Kevin Durant led the way as the Longhorns cruised past the Missouri Tigers last night, earning their second conference win by an 88-68 score. The game was never in doubt, as Missouri only led the game for a total of 33 seconds. Texas quickly took their own lead on a Damion James three-pointer at the 19:11 mark in the first half and never looked back.

Durant scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Longhorns (12-3, 2-0), giving him his fourth consecutive double-double. He’s averaging 28.3 points and 15.3 rebounds per game over that stretch. At this point, the discussion has to move beyond simply freshman of the year and you have to give the kid serious consideration for the Naismith award. Of course, there’s still another fifteen games to go and anything can happen, but he seems to be a man playing among boys every time he steps on the court.

Missouri (11-4, 0-2) brought the high intensity and pressure that new coach Mike Anderson has been famous for since his days at Alabama-Birmingham. They forced Texas into fifteen turnovers, but failed to capitalize upon them all night. In fact, Texas actually won the points-off-turnovers battle by a 19-7 tally.

Mizzou showed a zone against the Longhorns for much of the game, and Texas had no problem shooting over it. The Horns hit 8-of-15 from behind the arc in the first half, and nailed their first two in the second half as well. The hot shooting led to a massive 27-point advantage for Texas with 12:33 to go in the game.

The Longhorn offense ground to a halt over the next five minutes and Mizzou put on a little run of their own, closing the gap to 69-55 with just over seven minutes left. During that stretch, Texas seemed content to work the ball around the three-point line, failing to attack the zone. This team is very good when D.J. penetrates and finds the open man amidst the collapsing zones, and it’s crystal clear how bad our offense can be when we don’t. It looked like the team got a little too comfortable shooting over the zone and didn’t know what to do when that didn’t work. But you simply can’t overlook the fact that they moved the ball around very well for much of the game in order to get themselves those open three-point shots.

Augustin put forth an amazing effort, playing 37 minutes in the contest. He only turned the ball over twice against the pressure defense of the Tigers, and logged six assists to go with his thirteen-point night. A.J. Abrams joined the point guard in the double-digit club, adding sixteen points on a night where he went 4-for-7 from behind the arc.

J.D. Lewis continued to see significant minutes, a testament to how much his defense has improved since last season. While J.D. can hit the three, he’s not the team’s only three-point threat. He’s needed to spell our three starting guards, and the less of a liability he is on the defensive end, the more playing time Barnes gives him. Lewis made a couple of bad turnovers against the Tiger defense, but did knock down two three-pointers.

One of the best moments of the night came in Dexter Pittman’s one minute on the floor. He blocked a Mizzou shot and Texas was heading back on offense. But the ball was lost in transition, and Pittman turned around just in time to see it. The scene looked like a lineman noticing a fumble, as Big Dex lumbered back to the ball and completely laid out to cover it up. The Erwin Center erupted, the bench jumped up and celebrated, and Pittman was all grins. It was only a moment in a much longer game, but it really highlighted the kid’s energy, work ethic, and determination. I can’t wait until he’s ready for significant playing time, because he’s going to be something special.

Connor Atchley had a very quiet sixteen minutes, picking up four rebounds and getting to the line for four free throw attempts late in the game. He still can’t finish when somebody fouls him next to the basket, but the fact that he’s down there fighting is a huge step forward from his play last year. What I found most important about Atchley’s defense was the fact that he did not pick up a single foul in those sixteen minutes. You can usually count on James and Atchley to combine for seven or eight fouls a game, so it was great to see the opposition on the charity stripe a little less in this one.

Mizzou’s Matt Lawrence only gets a few sentences. His horrible defense was definitely on display, as he showcased the flashy footspeed of a quadraplegic. But his three-point shot was left somewhere back in Columbia. The kid knocked down just about every shot he took during warmups, but whiffed on all three during the game. Que triste.

The Horns have one more home conference game before a three-game road swing, so be sure to come out to the Erwin Center this weekend. Tip is at 2:30 central on Saturday against hated rival Oklahoma (9-5, 1-1). Kelvin Sampson might not be there, but they still wear crimson, they still don’t have teeth, and they’re still Sooners. So let’s fill the drum and watch Kevin Durant drop another 30-plus on that trailer trash.