Wednesday night’s victory over Western Carolina was certainly impressive for the Longhorns. They logged a 32-point win, held their opponents to a scant 26.2% shooting percentage, and won the rebounding battle by an overwhelming 47-32 margin. But while the scoreboard and the stat lines were tilted heavily in Texas’ favor, some old issues managed to resurface for the Longhorns.

Most concerning for fans should be the continued struggles from the free-throw line. Last season, Texas made less than 80% of their attempts from the line, with nine players shooting hitting less than 70% of their tries. Of those nine, eight are on this year’s roster. As a result, the Longhorns have made just 59.6% of their free throws over the first two games. Damion James was the only Longhorn to truly shine from the charity stripe against the Catamounts, as he made 8-of-10 on the night. Alexis Wangmene also made both of his attempts, so perhaps the pair can put on a clinic at the next practice.

In addition, the youth of the team showed in the form of turnovers. Texas coughed it up against the Catamounts 21 times, for a differential of negative six. While we discussed in the game preview Western Carolina’s tendency to force steals, the complete lack of ball control will be absolutely killer if it continues into the new year. Yes, it’s still very, very early in the year, but the inability to get entry passes to the post was painful to watch.

It was also difficult for the Longhorns to develop any real offensive rhythm in the game. This isn’t worrisome like the free throw struggles and turnovers, but it’s something that could prolong the establishment of steady rotations off the bench. Any flow to the offense was constantly stifled by a combination of the turnovers, liberal substitutions, and whistle-happy refs — who called an excessive twelve fouls in the first eight minutes of the second half. With different players constantly running on the court and the choppy, whistle-interrupted style of play, it was tough to find any unit of players who excelled for any length of time.

In the winning effort, J’Covan Brown came closer to showing fans just how special of a player he is, but turnovers still plagued his game. Brown lost the ball six times against Western Carolina, giving him eleven TOs on the season. But the rest of his offensive game continued to blossom, as he once again showcased his three-point range and even brought the Frank Erwin Center crowd to its feet with a buzzer-beater to end the first half. J’Covan is going to be a star in the near future, but it’s clear that his unfortunate one-year absence has put a little bit of rust on his game.

Elsewhere on the freshman front, Jordan Hamilton is quickly proving that there is not a shot he doesn’t like. While this is a habit that will certainly need to be broken as the season wears on, Hamilton has at least made up for his quick-trigger by constantly following shots. Even though he missed four of five long-range attempts, each time he was crashing the glass and hustling for offensive boards. It’s hard not to like the drive and determination he’s exhibiting, but he will need to remember that on a team this talented, the last thing Texas needs is the Hamilton Catch-and-Shoot Extravaganza.

While we’ve picked out these negative aspects to dissect, the game was by no means a disappointment for Texas. The D was superb for a second-straight game, putting Texas first in the nation for defensive efficiency. Ken Pomeroy’s number-crunching shows that the suffocating Longhorn defense is allowing just .589 points per possession. Texas likely won’t see a true test of that defensive mettle until they take on the up-tempo Tar Heels on December 19th, but it will be interesting to keep tabs on that stat as the season rolls on.

Moving past the team accolades and on to the individual achievements, Gary Johnson is to be lauded for an excellent showing off the bench. The forward made all four of his shots from the field, chipping in ten points with seven boards. Although most players would expect to see an increase in minutes from their sophomore to junior seasons, Johnson is making the most of his decreased playing time.

Varez Ward also showed flashes of brilliance, looking once again like the exciting, lane-slashing guard that we saw at the end of last season. Ward provided ten points on 4-of-6 shooting and even logged three steals. Some fans questioned his inclusion in the starting lineup, but it’s quickly becoming clear that his late-season surge back in March was just the beginning of great player development.

Texas will face Iowa tomorrow night in the semi-finals of the CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. We’ll bring you a game preview sometime in the A.M. hours.