It’s not just the J’Covan Brown show anymore.

Just a little over two weeks ago, the Longhorns absolutely melted down against N.C. State in East Rutherford with Brown on the bench. After the junior guard picked up a personal foul followed by a technical, he spent the final 8:25 of that game on the bench and watched as the Wolfpack rapidly erased a 13-point Texas lead.

Since then, the Texas offense has turned into more of a family affair. Led by Sheldon McClellan and his career-high 23 points, the Longhorns had five players score in double figures last night en route to an 80-62 win over a solid UT-Arlington squad.

Prior to the N.C. State disaster, Brown was averaging 29.3 points. In the four games since that loss, his scoring average is just 12.5 per game. The Longhorns are spreading the wealth and have enjoyed a 1.19 point-per-possession average over their last three games as a result.

What looked good

If McClellan’s 23 points aren’t enough to raise eyebrows on their own, the multitude of ways that the freshman was scoring should do the trick. In addition to nailing 4-of-6 from behind the arc, he impressed with slashing moves to the hoop and quick turnaround jumpers, including one that came just before the shot-clock buzzer. McClellan also did an excellent job on weak-side rebounding, logging six total on the night.

Julien Lewis also had an impressive game, scoring 13 points on 60% shooting from the field. On two different occasions, he drove the lane and pulled up for floaters in traffic. His body control and soft touch on the shot were very impressive, and make him another perimeter player that opponents cannot crowd on D.

After a rough start, Myck Kabongo really kicked it up a notch. He turned it over on two of the team’s first three possessions and was immediately replaced by Sterling Gibbs. But once the freshman came back in the game, he was on. Kabongo consistently drove the lane and found passing lanes, logging seven assists on the night. He had two great drive and dish plays to open his teammates up for three, plus a nifty no-look job on the fast break and a nice shovel pass to Wangmene for a dunk after driving baseline near the end of the game.

With Kabongo in the game, Texas also did a good job of being patient and dictating the tempo. As mentioned in our game preview, UT-Arlington loves to get out and run, and they often rush opponents into mistakes. After their initial jitters, the Longhorns were methodical on offense, often using more than 25 seconds of the shot clock. Three different times, in fact, the Horns drilled a shot as the buzzer sounded. Their careful ball control also limited UTA’s efficiency, as Texas’ 17.3% turnover mark was the best performance by a Maverick opponent in seven games this year.

The Longhorns also found success stretching the defense with a high-low game, pulling Alexis Wangmene and Clint Chapman out to the wings and feeding McClellan and Jonathan Holmes on the low block. Although Wangmene was the only one of the bigs to record an assist from these sets, it is great to see it working so early in the season for Texas. Not only will it lead to easy hoops on the block, but it will also pull bigger defenders out of the lane and open up the drive for all of the athletic Longhorn guards and wings.

In addition to the inside bucket, Holmes also showed solid elevation on his pull-up jumpers. He finished with seven points and shot just 3-of-8 from the field, but his form on the made jumpers was beautiful. If he can consistently do that this year, he’ll find even more success against the bigger, tougher, and more experienced frontcourts in the conference.

We should also note that while the Longhorns had another middling performance on the offensive glass, they did an excellent job shutting out the Mavericks on the other side of the rebounding battle. UTA entered the game as one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, but they were only able to reclaim 33.8% of their missed shots. That mark was the second-worst for the Mavs all season, just marginally better than their 33% performance against Baylor.

What needed work

Initially, it looked like the biggest problem for the Longhorns was going to be needless turnovers. But, just like they did against UCLA, the Horns tightened up the reins and held on to the ball. The area that did still cause them problems was inbounding against the full-court press. On two different occasions, Chapman had major difficulty finding an outlet, even resulting in a five-count and turnover in one instance.

It was also concerning how much Brown was forcing it the first half of the game. He limited himself to three-point shots, even taking a couple when the defenders were in his face. Rather than put the ball on the floor and attack to either score or open up his teammates, he restricted himself to a perimeter game that just wasn’t there.

In the second half, J’Covan changed his approach. Although he didn’t score his first field goal until 34 minutes into the game, he worked his way to the line by drawing fouls on the dribble penetration, and utilized the drive-and-dish to add four assists. With Kabongo’s confidence picking up over the last few contests, having both the freshman and Brown willing to attack the defense with the bounce will make Texas much harder to defend.

Next up: vs. Texas State (6-2); Saturday, 7 P.M. CT