down the triples, the Texas offense will actually be multi-dimensional and much tougher to defend.

A big reason why the Longhorns are finding more success behind the arc is because they are working hard to get open looks. Texas is setting numerous screens for their shooters as they run baseline cuts, and using downscreens to open up McClellan and Lewis on flares to the perimeter. While Sheldon is a player who can create good looks for himself with the dribble, Lewis has much better form and is much more accurate when he is shooting off the catch.

The three-point party also opened up the driving lanes for Texas, particularly on the baseline. With the Mavericks closing out hard on the perimeter, the Longhorns were able to put the ball on the floor and drive into the heart of the defense. Karol Gruszecki was the unfortunate victim of two nice baseline drives by McClellan in the first half, as he bit hard on the shot fake while rushing out to the perimeter.

Greek import Ioannis Papapetrou joined McClellan and Lewis in the double-digit scoring club, despite spending the first nine minutes of the game on the bench. Like Lewis and McClellan, Papi had an excellent game from long range, knocking down three of his four long-range attempts. He also put the ball on the floor for a nice drive from the corner, and earned 10 trips to the line as a result of his slashing efforts. Unfortunately, Papapetrou made just four of his free throws, dropping his free-throw mark to 54.2% on the year. For a guy with a nice jumper, the struggles from the line are baffling. If Papi is going to continue to drive to the bucket, he’s going to have to capitalize on the numerous free throw opportunities he will be earning.

Texas also had a solid performance from freshman Cameron Ridley, who once again impacted the game on both ends. He put up six points on 3-for-5 shooting, making strong, confident moves with the ball in the post. He also notched another four blocked shots and altered a handful of others, pushing his block percentage to 16.3% on the year. While it’s still very early, that number puts Cam in the top ten nationally in that category.

Ridley wasn’t the only one providing solid post defense, as Jonathan Holmes and Connor Lammert both did nice work with help D to cut off baseline drives by UTA. Holmes was unable to make too big of an impact, however, as he battled foul trouble all game long and earned the DQ after only 24 minutes on the court.

Javan Felix once again had a rough start, but was able to bounce back for a very impressive outing. Before the first media timeout, Felix had already thrown two bad passes that resulted in turnovers, and he was sent to the bench at the 15:20 mark. Demarcus Holland took over point guard duties for nearly five minutes before Felix returned, but the New Orleans native did not log a single turnover after that point. He also tallied nine assists for the game, consistently hitting the open shooters on time and in rhythm as they came free beyond the arc.

What needed work

Although Texas was able to build a lead of nearly 30 points in this game, their effort waned late in the game. UTA abused the Longhorns on the glass in the second half and took advantage of turnovers to quickly slice into the lead. For the game, the Mavs grabbed 44.4% of their offensive rebounding opportunities, their second-best performance of the season, and the best one posted by a Longhorn opponent this year.

This problem was an unhappy confluence of two recurring issues for Texas this season. This young squad has done a surprisingly poor job of securing defensive rebounds against smaller opponents, and the team has often lost focus for long stretches. Against Sam Houston State and UT-Arlington, losing focus late in a blowout only affected the margin of victory. But, these lapses in effort are often leading to stagnant offensive sets, which in turn leads to long scoring droughts.

Against Chaminade, the Longhorns didn’t even look like they cared about the game, and their offensive performance reflected that attitude. While fans are hopeful that Texas won’t ever again completely check out for an entire game, even a few possessions of lackluster play could mean disaster for this team. The margin for error looks to be very slim with the current roster, especially considering the buzz-saw of a non-conference schedule that awaits in the next three weeks. The Longhorns can’t afford to take plays off, so they have to take advantage of the opportunity to establish that mindset in these lower-risk games.

Up next: vs. Georgetown (5-1) at Madison Square Garden; Tuesday , 6 P.M. CT

After a harrowing week of basketball on the island of Maui, the Texas Longhorns returned to mainland action on Tuesday night, hoping for a quick recovery against Sam Houston State. Led by a stifling defensive performance, the Longhorns overcame 19 turnovers and long field goal droughts to cruise to a 28-point win.

Texas limited the Bearkats to only 0.506 points per possession on the night, while allowing just 21% shooting from the field. The Longhorns used excellent team defense and mixed in a variety of looks and lineup combinations to keep Sam Houston State frustrated throughout. That defensive dominance was never more apparent than in a stretch of eight-plus minutes, spanning both halves, in which the Bearkats managed just one field goal.

Texas stifled their opponents with sound man defense in the first half, hedging hard on ball screens while using a larger lineup. Facing a four-out, one-in look from the smaller Bearkats, Coach Rick Barnes elected to go with a smaller lineup of his own during the first half and the Longhorns began switching screens. In the second half, big man Cameron Ridley saw much more action as the Longhorns shifted into a zone defense that was just as effective.

One of the most impressive players on the defensive end was freshman Demarcus Holland, who earned his first career start. In his 26 minutes on the court, only four points were scored by players he was guarding.

The first bucket came as Sam Houston State rushed down the court and Holland couldn’t find his man, Paul Baxter, who dribbled through traffic before drilling a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line. The other basket came when the 6’2″ Holland was isolated on the block against 6’7″ Erik Williams. Even then, Holland played solid belly-up defense and kept his arms straight up, forcing Williams to take a hook shot as he stepped across the lane.

Demarcus seemed to be making the little plays all night long. In one instance, he bailed out Ioannis Papapetrou, who allowed James Thomas past him on a drive from the wing. Holland swiped at the ball, forcing Thomas to bobble it and ultimately travel along the baseline. Later in the game, Papi returned the favor for his teammate, standing tall to get a blocked shot after Holland was hung up on a screen at the free throw line. Holland also snagged five defensive rebounds, many of them coming as he sagged off to help from the weak side.

Offensively, Demarcus did not perform nearly as well. He missed one three-point attempt and had another one blocked, and he missed his two other shots on the night. He did score five points from the line, earning four of his seven free throw attempts by hustling for loose balls and rebounds. However, Holland was tagged with two turnovers for the game, one coming on an ugly pass at the end of the first half and the other coming when he simply held the ball in front of the aggressive Darius Gatson well behind the arc.

Those turnovers were once again a problem for the entire team, with the Longhorns losing it on 26% of their possessions. That number is ugly on its own merits, but when you consider that 26% is actually an improvement from the last game against Mississippi State, the scope of the problem becomes more overwhelming.

The most frustrating aspect is that many of the Texas turnovers happen because of a lack of awareness by players off the ball, while quite a few others come from making lazy passes. Javan Felix turned it over on a five-second call where he stood at least five feet behind the arc, while the rest of his team waited idly around the lane. Texas also lost one on a five-second call on an inbounds play where the Bearkats doubled to deny the pass, while no other Longhorns came back to help.

When starting the offense, passes between the two guards at the top of the key are far too often deflected or nearly stolen. This has been a problem all season long, and it was once again an issue against the Bearkats. Papapetrou has had numerous soft passes stolen as he gives the ball back to Felix, while Javan has given it away on simple passes to the wings. In this game, Felix was responsible for five turnovers, and could have had a sixth if the Bearkats had held on to one of his telegraphed passes to Holland on the wing.

Another recurring issue for the Longhorns is poor decision-making in the transition game. Texas has the athletes to get out and run, and with an offense that is struggling in half-court sets, easy transition opportunities cannot be wasted. Sheldon McClellan blew two of those chances in this game, while Holland spoiled another. McClellan barreled ahead in a two-on-three situation, trying to sidestep a charge before missing his layup. Later in the game, he had it poked away from behind as he sized up a one-on-one move. No team wants to waste their fast breaks, but an offense as inefficient as Texas’ certainly cannot afford to do so.

Although McClellan wasted those two opportunities, he did manage to lead the team with 16 points. Unfortunately, that came on 4-of-13 shooting, with six of those misses coming from inside the arc. Texas has had a lot of success finding Sheldon on baseline inbounds plays this season, and the same was true in this game. Using a different set from the one they repeatedly abused Mississippi State with, the Longhorns hit McClellan for a wide-open three on one baseline inbounds, one of the two triples he hit on the night.

McClellan came off the bench for the third consecutive game, as Coach Barnes continued to send the sophomore a message about effort, particularly on the defensive end. He ended up playing 28 minutes and contributing to the solid team D, although he did lose sharpshooter Will Bond in transition on one play, allowing him to hit his only three of the game.

In addition to freeing up McClellan on inbounds passes, Texas also did a good job isolating Jonathan Holmes on the blocks and finding him for easy buckets. While the young Longhorns are still struggling to get the ball into the post, Holmes was the recipient of two nice feeds for points in the paint. He also added a three-point bucket and a nice stickback on an offensive rebound that he grabbed despite being out of position.

Unfortunately, those issues with hitting the post players have cost Texas quite a few points this season. Many post feeds have been thrown at bad angles or zipped past the bigs far too quickly. Other times, the Longhorn guards and wings have just been completely oblivious to a wide-open teammate who has worked hard to get to the right spot on the floor. While the turnover problems are clearly the biggest issue right now for Texas, this certainly must also be high on the priority list for the coaching staff.

The Longhorn coaches will also be concerned by the team’s performance on the glass, as once again Texas could not exploit a significant size advantage. The Horns grabbed only 22.6% of their offensive rebounding opportunities, which was a huge reason why they could only manage a dismal 0.88 points per possession. Fortunately, it is clear that rebounding was a big talking point at halftime, and that the team responded to that message. The Bearkats held a 21-18 edge on the glass at half, but Texas turned the tables after the break, outrebounding Sam Houston State by a 29-14 count in the second twenty minutes.

The Longhorns also had a nice second-half effort from Julien Lewis, who picked up two early fouls and was limited to just 19 minutes for the game. He came out of the locker room and made an aggressive drive to earn two quick free throws in the second half, then followed it up with a nice backcut for a reverse layup and the foul. He also made a strong baseline drive later in the half to draw the defense and free up Ridley on the block, and he earned eight trips to the line with his constant dribble penetration.

Prince Ibeh also made a nice contribution in his limited minutes. Once again, he impacted plays inside by altering shots and keeping rebounding opportunities alive for teammates by tipping balls that were just out of his reach. More important, however, were the two strong, quick moves he made after receiving feeds in the post. After looking panicked with the ball in Maui, where he repeatedly allowed defenses to collapse on him as he froze up, seeing Ibeh exhibit some confidence is a welcome change for Texas fans.

With one more tune-up awaiting on Saturday before daunting games against Georgetown and UCLA, the Longhorns have to hope for even more improvement throughout this week of practice. Although shots weren’t falling for long stretches of the game, there were quite a few possessions where the Longhorns made nice, hard cuts and set solid screens to get the offense going. Although the effort waned throughout the game, it’s clear that some steps are being made in the right direction. Texas fans can only hope that those improvements both continue and accelerate in the coming days.

Up next: vs. UT-Arlington; 3 P.M. CT, Saturday