Tip: 12:30 PM, ESPN+

Tip-off is just eight hours away, and with it comes a chance for Texas to regroup and refocus on the road ahead. The next five games are winnable, although two are on the road. It’s key to hold serve at home and try to steal one — if not both — of the road games.

The opponents at hand are the fairly inexperienced Iowa State Cyclones (11-11 overall, 3-6 Big 12), which is good for a Texas team coming off of back-to-back losses. The Cyclones have played tough in a handful of games — taking Kansas to overtime serves as a good example — yet have also been absolutely abysmal in many others, such as a 20-point thrashing at home to Mizzou last weekend. They are losers of six of their last seven, with only a home victory over the Baylor Bears serving to break up the futility.

This matchup is a clash of styles, as it pits the league’s highest scoring offense against one of its most anemic. Texas (16-7, 6-3) is putting out over 83 points per game, while Iowa State only scores 61 in each contest. Texas has nearly 70 possessions per game, while Iowa State is just above 64 per forty minutes. While the difference of only six total possessions may seem slim, there are only 72 of the NCAA’s 336 Division I teams that play a slower pace than the Cyclones. In this game, more than ever, the Horns should look to push the pace, force turnovers, and get transition looks.

Guard Mike Taylor and freshman forward Wesley Johnson are eating up most of the minutes for new Iowa State coach Greg McDermott, whose personal streak of three straight NCAA appearances appears to be ending. Taylor and Johnson also lead the team in points per game, combining for 29 a game. The young Johnson is doing amazing things down low for the Cyclones with nine double-doubles on the year. He’s also averaging over 9.5 boards per game in conference play and is the second-best rebounder in the Big 12, behind only Kevin Durant.

For Texas, a major problem in recent games has been giving wide-open looks from behind the arc. Fortunately, that shouldn’t be much of a concern against Iowa State. Of the four Cyclones who have taken a significant number of threes, only Taylor is hitting more than 35% of his attempts. While our rough perimeter defense is certainly in need of repair, it appears that in this one the Horns might squeak by without actually having to improve.

In an interview on Friday morning, Coach Rick Barnes spoke about increasing playing time for Dexter Pittman and moving to a bigger lineup. This could also help that perimeter defense as it frees up Kevin Durant and his ridiculously long arms on the wings and corners. Damion James and Connor Atchley can also provide quality defense on the outside of the back line with their length. Opposing guards can still certainly still shoot over the shorter Abrams and Augustin, but this move should serve to improve defense. Hopefully Big Dex will be able to give the Horns at least a solid ten minutes in this one.

The Cyclones are third in the conference in rebounding, so Texas will have to work a bit harder at maintaining their average of 40 boards per game. When the stat being evaluated is rebounding margin, both squads slip a little bit down the list, although Texas still holds the edge.

If Barnes holds true to his bigger-lineup claims, the Longhorns should have immediately improve on the glass, but they will still have to keep 6-foot, 11-inch center Jiri Hubalek in check. He’s pulling down almost seven boards a game, and is particularly good on the offensive glass. For a Texas team that has given up some frustrating second and third chances, it’s going to be important to keep Hubalek’s back-breaking offensive boards to a minimum.

To be honest, there’s no reason that Texas shouldn’t run away with this game. but the Longhorns have not put anybody away with ease since the Oklahoma game in early January. If Texas takes care of business, this should be well in hand by midway through the second. If not, yet another lesser team could find themselves within striking distance in the waning minutes of a game at the Erwin Center.

There were still just over 2,000 reserved seats for sale as of noon on Friday. There’s no reason why this team shouldn’t have a turnstile of at least 14,000 every night, so bring the family, some friends, and even that shady guy who lives a few doors away. Bring your neighbor’s kids and your son’s tee-ball teammates. Hell, bring kids you don’t even know. They are offering $5 seats for fans 14-and-under, so pack as many as you can in the minivan and get to the Drum. For those of you elsewhere in the state, the game will be telecast on ESPN+, so check your local listings for the affiliate.

Post-game coming at you sometime Saturday night, with the defensive breakdown and a look ahead on Sunday, followed by Oklahoma State preview on Monday morning. It’s a busy, busy weekend here at Longhorn Road Trip.