After a pair of games in which the Longhorns shot just 41% from the field — their only outings below the 50% mark — the pressure was on to bounce back against the pre-season favorite in the Big West Conference. But with Texas’ two big post presences limited to just 31 combined minutes, it was up to the freshmen and the role players to carry the Longhorns to victory. To say they responded to the call would be a gross understatement.

Six different Longhorns scored in double figures en route to a dominating 107-74 victory over Long Beach State, the highest offensive output for a Rick Barnes team in four years. Texas moved the ball well, used dribble penetration with great success, and played stifling defense that led to 23 turnovers and 33 points off of their opponents’ miscues.

Statistically, this was by far the best showing by the offense all season. Long Beach State wanted to run, and the 84 possessions in the game was the most the Longhorns have seen this year. Texas took advantage, scoring at an insane rate of 1.3 points per possession. Even with the 49ers shooting over 40% and knocking down 19 free throws, there was no possible way to keep up with the offensive explosion on the other end of the court.

What looked good

It’d be easy to say that everything looked good in this game, but that would be a tad oversimplified and a bit disingenuous. But it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that nearly everything looked good for the Longhorns on Monday night.

Dogus Balbay made just his second start of the year, and his inclusion in the lineup immediately made things flow. In the first four and a half minutes, the Longhorns had eight field goals, and four of them came off of assists from Balbay. For the night, he finished with a career-high eleven dimes, and managed to play his 24 minutes without a single turnover.

In many of the early games this season, the Texas offense would sometimes grind to a halt without Balbay on the floor. Defenses would switch to zone and double- or triple-team Dexter Pittman immediately as he received the entry pass. When the Texas shooters were off from long-range, the team would often go for minutes without making a field goal. No one seemed to want to dribble-drive, and the ball movement around the perimeter was oftentimes not fast enough to get open looks.

Against Long Beach State, though, it was quickly clear how much Texas had worked on their offense in practices. When teams tried to trap Pittman, he kept the ball high and reacted quickly. Jordan Hamilton, Avery Bradley, and J’Covan Brown all made strong moves to the hoop with the basketball and their stat lines reflected the benefits of that aggressive approach.

On defense, the sudden spike in turnovers was huge for Texas. They forced eight LBSU miscues in less than eight minutes, and the frustration was quickly apparent in the body language of the 49ers. While some skeptics might think that the increase in turnovers was a result of the extra possessions, stat guru Ken Pomeroy would beg to differ. He measures turnovers as a percentage of possessions, and Texas’ 28% rate in last night’s game was head-and-shoulders above their performance in any other game this season.

What needed work

The one thing Texas struggled with all night was slowing down the inside-out guard tandem of Casper Ware and Stephan Gilling. The pair combined for 34 points on the night, nearly half of their team’s entire offense. Ware was constantly beating Texas defenders with a lightning-quick first step, and he earned himself seven trips to the charity stripe. When Ware wasn’t scoring at the rack, Gilling was knocking down three-pointer after three-pointer — to the tune of a 6-for-12 night from long range.

While Texas won the game, and quite easily, the defense against these two guards will surely be highlighted by the coaching staff in film session. The Longhorns are going to face a lot of quick guards this year — Sherron Collins of Kansas and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State come to mind — and against a more well-rounded opponent, these kind of defensive lapses could be killer.

The other focal points in this one will seem incredibly repetitive for anyone who has been regularly reading this website. Once again, Texas struggled from the foul line — they were 8-of-15 tonight — and J’Covan Brown compiled a handful of dumb turnovers. The free-throw nightmare is going to be a season-long theme, but I am supremely confident that Barnes and his assistants will settle Brown down as the season goes on. Many of his turnovers last night were a result of his attempt to be overly flashy as Texas coasted with its big lead. In the post-game interviews, Barnes noted that this is simply Brown trying to “make a great pass instead of just a good pass.” If Brown will stop trying to make SportsCenter’s Top Plays, his turnover numbers will certainly improve.

Handing out blue stars

Practically everyone in this game looked excellent. Even though Brown was responsible for six of Texas’ eleven turnovers, he provided thirteen points and five rebounds. As mentioned earlier, Jordan Hamilton was much more willing to drive from the wings, instead of immediately popping a three-pointer. In fact, Hamilton took just 25% of his shots from behind the arc, a far cry from the 60% of his attempts that were coming from long-range prior to this game.

Avery Bradley was finally able to showcase that silky-smooth midrange jumper that Texas fans have been hearing about so often. He added 17 points in the winning effort, and provided two steals and a block on the defensive end. Down low, Gary Johnson was a beast off the bench. He scored fourteen points and grabbed five boards in just 22 minutes on the court, and his ability to get quality looks inside led to a scorching 88% shooting night.

The bench combined for 61 points in this game, a statistic you might likely never see again. Beyond the players listed above, even the role players who see the floor for just a few minutes were able to get into the act. Alexis Wangmene looked good down low, scoring eight points — four of them coming off of beautiful assists from Balbay. His defense also seems to have improved, as he was able to frustrate the opposing big men without picking up his typical rash of fouls.

While Shawn Williams didn’t showcase the three-point stroke that one recruiting expert had trumped up during the off-season, he continued to hustle and play tough inside in his limited minutes. The guy just knows how to get to the ball, and he’s going to be a feisty rebounder when Barnes isn’t getting what he needs from the front line.

The big finish

On a personal note, last night’s game was probably the closest I’ve come to ending the streak of consecutive games attended. Something nasty decided it wanted to infect me on Saturday, and with finals and papers due for most students, there was nobody else going to guilt me into attending. I managed to make it to the game in time but likely looked like a serial killer, slouched in a seat by myself with a hooded sweatshirt pulled tight around my head. Fortunately, the Longhorns looked great so their performance didn’t make me feel any worse.

Next up for Texas is an I-35 battle against Texas State, a team that is predicted to finish at the bottom of the Southland Conference this year. It won’t be a tough test for the Longhorns, but provides another opportunity to tweak the little things they’ll need to work on before the big 1-2 punch of North Carolina and Michigan State. Game preview will be up on Saturday morning, and in the meantime I’ll be working on photo uploads and Notes from the Road.