Heading into Saturday night’s match-up against Oklahoma State, the Texas Longhorns had never lost a home conference opener since the arrival of Rick Barnes on the 40 Acres, boasting a perfect 13-0 mark in those games. Of course, the Longhorns had also never struggled to a 30% shooting percentage in any of those games, either. Texas earned that ignominious distinction on Saturday night against Oklahoma State, but still managed to keep their perfect record intact, knocking off the Cowboys by a 58-49 count.

Texas missed its first eight shots from the field, and headed to the locker room having made just 21.2% of its shots. J’Covan Brown was a ghost offensively in the first half, as the ankle injury he suffered against Iowa State on Wednesday night was clearly bothering him. Despite that, the Longhorns were able to keep pace with the Cowboys thanks to excellent defensive rebounding and a stingy defense that constantly forced Oklahoma State into mistakes.

What looked good

Although Brown was hobbled by the ankle injury and finished with just six points, his performance was huge. In the first half, he came up with a basket-saving block after losing his man on a backdoor cut. Minutes later, he stripped the ball right out of Markel Brown‘s hands just after the Cowboy had secured a defensive rebound. Those kinds of heady, hustle plays defined Brown’s night.

Still noticeably limping throughout the game, Brown didn’t force anything. He attempted just five shots from the field, and all but one were good looks. His first bucket of the game didn’t come until 31 minutes into it, but it was a clutch three that put the Longhorns ahead with 8:41 to play. J’Covan found space on the wings in transition and spotted up for a nice feed by Myck Kabongo.

Jaylen Bond also made a big difference without piling up the points. He intercepted two Oklahoma State passes, and swiped another ball to notch a career-high with three steals. As always, he was tenacious on the glass, leading the Longhorns with nine rebounds in his 22 minutes. His defensive rebounding mark for the season climbed to 21.6%, putting him just outside the top 100 nationally.

Another freshman who worked hard on the glass was Jonathan Holmes, who grabbed only four rebounds off of the bench, but turned every single one of them into points. All of his boards came on the offensive glass, and he went up strong after each one, logging two buckets and drawing two fouls. All told, those four offensive rebounds turned into seven key points for the Longhorns.

The frontcourt didn’t just shine on the glass, as Alexis Wangmene was pretty much the only Longhorn who could make a shot in the early going. He knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line, and had an excellent run in transition for an old-fashioned three-point play. Although the senior was limited to just 14 minutes, his early work on the offensive end kept the Longhorns from getting into a deep hole in the first half.

The other thing that kept Texas from getting too far behind was stifling defense that forced 21 Oklahoma State turnovers. The Cowboys coughed it up on 31.8% of their possessions, by far their worst performance of the season. Texas forced travels, drew charges, and frequently jumped the passing lanes, constantly frustrating the visiting Pokes.

The Longhorns also kept Oklahoma State from getting too many offensive rebounds, allowing the Cowboys to reclaim just 28.1% of their shots. The one troubling thing in this department was that when the Horns did give up the board, it often led to very easy putbacks or nasty dunks by Michael Cobbins.

The big story of the game, however, was the solid showing by Kabongo. The freshman has certainly had his growing pains this season, and the last few weeks have been especially hard. Against the Cowboys, he made some great passes and finished with six assists against just one turnover. Had the Longhorns actually been knocking down shots, Kabongo likely would have even cracked double-digits in assists.

Where he did crack that double-digit barrier was points, as Kabongo’s aggressive play led to twelve trips to the line and a final total of 15 points. Myck has had trouble attacking inside in recent games, so it was certainly a confidence-booster for him to find success against Oklahoma State. There’s no doubt that these next three opponents will make things a little tougher for the freshman guard, but last night was a long-awaited step in the right direction.

What needed work

The obvious problem for Texas on Saturday night was an inability to knock down shots. The good thing is that the Longhorns were actually getting pretty good looks, even without a healthy Brown available to create with penetration. On a typical night, many of those shots would go down for Texas, so it was huge for the Longhorns to grind out a victory despite the ice-cold shooting.

Sheldon McClellan and Julien Lewis each had a second-consecutive rough outing, combining to go just 6-for-26 from the field. Against Iowa State, the pair was 4-of-19, giving them a field goal percentage of only 22.2% in their last two games. With Brown still injured and his effectiveness in question for Wednesday night’s game, the Longhorns desperately need these two freshmen to bounce back quickly.

Texas also left quite a few points at the free throw line, something which fortunately did not come back to haunt them in a close game. The Longhorns made just 65.5% of their free throws, well off the team’s season average of 71.5%. Bond missed both of his free throws, while Kabongo managed to sink just 67% of his attempts at the line. The Horns also lost a potential point when one of Wangmene’s foul shots was taken away thanks to a lane violation by Brown.

All things considered, the Longhorns were fortunate to earn a win. On a night where the team would shoot just 30% and get only six points and 26 minutes from J’Covan Brown, a victory would seem like a pipe dream. But the resolve shown by this young team — even against a scuttling Oklahoma State squad — is a great building block for the future. The Longhorns defended well, worked hard on the glass, and finally proved to themselves that they could win when things got tough.

Up next: vs. Texas A&M (9-5 overall, 0-2 Big 12); Wednesday, 8 P.M. CT

The NCAA tournament hopes of the Texas Longhorns took a hit on Wednesday night, as the young team let the opportunity for a precious road win slip away in Ames, Iowa. Predicted by many national pundits to be a bubble team, the Longhorns will need every win that they can get in Big 12 play, making the loss to Iowa State even more damaging. This evening, the team is back in action against the Oklahoma State Cowboys, another team that provides a ripe target for one of those important league victories.

By the numbers

Oklahoma State has played a challenging non-conference slate, but hasn’t fared well against the tougher teams on the schedule. The Cowboys are just 1-6 against opponents ranked in the Top 100 of Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. Of their other seven wins this year, one came against Langston University of the NAIA, and the remainder came against teams with an average KenPom ranking of 213.

The Cowboys haven’t been particularly efficient on offense, with their adjusted mark of 1.018 points per possession checking in just above the national median. What has kept Oklahoma State competitive is a solid defense, as opponents are scoring just 0.925 points per possession against the Pokes.

It should be noted that Oklahoma State’s solid defensive numbers are thanks in large part to dominating the worst teams on their schedule. In their seven wins, the Cowboys are limiting opponents to just 0.851 points per possession. In those six losses against Top 100 competition, their defense concedes 1.072 PPP. With the Texas offense checking in near the top of the efficiency rankings, it’s likely that they will put a performance similar to Oklahoma State’s other quality opponents.

With the ball, Oklahoma State is having a tougher time. As mentioned above, their overall efficiency numbers aren’t too far above the national median. Their shooting percentage and offensive rebounding numbers both put them in the bottom 100 of D-I hoops, but their lack of turnovers keeps the offense from really struggling. The Pokes have an eFG of just 45.7%, and reclaim only 27.1% of their rebounds. For a Texas team that has had issues defending the perimeter and cleaning the defensive glass, these are great numbers to see on the scouting report.

Meet the Cowboys

There was promise and hope in Stillwater during the offseason, as the arrival of highly-touted freshman Le’Bryan Nash (No. 2) made it appear that the Pokes could be a dark-horse contender in a wide-open Big 12. Instead, the team has been ravaged by injuries and departures, leaving head coach Travis Ford with a short, inexperienced bench.

In the last few weeks, both Reger Dowell and Fred Gulley announced their intentions to transfer, leaving Coach Ford without a single member of his 2009 recruiting class. Earlier this week, Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports wrote an excellent breakdown of Ford’s terrible track record of losing recruits, both at Oklahoma State and UMass.

In addition to all of the departures, Ford was also dealt a blow when Jean-Paul Olukemi tore his ACL in the final non-conference game against Virginia Tech. Not surprisingly, that severe of an injury has ended his season. The Pokes are also without nasty big man Darrell Williams, who has remained on the roster since rape charges were filed against him last season. His status with the team won’t be reviewed until the completion of his trial, which was originally scheduled to begin on Monday, but has been pushed back until May.

All told, that leaves the Cowboys with just an eight-man rotation, including five freshmen. Senior Keiton Page (No. 12) is the most experienced player left on the roster, and his recent hot streak has him leading the team with 14.5 points per game. He’s always been known as a three-point threat, but has had to develop more of a driving game during these last two seasons thanks to the team’s point guard issues. Without a true facilitator, Page could no longer camp out on the perimeter and play as simply a spot-up shooter.

Joining Page in the backcourt is redshirt freshman Brian Williams (No. 4). With Gulley and Dowell putting Stillwater in the rearview mirror, Williams earned his first career start against Texas Tech on Wednesday night. He struggled from the floor in his 26 minutes of action, knocking down just one of his six attempts.

On the wing, freshman Nash was expected to be a savior at Gallagher-Iba, but has yet to live up to expectations so far. At 6’7″, 230 pounds, Nash has the body to compete down low, but has the handles and jumper to stretch the floor and play outside. He’s second on the team with 12.4 points per game, but he’ll have to have a big performance tonight if Oklahoma State hopes to pull off the road win.

In the middle, junior transfer Philip Jurick (No. 44) is the second oldest player on the team. A four-star recruit out of Chattanooga, he originally committed to play for the Volunteers, but never played a single minute in Knoxville. He transferred to play junior college ball at Chattanooga State before ending up in Stillwater as the team’s center.

Jurick averages just over 18 minutes per game, but is still tops on the team with an average of six rebounds. The 6’11″ big man is also a big part of the team’s defensive success, as his block percentage of 13.3% is 11th-best in the nation.

The team’s fifth starter will likely be Michael Cobbins (No. 20), a 6’8″ redshirt freshman who also is a shot-blocking threat. He was a highly-regarded recruit in high school, but a nasty knee injury ruined his senior year and necessitated last season’s redshirt.

Coming off the bench, freshman point guard Cezar Guerrero (No. 1)is fifth on the team in scoring with 7.5 points per game. Besides Page, he’s the team’s biggest threat from long range, where he’s launched nearly half of his attempts this year. He’s also incredibly quick with the ball, but has played a bit out of control so far this season. Thanks to the backcourt attrition, Guerrero will have to grow up quickly in Big 12 play.

Sophomore guard Markel Brown (No. 22) has started 11 of the team’s 14 games, but an injury forced him to be the sixth man in Wednesday’s win over Texas Tech. Brown, a former high school state champion in Louisiana, provides Oklahoma State with sound perimeter defense and valuable rebounding from the wings. With the team reeling and full of freshmen, the sophomore will have to step up as a leader down the stretch.

The only other Cowboy at Coach Ford’s disposal is Marek Souček, a Czech 7-footer who had made only three appearances for a total of six minutes during the team’s first 13 games. With Olukemi sidelined for the year, Souček was called upon for 15 minutes in the win over Tech, and responded well. As expected, he’s a true Euro-style big who is more comfortable on the perimeter and midrange than banging against big bodies in the paint.

Keys to the game

1) Establish the inside presence – With only Jurick and Souček providing size inside, the Longhorns need to get Clint Chapman started early, as they did against Iowa State. Establishing that inside presence also includes dominating the glass, something that the Longhorns should be able to do against a poor-rebounding Cowboy team. Even if J’Covan Brown is unable to play or is ineffective thanks to his injury, the Longhorns should be fine if they can play well inside.

2) Control the basketball – In three of the team’s last four games, the Longhorns have coughed it up on more than 22% of their possessions. Oklahoma State has not forced an inordinate number of turnovers this year, but Texas cannot afford to make unforced errors that give the Cowboys extra possessions.

3) Chase Page off the perimeter – Page is averaging 23.7 points over his last three games, including a solid 3-of-5 performance behind the arc against Tech on Wednesday night. The senior guard is always dangerous spotting up outside, so the Longhorns must make him put the ball on the floor. Page is much more effective on the quick catch-and-shoot, and tends to struggle when having to create his own shots.

“Our biggest concern is keeping our foot on the pedal,” senior Gary Johnson told reporters last night. “We haven’t been in a situation where we’ve been behind. We don’t want to start it now.”

The Longhorns didn’t start it on Wednesday night, as they lambasted Oklahoma State, 73-55, in the sixth-straight game that Texas led wire-to-wire. Although Oklahoma State controlled the tip, the Texas defense forced a miss from Markel Brown and the Longhorns took an early 2-0 lead just 31 seconds into the game. After the win, Texas’ impressive streak of never trailing has been extended to more than 264 minutes.

The 18-point victory also marked the 10th time in Texas’ 11 conference wins that the Horns have defeated their opponents by double-digits. With that 11th conference win coming by nine points over Baylor, Texas’ average margin of victory in their 11 conference games is 17.3 points.

The Longhorns also set a school record by winning their 11th consecutive Big 12 game, and remained in pursuit of the best conference start in school history. The 1962-63 Texas team ran out to a 13-0 mark in Southwest Conference play before losing their final league game of the season. If the Longhorns can get past Nebraska on the road on Saturday, they should have no problem tying that mark against Iowa State next Tuesday.

Finally, the win sealed a first-round bye for the Longhorns in next month’s Big 12 tournament. With Missouri hosting Baylor next Wednesday, one of those teams is guaranteed to finish with at least six conference losses. That leaves only Kansas, Texas A&M, and the winner of that Baylor/Mizzou tilt as teams that could potentially finish with a record equal to or better than 11-5. At this point, Texas would have to lose all of its remaining games to tie with an 11-5 team.

What looked good

Texas jumped out to an early lead by attacking the Cowboys inside. They racked up fouls on the OSU big men, and the added attention inside meant that the Longhorn shooters were being left wide open open the perimeter. The inside-out attack allowed Texas to go 5-for-11 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes, and the Longhorns took an 11-point lead to the locker room.

In the second half, Gary Johnson and Cory Joseph fueled a run that put Texas up by 21 points. Johnson knocked down a jumper, posted up for a 3-point play, and tipped in another bucket before Joseph added a three-pointer and a breakaway layup on his own steal.

Johnson was nearly flawless in the game, going 7-of-8 from the field. He finished the night with 17 points, and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. Joseph, meanwhile, finished with 11 points despite shooting just 30.7%. The rest of the starting five also found it easy to score, with Tristan Thompson and Jordan Hamilton combining for 29 points and 11 rebounds.

The easy win also allowed the starters to get some much-needed rest. Besides Joseph’s 30 minutes on the court, no other starter had to play more than 28 minutes. Jai Lucas and J’Covan Brown picked up much of the slack, combining for 44 minutes off the bench. In conference play, the two guards were averaging just 28 minutes per game. If Lucas can continue to eat up minutes off the bench as the regular season winds down, that added rest for the starters could be huge when the schedule becomes much more compact in March.

The Texas defense also continued to impress, holding the Cowboys to only 0.792 points per possession, well off their season average of 1.06 per trip. All season long, the Horns have utilized strong defensive rebounding to limit opponents to one-shot possessions. While Texas continued that trend against OSU, holding the Pokes to a 27.6% mark on the offensive glass, the most impressive stat was the 24.5% turnover rate Texas forced. The Longhorns are not a team that causes many miscues, but they made the Cowboys look utterly lost as they coughed it up 12 times in the first half.

Off the bench, Matt Hill had a good effort, grabbing five boards in his 18 minutes on the floor. He also added three points on a hook shot and a free throw. While neither Hill or Alexis Wangmene will be on any All-American teams any time soon, the Longhorns are benefiting from the fact that in nearly every game, they are getting a solid bench effort from one of their two backup big men.

What needed work

While Hill had a solid game off the bench, Alexis Wangmene unfortunately struggled. He had issues handling passes inside, was called for a travel, and picked up four fouls in just 11 minutes of play. Wangmene did have a nice block, though. Fortunately, his struggles in this one made very little difference in the outcome.

As always, free throws were a major issue for the Longhorns. As a team, they shot just 57.1% from the line, but once again a majority of the blame fell upon freshman Tristan Thompson. The big man went to the line 13 times and made just six of his attempts, while the rest of the team combined to go 10-of-15. At some point, Texas is going to be in a close game. Is there anyone that Rick Barnes can rely upon to make clutch free throws to ice it?

Next up: at Nebraska (17-8 overall, 5-6 Big 12)

With Kansas tripping up on the road against Kansas State on Monday night, an outright Big 12 title is possibly just weeks away for the Texas Longhorns. Only six opponents remain on the schedule for Texas, who can now lose one of those games and still lay sole claim to the conference crown. The quest for that championship continues tonight, as the Longhorns host a struggling Oklahoma State squad who would love nothing more than to spoil those dreams.

If you had to rank the remaining six games in order of difficulty, tonight’s would definitely qualify as one of the “easier” ones left. Oklahoma State is near the bottom of the league standings, is dealing with off-the-court drama, and already lost by double-digits to Texas on their own court last month. With tougher tests awaiting in the form of road trips to Baylor, Colorado, and Nebraska, plus a home date against a salty Kansas State squad, tonight’s game is one that the Longhorns simply cannot afford to overlook.

The first meeting

For twenty minutes, the first match-up between Oklahoma State and Texas was a battle. The Cowboys even led with just over four minutes to go in the first half, but fell victim to a 14-0 run by the Longhorns that put the visitors up for good. Texas employed its trademark stiff defense in Stillwater, shutting out sharpshooter Keiton Page while holding OSU to a season low in points and field-goal percentage.

Dogus Balbay had a big night, scoring 10 points to go with five boards, four assists, and a pair of steals. Jordan Hamilton paced the Horns with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Tristan Thompson led the Texas scorers with fourteen. The freshman struggled early in the game, but scored 11 consecutive points during one second-half stretch.

Since then…

Since the last meeting, the Longhorns have never trailed in a game. A Balbay free throw tied the Longhorns and Cowboys at 25 each in the first game, and Texas has led or been even with every opponent in the 224 minutes of basketball since then. That’s an unbelievable stretch of more than five and a half games in which the Longhorns have dominated their opponents.

For the Cowboys, things have gone downhill since the loss in Stillwater. OSU has managed to split the four games they’ve played since facing Texas, but they suffered a huge blow last week when big man Darrell Williams was charged with four felonies, including three counts of rape. He has been suspended indefinitely by Coach Travis Ford, and is in a holding pattern at least until his next day in court, which isn’t until March 7th. Prior to the suspension, Williams was averaging 7.1 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Cowboys.

In their first game without the big man, Oklahoma State lost to Nebraska in Lincoln, 65-54. The Cowboys were forced to rely more on Matt Pilgrim and Roger Franklin, who combined for just four points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes on the floor. Marshall Moses tried to carry the team with his 18-point, six-rebound effort, but the Huskers were still able to dominate OSU on the boards and in the paint.

Meet the Cowboys

For an in-depth look at the entire Oklahoma State roster, please read our preview from the first game between these two teams.

Keys to the game

In Stillwater, the Longhorns had major issues with ball handling in the early going. Fortunately, many of those miscues were unforced errors, and not a result of Oklahoma State’s pressure. That means it should be easy for Texas to value the basketball against the Cowboys this time around. The Horns cruised to a 15-point win in Stillwater despite a rash of turnovers, so if they are able to erase those mistakes tonight, it should be an absolute beating.

Texas also will want to react quicker to double teams. The Longhorns had quite a few possessions against Oklahoma State in their first meeting where the Texas bigs failed to recognize an approaching double or triple-team on the blocks. If the Longhorns can make quick passes against that pressure tonight, they are going to find many more open looks and should cruise to an easy home win.

With Williams out of the lineup, Texas also needs to exploit their advantage on the glass. A big reason why the Longhorns rank No. 1 nationally in defensive efficiency is a strong presence on the boards that limits opponents to numerous one-shot possessions. Without Williams, it will be even harder for the Cowboys to earn offensive boards and second-chance points. If Texas dominates this facet of the game as easily as they should, this game could become very lopsided in a hurry.

Finally, the Longhorns need to keep OSU out of the paint early. In the first match-up, the Cowboys didn’t attack inside and didn’t earn trips to the line, instead relying on mid-range and outside jumpers, many of them contested. Look for OSU to make adjustments and make a concerted effort to score early with Moses and Pilgrim inside. If Texas can once again establish dominance by making stops on the first few possessions, it’s likely the Pokes will take the path of least resistance and try to beat the Horns with jumpers.

For the second time in just five days, the Longhorns were the hated enemy in a sold-out, hostile gym. But as has become the norm this season, Texas fed off the negative energy and silenced the fans, emerging from Gallagher-Iba Arena with a 61-46 victory.

The win was the fifth on the road for the Longhorns, who have tripped up just once away from home this season. In early December, Texas was embarrassed by an average USC team in Los Angeles, losing by 17 points. Since then, the Horns have been undefeated on the road, winning by an average margin of 14.2 points.

With the victory, the Horns keep their perfect conference mark intact, moving to 5-0 in Big 12 play. Oklahoma State, meanwhile, dropped to 2-4 in the conference, falling into a tie for 9th place with Kansas State.

What looked good

The most-hated Longhorn in Stillwater wasn’t Jordan Hamilton or Tristan Thompson. Instead, it was Dogus Balbay, who responded to the jeers by having a career night. Balbay more than doubled his scoring average, putting in 10 points, all in the first half. Along with Cory Joseph, the Turkish guard also prevented OSU’s sharpshooting Keiton Page from even scoring a point.

Balbay’s hustle was visible everywhere on the court Wednesday night. He grabbed five boards and had four assists in the winning effort, and constantly batted away Oklahoma State passes. Even with most of those deflections ending up out of bounds, Balbay still came up with two steals.

As it has been all season, Balbay’s staunch defense was just one part of Texas’ stifling performance on D. As a team, the Longhorns held Oklahoma State to 32.1% shooting from the field and limited the Pokes to only 0.793 points per possession. Coming into the game, OSU was averaging roughly 1.04 points each time down the floor.

Freshman big man Tristan Thompson worked through a difficult first half and ended up with a very productive night. He scored all 14 of his points in the second half, including a seven-minute stretch where he scored 11 straight points for Texas. On defense, he frustrated the Cowboy bigs with three blocks.

Another reassuring sight in the win was the clear effort Jordan Hamilton and J’Covan Brown were making in looking for open teammates. In addition to his 12 points — all coming behind the arc — Hamilton was credited with two assists. When not taking open threes, he was attacking off the dribble and looking for open teammates as the defense collapsed on him. If not for fumbled passes by other Longhorns, Hamilton would have had another few assists.

Brown, meanwhile, seemed to be quite aware that it wasn’t his night to shoot. Although he forced up a bad three near the end of the first half, he mostly played within the flow of the offense. After a few misses, he was content with passing off to other guards coming off of screens and curls. His deferential attitude didn’t result in any assists against Oklahoma State, but it is definitely preferable to poor shot selection.

In addition, the alternating big games from Matt Hill and Alexis Wangmene continued, with the big man from Cameroon providing the quality PT against the Cowboys. Wangmene played just 11 minutes, but worked hard inside and earned two trips to the line, which he turned into four points. He grabbed a pair of rebounds as well, and only turned it over once, on a bobbled one-time pass from Hamilton.

What needed work

Unfortunately, the Texas offense was very sloppy with the ball in the first half, particularly in transition. The team’s 23.7% turnover percentage was its third-highest of the season, behind only the neutral-site loss to Pitt and a very sloppy win against Lamar.

With Missouri coming to town on Saturday, that lack of ball control in high-tempo situations is cause for concern. The Longhorns may have won this one by 16 points, but had they simply held on to the ball, the margin of victory likely would have crept past twenty. The Tigers are going to push the tempo and pressure the ball, so Texas cannot afford to have a repeat performance on Saturday.

In the half-court, Oklahoma State was very committed to limiting Texas’ points in the paint, and that often led to double- and triple-teams when Thompson and Gary Johnson would get the ball in the lane. When they would manage to put up a shot against the army of defenders, there was never an orange jersey anywhere near the rim.

Not only did this cost Texas a bunch of offensive rebounding opportunities, but it also meant that Thompson and Johnson had very few options to dish it off when OSU collapsed. With the Cowboys focused on the ball, Texas could have capitalized with easy layups by players cutting from the wings, and it would have resulted in more putbacks on Johnson and Thompson’s missed jumpers.

Next up: vs. #13/11 Missouri (17-3 overall, 3-2 Big 12); 8 P.M. CT, Saturday

If there were ever a prototypical “trap game”, tonight’s tangle with Oklahoma State in Stillwater would be it. The Longhorns are coming off of their biggest regular-season win in school history, a road upset of the 2nd-ranked Kansas Jayhawks that vaulted Texas to first place in the Big 12. This Saturday, the Horns will host a Missouri team that was ranked in the top ten as recently as two weeks ago.

But tonight, Texas must first tackle a young, tough Oklahoma State team in a gym that can be very difficult to steal road wins in. The Cowboys have won 13 straight at Gallagher-Iba Arena, with the most recent loss coming against Texas last season. If the Horns have a letdown after Saturday’s big win or look ahead to the Tigers, they could easily be tagged with a loss tonight.

By the numbers

Glancing at Dean Oliver’s Four Factors, the Cowboys are generally unremarkable. They aren’t exceptional in any category, but also manage to avoid being particularly terrible at any facet of the game. The one factor they do excel in is free throw rate, as OSU earns nearly one free throw attempt for every two field goal tries. Their 45% FTR puts them 34th in the nation.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys tend to put opponents on the line even more than they get therethemselves. OSU opponents have a FTR of 46.3%, and have been converting at an impressive 72.9% rate. The Pokes should get a bit of a break from a Texas team that has struggled at the line all season. Of course, the Horns made 83% of their free throws in a pair of games against A&M and KU last week, so OSU could be catching Texas at the wrong time.

The most surprising number the Cowboys have posted this year is a disappointing 31.2% mark behind the arc. On a team with sharpshooting Keiton Page in the backcourt, that number is far too low. But without James Anderson on the roster this season, Page is drawing a lot of extra attention from defenses, and his three-point percentage has dropped to 35.1% as a result.

When it comes to tempo, Oklahoma State is once again average. They run a slightly slower pace than the D-I average, but they certainly wouldn’t be classified as a “burn” offense. The Longhorns average just 1.5 more possessions per game, so there is hardly any difference in style between the two teams. That being said, it still could benefit Texas to push things against Oklahoma State. The Horns have a more-efficient offense, so adding possessions only serves to further exploit that advantage.

Meet the Cowboys

Coach Travis Ford has a young team to work with this season, and following the December surgery on guard Fred Gulley, he has a short bench to manage, too. The Cowboys run eight deep, although Ford has been giving more minutes to his younger players as the season wears on, hoping to provide some experience for his bench.

OSU is led by senior Marshall Moses, who is one of the most-improved players in the Big 12 this year. He’s turned into a double-double machine in his senior campaign, and is averaging more than 15 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Moses gets the bulk of his points down low, and he still looks stiff trying to take a midrange jumper, but there’s no doubt that he’s the key to OSU’s success.

Joining Moses in the frontcourt is Darrell Williams, a juco transfer who played at Midland College before making the trip to Stillwater. He’s a real force inside, and would likely be the team’s leading rebounder if he could keep himself out of foul trouble. Williams is averaging more than seven boards a game, but has been limited to just 20 minutes a game thanks to those foul issues. Against Kansas State, Williams fouled out in roughly five minutes on the court.

Matt Pilgrim is the other big man for Coach Ford, and he started 11 games this year before being supplanted by Williams in the starting five. Pilgrim isn’t nearly the scoring threat that Moses is, mostly due to the fact that Pilgrim seems averse to attacking the basket. He has the post moves to score, but has to be constantly reminded by his coaches to actually put them to use. Fortunately for OSU, even when he’s not scoring, Pilgrim has active hands on defense and leads the team in steals.

While OSU has a talented frontcourt, albeit a thin one, the future of the team is clearly in the backcourt. Junior Keiton Page is the second-leading scorer on the team with 13.8 points per game, but he has been a streaky scorer this season. After pouring in a combined 43 points against Alabama and Stanford, Page managed just four against Gonzaga and UTSA. The Longhorns can’t afford to give him open looks tonight, but if they are able to front him and frustrate him early, he could have a quiet game.

The most impressive guard for OSU has been Jéan-Paul Olukemi, a transfer from Vincennes University who burned his redshirt during his transfer season. As a result, Olukemi is just a sophomore this year, and it’s clear he is going to be a Big 12 star in the near future. Olukemi is incredibly athletic, can easily create his own shot off the dribble, and knows how to crash the glass from the wings. OSU has struggled at times this season when their guards fail to penetrate, so Olukemi’s playmaking abilities often inject life into a stagnant offense.

Along with Page and Olukemi in the backcourt, the Pokes rely on the services of tiny point guard Ray Penn, Jr. Listed at a generous 5’11″, what Penn lacks in height, he makes up for with quickness. While he knows how to get to the rim and can also knock down the three, he’s most comfortable facilitating the offense. Penn can blow by defenders easily and draw help, which has allowed him to rack up a team-high 51 assists on the year.

Off the bench, Coach Ford has two options at guard. Senior Nick Sidorakis was a starter for much of the year before Olukemi played his way into the starting five, so he provides experienced leadership off the bench. Sidorakis has had a tough season, especially behind the arc, where he’s just 7-for-32 this season.

The other reserve guard, Markel Brown, is also struggling from long range, where he’s made just 29% of his attempts so far. A freshman, Brown is one of those players earning more minutes as the season rolls on, and he will likely be a key component of a pretty salty OSU roster next season. He comes from Peabody High in Louisiana, where he played on an undefeated state championship team, and was named Player of the Year in his home state. While he’s not contributing much on offense yet, Brown is already being relied upon for solid perimeter D.

In the frontcourt, Jarred Shaw and Roger Franklin have not played many minutes off the bench, but could see some extra action tonight against UT’s bigs. The pair has combined for an average of 2.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15 minutes per game. Also on the bench is sophomore Reger Dowell an exceptionally quick guard from Duncanville who is averaging just six minutes per game.

Keys to the game

Through their first four conference games, the Longhorns have a free-throw rate of 53.4%, a result of a commitment to attacking inside. Against an Oklahoma State team that constantly puts opponents on the line, this bodes well for Texas’ success. If the Longhorns pile up the points inside, they will not only earn a ton of trips to the line, but they’ll also draw a lot of fouls on the thin OSU frontcourt. Moses, Pilgrim, and Franklin are certainly talented, but if the Longhorns can saddle them with fouls, there won’t be much help coming from the bench for the Pokes.

Defensively, the Longhorns need to keep an eye on Keiton Page. While Moses and Olukemi are going to score a chunk of points tonight, Page is the one who is liable to go off for 20-plus at a moment’s notice. If the Longhorns can limit the damage from the junior guard, it’s unlikely that the rest of the Pokes are going to combine for enough to pull off the upset.

Finally, Texas will succeed if Hill or Wangmene step up. It seems that either Matt Hill or Alexis Wangmene has a good game every time the Horns take the court. Against KU, Hill put in a ton of key minutes on the defensive end, while against A&M, Wangmene had a great performance. Against a talented OSU frontcourt, Tristan Thompson and Gary Johnson are going to need some help, especially if they find themselves in foul trouble. If either Hill or Wangmene step up once again, the Horns should be just fine.

For the first time in more than a month, the Texas Longhorns have a winning streak.

While two wins in a row is not a whole lot to crow about, Wednesday night’s 69-59 victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys is a huge step in the right direction for a team that had lost six out of its last ten. The win pushes the Longhorns to 8-6 in league play, and into a three-way tie for fourth with Baylor and Texas A&M, two teams they will face — on the road — in their last three games.

Things didn’t start off beautifully for Texas, as Oklahoma State shot nearly 50% from the field for a majority of the first half, including a 6-of-12 mark from behind the arc. The Longhorns did force eight turnovers in the first half, but the flurry of long-range scoring for the Pokes ensured that Texas could find no breathing room in the first twenty minutes.

James Anderson also couldn’t find much breathing room for those first twenty minutes, as Justin Mason and solid help defense limited the Big 12 Player of the Year candidate to just six first half points. Five of those came in the first three minutes, but Anderson was held scoreless from the field for more than 24 minutes after that.

In the second half, it was the entire Oklahoma State offense that couldn’t breathe. The Pokes were limited to 2-of-10 shooting from behind the arc, and shot just 33% from the field. Anderson was able to add another eight points to his total, but OSU managed just 24 total points in the final twenty minutes. The Texas defense took all of its little lapses from the first half and completely eliminated them in the second.

Beyond the defense, the biggest storyline of the night came from the biggest player on the court. Against a much smaller Oklahoma State lineup, Dexter Pittman finally turned in the performance fans have been waiting for since Fayetteville. After Texas mustered only six points in the paint during the first half, the start of the second half was all about Pittman. The Longhorns made a concerted effort to get him the ball inside, and his strong moves with the ball made it clear he wasn’t going to be stopped.

Dexter’s final line on the night was 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in 20 minutes. If that is the kind of production Texas can get from him down the stretch, there’s not much more you can ask for. Pittman is not a guy who needs to be playing 25-plus minutes per game because it limits his effectiveness. Dexter can’t hang with run-and-gun teams, and big men with long range can pull him out of the paint and limit his defensive presence. But in games like this one, he’s one of the most effective weapons the Longhorns have, and he’ll have to produce at that level the rest of the way.

As always, Damion James turned in a huge effort for the Horns. He knocked down a ton of midrange jumpers in the first half to kickstart the offense, and pulled down seven boards on the night. His 19 points were certainly important, but what was much more notable was his 6-of-8 performance at the line. Heading into the game, James was shooting just 64% from the charity stripe.

Also impressive was Jordan Hamilton, who did so many little things right tonight. For one, his defense was much improved. Even when he was beat my his man, it wasn’t for lack of effort. Oftentimes this season it has seemed like Hamilton only cared to play on one side of the ball, but not in this game. Not only did he move laterally and pressure the ball on defense, but he made smart decisions with the ball on offense. He took the open three-point looks against the zone in the first half, then took the ball to the rim when OSU played the perimeter later in the game. And, most importantly, Hamilton passed the ball instead of forcing it when there was nothing there.

Apart from the continual free throw woes (21-of-36 on the night), the biggest disappointment in this game was J’Covan Brown. Coach Rick Barnes inserted the freshman back into the starting lineup after limiting him to just five minutes against Texas Tech on Saturday. Unfortunately, Brown seemed to be trying to prove himself the entire time and looked completely uncomfortable on the floor. When J’Covan is playing freely, attacking the defense, and finding his open teammates, the Longhorns are tough to stop. But if Brown is going to respond to the spotlight the way he did tonight, Texas is going to have to struggle through the rest of the year with a point guard by committee.

Looking ahead

The regular season sweep of Oklahoma State has positioned the Longhorns to make a late-season push for one of the first-round byes in the league’s conference tournament. Texas, A&M, and Baylor are all tied for fourth place, and are just a game behind Missouri in third. The Tigers still have games left with Kansas and Kansas State, while the Longhorns travel to both College Station and Waco. With just three games left on the schedule, everything is truly still up in the air.

The Longhorns return to the Erwin Center as victors, having withstood a late charge from Texas Tech to secure a narrow 71-67 win on Saturday. But while the victory was huge, it was a loss for Texas that loomed even larger. Dogus Balbay went down early in the first half with an ACL tear that has sidelined him for the rest of the year. Coupled with the November injury to Varez Ward, the once-deep Longhorn backcourt is now in total disarray.

Texas managed to beat Oklahoma State in their first meeting, but a huge reason for the win was the defensive performance of Balbay against OSU superstar James Anderson. After scoring 22 of his team’s 34 first-half points, Anderson was held to just four points in the second half. Without Balbay on the court tonight, Anderson could have a career game.

If you need a refresher on OSU’s style of basketball or their key players, click here for the preview from the first match-up. If you don’t, let’s dive right into our keys for tonight’s game……

Keys to the game

First and foremost, Texas will have to find a way to shut down James Anderson. We hate to belabor a point, but without Balbay, the Longhorns are going to have to find a way to keep the Cowboy guard from going off for 30-plus points. At 6’6″, he’s a tough match-up for Texas, especially when you consider that the best defenders Rick Barnes has on his roster are a pair of 6’2″ guards in Avery Bradley and Justin Mason. While Jordan Hamilton is a better match-up physically for Anderson, his defense consists mostly of watching people blow past him and then compounding the mistake with fouls from behind.

While Anderson is much taller than the Texas backcourt, the Cowboys are actually much smaller across the board than Texas. The Longhorns must control the defensive glass in order to limit the number of Oklahoma State possessions. The Pokes don’t turn the ball over that often, so giving them second and third chances will only serve to keep OSU in the game and wear out an already thin Texas lineup.

In the same vein, the Longhorns also need to take advantage of their size inside. Whether that means Dexter Pittman needs to step up and have the kind of game we haven’t seen from him since Fayetteville, or if it means that Gary Johnson has a second-straight career game by hustling down low, the fact remains that Texas must make its easy looks. The first time these teams met, the Longhorns missed a lot of shots just a few feet from the basket. Had Jordan Hamilton not had a magical game, Texas would have ended up on the losing end.

The biggest thing we will be looking at tonight is how J’Covan Brown handles point guard duties. As we wrote yesterday, failing to play him at this point amounts to giving up on the season. There will certainly be hiccups along the way, but now this is undoubtedly J’Covan’s team to run, and we are very interested in seeing how he handles the pressure.

Texas hasn’t won two games in a row in over a month, a stretch in which the team has lost six out of ten. Tonight provides the Longhorns an opportunity to finally string a pair of wins together, and to position itself for quite a battle in the league standings during this last week and a half.

The five teams in places three through seven are separated by just one game, and with only four more games on each team’s schedule, there is little room for error. A Texas win tonight means that there is quite a bit on the line this Saturday in College Station. A loss likely means that this former No. 1 team won’t even earn a bye in its conference tournament.

Oklahoma State led the visiting Longhorns by nine points with two minutes left in the first half. Junior guard James Anderson had 22 of his team’s 34 points on 8-of-9 shooting, incuding a perfect 3-of-3 behind the arc. Gallagher-Iba Arena was rocking, and it looked like the Texas Longhorns could be on their way to a fourth loss in five games.

Then Jordan Hamilton took over.

The freshman swingman scored seven points in the final two minutes of the first half while Anderson added a pair of OSU free throws, and Texas closed the gap to just four points heading to the locker room. Hamilton added 18 more in the second half, part of a career-high 27-point performance, and the Longhorns stormed past the Cowboys in the final twenty minutes, cruising to a 72-60 win.

What looked good

Obviously, Hamilton’s breakout performance was the highlight of the night. His shot selection was much better, and even the two questionable ones he threw up in the first half somehow found the bottom of the basket. Perhaps fueled by his unconscious shooting, Hamilton also worked a lot harder on the defensive end. He was pressuring OSU ballhandlers past the perimeter, making it nearly impossible for the Pokes to get any offense going outside of drives by Anderson and Obi Muonelo.

While Anderson’s first-half explosion keyed the early Oklahoma State lead, a few of his baskets were coming even in the face of good pressure. However, quite a few of his buckets were coming when he beat the defense off the dribble and sailed to the rack for easy points. In the second half, though, Dogus Balbay played incredibly on defense, holding Anderson to just four points in the final twenty minutes. Even though Anderson had a full six inches on Balbay, the Cowboys didn’t ever look for him when he actually tried to isolate his defender on the blocks.

J’Covan Brown also had a very solid night, a fact that might be overlooked since he only scored five points. When Balbay started piling up fouls late in the game, Brown was able to lead the team with a steady hand from the point guard position. J’Covan had just one turnover to four assists and played a full 30 minutes off of the bench. In fact, when the teams came out for the second half, Coach Rick Barnes opted to make just one change from his starting lineup — Brown was on the floor in place of defensive stopper Justin Mason.

Another Horn giving big production from the bench was Gary Johnson. He played very good defense inside, denying access to the bucket and forcing his man to take well-contested shots. Gary was the only Longhorn with double-digit rebounds, as he grabbed ten boards to go with his eight points.

Finally, it should be noted that Texas shot 6-of-7 from the free throw line in this game. Before anyone gets too excited and thinks the team has turned some sort of corner, keep in mind that all seven attempts came from the team’s three best free-throw shooters — Brown, James, and Johnson. (Jai Lucas technically has the second-highest free-throw percentage on the team, but has just seven total attempts all year.) The free-throw monster is still definitely going to affect future games, but it was nice not having to watch free points clank off the iron.

What needed work

A recurring theme in these games is Texas’ inability to knock down incredibly easy shots inside the paint and just outside the lane. In the first half, the Longhorns missed six layups according to the official play-by-play. While Texas has a bunch of good shooters that can knock down midrange jumpers and treys, on some nights those shots aren’t going to fall. The Horns have to be able to get the ball inside and actually convert on the easy looks.

The other point of concern was rebounding, as Texas again had trouble corralling boards that hit them right in the hands. The final count had the two teams deadlocked with 31 rebounds each, but the Longhorns should have easily dominated that battle. The Longhorns far outsized the Cowboys, but they allowed OSU to steal too many boards that they had already established position on. Against a solid frontcourt like that of the Kansas Jayhawks, Texas will allow far too many second-chance points if they keep coughing up rebounds.

Looking ahead

Texas has a long week off to prepare for the Oklahoma Sooners, who they face in Norman on Saturday. Although the Sooners are talented, the team is in disarray. They have lost three of their last four, including a 17-point shellacking at the hands of the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday. Road wins are not going to be easy to come by in the Big 12 this season, so the Longhorns definitely need to take advantage of winnable games such as this one.

After the loss to Baylor on Saturday, ESPN’s Pat Forde welcomed Texas to “the crisis zone.” While an 18-3 record is certainly not something to panic over, there is no doubt that if the Longhorns still have any designs on a Big 12 title or a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament, their slide has to end here.

Unfortunately for Texas, their next match-up will not be an easy one. Gallagher-Iba Arena is not a place where opponents often find a win, but it’s been especially tough for ranked Longhorn teams. When Texas travels to GIA with a number next to their name, they are just 1-6.

By the numbers

There isn’t anything that Oklahoma State does exceptionally well, but they aren’t particularly bad at any facet of the game, either. With the exception of their loss to Missouri on Saturday, the Pokes are best at controlling the basketball, which is important for what is a rather small team. Thanks to their smaller lineup, Oklahoma State can sometimes have trouble earning offensive rebounds. As a result, limiting the number of turnovers is key to keeping their offense clicking.

If tonight’s game comes down to free throws, the Cowboys have a distinct advantage. While Texas is shooting just 61.3% from the charity stripe, Oklahoma State is significantly better with a 71.4% mark. Fortunately for the Longhorns, Coach Travis Ford has quite a short bench on his sideline, so he can’t afford to waste fouls trying to make Texas earn its points from the line.

One other statistic of note is that the Cowboys take more than 39% of their shots from behind the arc. While the Longhorns have a very strong interior defense, it is often at the expense of their perimeter D, and OSU is a team will certainly try to take advantage of it. Luckily, they are shooting just 33.5% from behind the arc, so unless they have a banner day from three-point range, the Pokes will need points from other places to pull off the upset.

Meet the Cowboys

The undeniable star of Oklahoma State’s lineup is junior guard James Anderson. With 22.5 points per game, he’s responsible for 30% of the team’s scoring. There’s no way Texas will completely shut down the sweet-shooting guard for 40 minutes, so the Horns will have to make sure they don’t allow the other Cowboys to beat them.

Senior Obi Muonelo is an all-around threat for Oklahoma State, despite checking in at just 6’5”. He’s a scrappy rebounder and a quality ballhandler, although at times he tends to play a little out of the control when trying to drive the lane. During his four years, Muonelo has also developed an outside shot to compliment his inside and mid-range games. So far this season, he’s leading the team with a 46% mark from the perimeter. Besides the out-of-control drives, the only other knock on Obi’s game is his pitiful 55% free throw shooting.

Freshman Ray Penn was one of the top point guard recruits in the country this spring, but he likely will not be in action tonight. Team doctors discovered a “hot spot” on his shin that they believe could develop into a stress fracture, so Penn sat out the Missouri game as a precaution. Since the only treatment is rest, Penn will likely miss a handful of games.

With Penn and his thirty minutes per game now out of the rotation, tiny sharpshooter Keiton Page is helping to pick up the slack at the point. Page is the kind of feisty, hustle guy who just irritates the hell out of opponents and their fans. He’s always chasing down loose balls, and is an incredible shooter that seems to always knock down a three in the clutch.

Another player picking up more minutes at the point is freshman Fred Gulley, a product of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Like the injured starter Penn, Gulley is a lightning-quick guard who tends to score more than dish out assists. Coach Ford wants both of his freshman points to work on their decision making and develop into facilitators, but there is no question that Gulley is already an offensive threat. His quick first step might even make the defensively-sound Texas backcourt look a bit slow at times tonight.

In the middle, Marshall Moses chews up most of the minutes and grabs most of the rebounds. He’s averaging 9.9 boards to go with his 10.6 points per game, which is even more impressive when you consider how often he is in foul trouble. Moses has only fouled out of two games this year, but he’s averaging nearly four whistles per game. That limits him to just 27 minutes per contest, the least amount of playing time among the five starters.

When he’s on the floor, Moses has a nice set of offensive tools. He’s solid around the basket, has a good midrange jumper that is excellent for busting zones, and he’s playing some stiff post D as of late. The Cowboys don’t have a ton of depth down low, so Texas would be wise to attack Moses early and often in the hopes of piling up fouls.

Backing up Moses is transfer Matt Pilgrim, a hard-nosed big man who is coming off his best game of the year. Pilgrim started his career at Hampton, but transferred to Kentucky to play for Billy Gillispie. When John Calipari took over head coaching duties, Pilgrim suddenly found himself without a scholarship offer. The NCAA wisely offered him a chance to transfer elsewhere and play right away, giving the Cowboys an immediate injection of talent in the post.

Pilgrim isn’t a flashy player, but he is built like a tank. Down low, he’s a bull of a forward that will pick up a ton of points on putbacks. Against Missouri, he scored 21 points in just 23 minutes off the bench as he relieved the foul-plagued Moses. Tonight, he will likely be needed for another quality performance against a much bigger Texas team.

Freshman Roger Franklin is the only other Oklahoma State player who sees significant minutes. As a high school teammate of Texas’ Shawn Williams at Duncanville, Franklin started all four years. He’s a very athletic guy, but still needs to develop the body to compete in the physical Big 12. With his twelve minutes per game during his freshman campaign, he’s logging the experience necessary to make him a major threat in future seasons.

Keys to the game

Against a smaller Oklahoma State, Texas must dominate the rebounding battle. The Cowboys aren’t going to cough the ball up that often, so the best way for the Longhorns to limit scoring chances is to prevent offensive rebounds.

As we’ve already mentioned, Anderson will get his points tonight. There have been a few teams that have shut him down for the first half, but he always comes out of the locker room firing. While Texas obviously can’t concede a 40-point night to the guard, the Longhorns should be more concerned with limiting the damage from the other Pokes. This will really hinge on whether or not Dogus Balbay, Justin Mason, and Avery Bradley can play serviceable D on Anderson.

Finally, the Longhorns simply have to control the basketball. There have been a rash of dumb turnovers in the last two Texas losses, and nothing gets a road crowd more riled up than a bunch of easy transition buckets. The Longhorns cannot afford to give up possessions by making stupid mistakes, and the young team also can’t afford to let the crowd fuel big runs. There is no question that crowd energy played a part in the losses to UConn and Kansas State.

The big finish

Already two games behind the Jayhawks in the league standings, Texas honestly can’t afford to lose any more games if there are any hopes of winning a conference title. Kansas simply doesn’t lose at Allen Fieldhouse, and their only “tough” road tests left are at Missouri and next Monday night in Austin. (Texas Tech fans will point out that Lubbock has also been a house of horrors for the ‘Hawks, but we generally laugh at Tech fans and wave dismissively when they start talking about basketball.)

With another road game on Saturday in Norman and the aforementioned Kansas game waiting on Monday, this stretch of schedule could be deadly for the Longhorns. As much as a game can be “must win” when a team is 18-3, this game is that. Texas absolutely needs to steal a road win tonight.