The first twenty minutes of Tuesday night’s game against UT-Arlington certainly seemed like an uncomfortable rehash of last week’s ugly win over Centenary. And with seventeen minutes to play, the upset-minded Mavericks even had the Longhorn lead down to six. But talent and size proved the difference for Texas, as they overtook the lead in rebounds and put the game well out of reach. After forty minutes, Rick Barnes’ squad had notched a solid 84-52 win.

Texas (10-3) came out nearly as cold as they had in the Centenary game just five days prior. While the Horns had opened 2-for-12 against the Gents, they managed to be a tad better against the UTA Mavericks, starting 2-for-8 from the field. D.J. Augustin was one Horn who was able to get going early, hitting two three pointers in the first five minutes. But Augustin would not score another basket until the seventeen-minute mark of the second half.

UT-Arlington was able to control the rebounding margin for much of the game, despite being a significantly smaller team. As Texas was able to close that gap and ultimately dominate the statistical category, the Longhorns were able to put the game easily in hand. As we head towards conference play and tougher, bigger teams, we will have to be able to stay competitive on the glass. We won’t likely win the battle every night, but we need to be able to avoid getting absolutely pounded and giving up uncontested second-chance points like we did during the first half of the UTA game.

I was most impressed by Arlington’s Jermaine Griffin. Despite his horribly cheesy bicep bands, he had a very good inside game. Unfortunately for Griffin, his free throw shooting wasn’t nearly as good. He finished 2-of-11 from the line, yet still had sixteen points on the night. If he can improve his FT percentage to something above the Mendoza line, he could be a power for the Mavs in their conference stretch.

Kevin Durant followed up a great performance against Centenary with another magnificent game. He dropped 21 points and ripped down fifteen boards, giving him an amazing 42 points and 32 rebounds in his last 64 minutes on the floor. Every game that I see him in, I can’t believe that a player of this caliber is on the court in burnt orange and white. He’s going to carry this team to some wins over the next two months that we probably shouldn’t have.

The team was really active defensively, with Durant blocking four shots and Connor Atchley adding three of his own. Atchley continued to look good on defense, if you can overlook a few dumb fouls. The three personals limited Connor to fifteen minutes in the game, and is something he’ll need to continue to work on. But his defense has come so far from the guy that teams could immediately pick on when he entered the game, and he will play a key role in the Big 12 matchups.

At this point, I’m a bit buzzed on Shiner and I’m not sure what is making sense and what is even spelled correctly. And I guess in theory I should get rest before another eight hours on the road tomorrow. But suffice it to say that I’m happy with this team. We’ve got an insane amount of talent and we’re going to be in fine shape when Selection Sunday rolls around. Sure, we’re going to lose some stupid games over the next two months, and that will without a doubt be frustrating. But I think we’ve got a shot in every contest, and that makes it fun to head to the arena twice a week.

Have a great Friday, and I’ll bring you a Colorado preview from somwhere in Denver on Friday night.