Texas makes its first road trip of conference play as they travel to Ames, Iowa tonight, but there’s a much bigger “first” in play when the team hits the court at 7 P.M. The Longhorns will be playing their first game in school history as the top-ranked team in the nation.

At first blush, the match-up with Iowa State seems like it should be a cakewalk, just another notch in the win column as the Longhorns march on to next week’s showdowns with Kansas State and Connecticut. But regardless of how good or bad the Cyclones are in any given year, Hilton Coliseum still manages to be a house of horrors for visiting opponents. The venue even has a name for its own special brand of home-court advantage — they call it “Hilton Magic.”

Add in the fact that every team plays with extra effort to knock off number one, and consider the always-dangerous possibility that players start buying into their own media hype, and you could have a recipe for an inexplicable stumble in an “easy” game. That’s why Coach Rick Barnes told his team on Monday afternoon “I can’t honestly tell you who the No. 1 team was in the country on the second week of January last year. But I do know who won the national championship.” Maintaining focus the rest of the way will be necessary for Texas to avoid an embarrassing pratfall.

By the numbers

Despite the fact that former Cyclone Wes Johnson is tearing it up for Syracuse, the current Iowa State squad is much improved from last season. Where once there was only Craig Brackins and a cast of underachieving role players, now there is depth and talent.

As a result, the Cyclones are enjoying efficiency numbers on both sides of the ball that rank in the top 100 in the country. They average a per-possession differential of +1.22 points, and as a result, they no longer have to play slow games where they attempt to limit the number of possessions.

The key component of the Iowa State offense is their three-point accuracy. While the Cyclones don’t actually take a ton of long-range looks, their incredible success rate from behind the arc opens up the inside game for their big men. Iowa State has made more than 42% of their three-point attempts, but still take nearly 70% of their shots from inside the arc.

Defensively, Iowa State provides a complete change of pace from the Colorado team that Texas just faced. While the Buffaloes constantly put their opponents on the free-throw line, only seven teams in the country do that less often than the Cyclones. For a Texas team that often struggles from the stripe, this could be a very good thing for the offense.

Although the Longhorns do struggle with free throws, Iowa State is yet another opponent that will have similar problems from the charity stripe. Just like Arkansas and North Carolina, the Cyclones leave a ton of points at the line, making just 63.3% of their attempts so far this year.

Meet the Cyclones

The only household name on the Iowa State roster is Craig Brackins (16.9 PPG/8.1 RPG). The junior toyed with heading to the NBA after last season, but returned for another year and was rewarded with Preseason All-American honors. At 6’10”, 230 pounds, Brackins is an extremely versatile player who can shoot from anywhere on the floor and can adequately handle any position in the lineup. His wide-ranging skill set allows Coach Greg McDermott much more flexibility with lineups, and it gives opposing defenses fits when trying to match up with him. Brackins is the team’s most accurate three-point shooter so far, hitting 52% of his 27 attempts, and that long-range threat allows him to pull bigger defenders out of the paint.

Newcomer Marquis Gilstrap (14.3 PPG/8.4 RPG) is a senior playing in his first season for the Cyclones. He transferred after playing one year at Gulf Coast Community College in Florida, where he suffered a horrible knee injury that sidelined him for all of 2006 and 2007. Iowa State is hoping to get him another year with a medical redshirt, but if this is truly his last collegiate season, he is certainly making the most of it.

Gilstrap is an incredibly athletic wing player with great handles, and can also score from anywhere on the court. His rebounding numbers are tops on the team, and although he’s only taken 39 threes, he’s made 41% of them. Just like Brackins, Gilstrap is a tough match-up, although he lacks some of the size to bang inside with the bigger post players of the Big 12.

The floor leader for Iowa State is Diante Garrett (8.4 PPG/5.4 APG), a 6’4″ guard who has a solid shot, but prefers to facilitate the offense. He can break down defenders off the dribble and get to the rack, but more often than not, Garrett dishes it off to one of his bigs when he penetrates the lane. He’s improved his defense in the offseason, which has earned him even more playing time at a position where the Cyclones are loaded with talent.

One of those other talented point guards is freshman Chris Colvin (3.2 PPG/2.1 APG). He was one of the nation’s top prospects at his position and provides solid defense with his really long wingspan. Fortunately for Texas, the freshman is suspended for this game for a violation of team rules. That suspension likely means more playing time tonight for sophomore guard Dominique Buckley (1.6 PPG), another steady ballhandler who provides depth at the point.

Also in the backcourt is German gunner Lucca Staiger (9.0 PPG/1.9 RPG). He leads the team in threes with 42, and is sinking them at nearly a 43% clip so far this season. He’s not very adept at creating his own shot, but the Cyclones are good when it comes to freeing him up for open looks. If they can set good screens tonight, Staiger will certainly knock down a few clutch triples.

The most surprising player of the season has to be big man Justin Hamilton. He’s a 6’11” sophomore from Utah who brought low expectations with him to Ames. He had a few breakout games in his freshman campaign, but has improved to become a consistent contributor this year. Hamilton started in each of the Cyclones’ first 14 games, but a head injury kept him out of Saturday’s win over North Dakota State.

If Hamilton is healthy enough to play tonight, his performance down low against the Texas frontcourt will be integral. Fail to produce, and the Longhorns can focus on shutting down Brackins and Gilstrap. Play well, and suddenly Texas has its hands full picking which poison to swallow.

Providing more depth in the frontcourt is junior college transfer LaRon Dendy (7.4 PPG/3.4 RPG). He is a big, long player who can really hang in the air to get rebounds and tip-ins. His scrappy style and hustle for loose balls really reminds me of Gary Johnson, and should the two directly match up tonight, it ought to be fun to see who wins the 50/50 balls. The biggest knock on Dendy, however, is his pitiful 47% mark at the free throw line, where the comparisons to Johnson quickly end.

Coming off the bench for Coach McDermott are a pair of marksmen in Jamie Vanderbeken (4.1 PPG) and Scott Christopherson (7.3 PPG). Vanderbeken is a senior whose minutes have been limited by the influx of talent to the Ames campus, but he still makes his presence known in his shorter stints on the court. He has knocked down 50% of his threes this year, although he has taken only 16 from behind the arc. Christopherson, meanwhile, has the same 50% success rate, but has put up 34 tries. A 6’3″ sophomore, Christopherson is a transfer from Marquette and is coming off of knee surgery in the off-season.

The final player in the ten-man rotation that the Cyclones employ is sophomore Charles Boozer (3.7 PPG/1.6 RPG). The younger brother of Utah Jazz star Carlos Boozer, the 6’3″ guard had a breakout game on Saturday against North Dakota State. After averaging just 2.6 points per contest coming into it, Boozer had 19 points filling in for the suspended Colvin. He did it with hustle and an impressive 7-of-11 shooting night, including 3-of-6 from long range. Look for Boozer to again grab a bunch of minutes at the two against Texas.

Keys to the game

The Longhorns have one of the nation’s best interior defenses statistically, and that will be tested against a deeper Iowa State frontcourt than we’ve seen in recent years. But where Texas is likely most vulnerable is on the perimeter, where the Cyclones are liable to get hot at a moment’s notice. In most shocking upsets, you’ll find that the less-talented team hit their fair share of three-pointers, and ISU is certainly capable of doing that tonight. Texas must limit the damage from long range.

If the Cyclones aren’t scoring three at a time, they are going to need a ton of points from their junior stud Brackins. While Gilstrap and Dendy are solid additions, they won’t be able to beat Texas on their own. If the Longhorns can turn Brackins into a mere mortal, it would seem that Iowa State has almost no chance to pull off the upset.

Our third thing to watch tonight is not a key, but rather a historical milestone. Damion James enters tonight’s game just eleven rebounds shy of claiming the all-time Big 12 crown, currently held by Kansas’ Nick Collison. It’s no guarantee that DaMo will hit the magic number against this Iowa State frontcourt, but there’s still a good possibility that the double-double machine could break the record tonight.

The Longhorns march into Big 12 play this afternoon with a perfect 14-0 mark, tied for the school’s best start in the modern era. Texas opened the season with 20 wins in 1932 and with a school-record 23 wins in 1923. While a chance to match those rarefied numbers is still weeks away and would require some tough road wins, the Longhorns do have a shot to storm into conference play with an opening slate that includes Colorado, Iowa State, and Texas A&M.

This afternoon’s opener comes against the Buffaloes, who were picked by most outlets to finish dead last in the conference. Don’t be surprised, however, if Jeff Bzdelik‘s team manages to climb out of the league cellar this year. Last season, the Buffs put scares into Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, despite having a very young team. They have added a solid five-man recruiting class to the mix, and finally have the offensive potency to move past the slow, grind-it-out style of basketball that Bzdelik had to implement in past seasons just to keep his team in the games.

Historical numbers are certainly not on Colorado’s side this afternoon. The Buffaloes have lost 26-straight road games in conference play, dating all the way back to January of 2006. Colorado has also lost twelve straight conference openers, while the Longhorns have won eleven consecutive home openers in conference play. If you put any stock into historical trends, things don’t look good for the visitors.

By the numbers

As we’ve mentioned already, the Buffaloes are no longer a slow-down team that hopes to win a game in the 50- or 60-point range. Their 69 possessions per game is soundly in the middle of the NCAA, although it is still a good deal slower than Texas’ 76-plus possessions per contest. While the Buffaloes may try to slow things down just a bit to mitigate the talent discrepancies in this game, this season they are certainly more capable of playing an up-tempo game with the Longhorns.

The thing that the Buffaloes do best is earn points at the line. They are one of the top 25 teams in the country at getting to the foul stripe, as their quick dribble drives and constant motion on offense often leads to opponents getting behind the play and hacking in desperation. Once Colorado gets to the line, they also make it worth their time. The Buffs are second in the nation with a 78.2% success rate at the stripe, and even led the country at one point earlier in the week.

Colorado is a smaller team that typically runs four guards and one undersized forward. Many of these “guards” actually play more of a swingman role for the team, but they are usually hanging around the perimeter unless they are driving to the basket. Even the Buffalo post player is often found near the three-point line, setting screens that open up driving lanes and get the team’s offense running. All of this adds up to absolutely awful offensive rebounding numbers. The Buffaloes grab barely more than a quarter of their misses, which is only 318th out of the 347 D-I schools.

The Buffaloes also make up for their size disadvantages by running a ton of different zone looks that confuse opponents and allow them to press the issue far from the basket. Unfortunately, when bigger teams manage to work it inside, the fouls pile up quickly for Colorado. The free-throw rate for the Buffaloes on defense is 309th in the nation, and the team’s platoon of big men has combined to foul out seven times this year.

Meet the Buffaloes

The biggest reason for the improvement in Colorado’s performance is the addition of five newcomers to the roster, although freshman Shannon Sharpe is medically redshirting this year after pre-season knee surgery. Coach Bzdelik addressed the team’s lack of height by adding 6’11” Aussie freshman Shane Harris-Tunks. He still needs some seasoning, but already has a good skill set thanks to his time spent at the Australian Institute of Sport.

Junior-college transfer Marcus Relphorde adds a tenacious rebounder to the roster, along with a solid passer in the high post. He also brings three-point range, which is a key in Bzdelik’s offense. While Relphorde can knock down the long-range shots, he’s struggled a bit from behind the arc so far this year. He’s made just 32.5% of his attempts, but is capable of much more. He certainly knows that, as he keeps firing up the long bombs — so many, in fact, that he’s second on the team in attempts.

The jewel of the class, however, is freshman Alec Burks. In his senior season of high school, Burks was named Gatorade’s Player of the Year in the state of Missouri, and he’s quickly making an impact in the college ranks. At 6’6″, he actually leads the team in rebounds and is second in scoring with 16.3 points per game. He is quick off the dribble, which opens up his teammates for good looks when he penetrates. His long wingspan is also very valuable when Colorado throws out their 1-3-1 zone and traps opponents on the wings.

The star of team is still Cory Higgins, who can beat you any way you want it. He’s a solid shooter, hitting just a shade under 50% from the field, and worked hard on his outside shot in the offseason. That work has led to a 40% mark from behind the arc this season, up from 36% last year. He’s also nearly automatic when he gets to the line, where last season he had streaks of 45 and 23 consecutive makes. This year, he’s knocked down 86% of his attempts from the line, and his quick attack on the dribble-drive means that defenders are often sending him there.

The other thing Higgins brings to the table is a set of really quick hands. He’s leading the team in steals, and was even near the top of the Big 12 ranks in that category last season. Texas has shown its moments of sloppiness and carelessness with the ball, so they will have to be careful when the junior guard is nearby on defense.

The Buffaloes score their points by driving and finding the open man, and often when the defenses collapse that means the open man is somewhere behind the arc. Texas has one of the best defenses in the country, but so far this season they have shown that they are content with stopping teams inside and daring opponents to beat them from outside. This could lead to a big day for Dwight Thorne II, who led the team in three-pointers last year and also was tops in accuracy from behind the arc. At the beginning of this season, he was the team’s starting point guard, but recently sophomore Nate Tomlinson has reclaimed those duties. As the sixth man, Thorne could be a key to this game with his long-range marksmanship.

The big man opening up Thorne on the perimeter is Austin Dufault, the lone forward in the starting lineup. Although he’s the team’s tallest starter at 6’9″, his biggest role in the offense is setting screens outside. Dufault was named Mr. Basketball in the state of North Dakota as a high school senior, and it’s his outside shot that sets him apart from other big men. That long-range threat is huge in the Colorado offense, as teams who choose to double the ballhandler after a screen will often pay when Dufault knocks down a triple. The big man is also second in rebounding on a team that will have issues with that this afternoon, so he’ll have to come up huge on the glass against the Texas frontcourt.

Sophomore point guard Tomlinson has made huge strides after a rookie year where he often struggled with the new offense he was asked to run. In addition to being a solid floor general, he’s also a solid shooter. Tomlinson takes less than five shots a game, though, so his scoring impact is usually negligible. If Texas leaves him open, you can probably bank on the Aussie sophomore tickling the twine.

Also coming off the bench for Coach Bzdelik are Keegan Hornbuckle and Casey Crawford. Hornbuckle is the fifth member of the recruiting class, and is a quality-shooting small forward. He has fairly limited minutes, though, so he will likely have a small impact on today’s game. Crawford is in his second year at CU after transferring from Wake Forest. He’s used mostly to spell Dufault, and is another big man who can knock down the three when he’s out there setting screens.

Keys to the game

The biggest advantage Texas has in this game — besides the talent differential — is a much bigger lineup. The Longhorns must dominate the rebounding battle, especially on the defensive end. Colorado is a very well-coached team that is loaded with good shooters, so limiting the Buffaloes to one-and-done possessions should squash any thoughts of an upset.

Beyond crashing the glass, the other main focus for Texas will be shutting down Higgins. In Boulder last February, the guard went off for 34 points as the Buffs pushed the Longhorns to overtime. This Texas team is much more sound on defense, but they had a lot of problems with another quick guard on Tuesday night, Arkansas’ Courtney Fortson. The Longhorns found themselves behind the play quite often, and their frustration fouls piled up. Texas will need to communicate on defense and help each other out if they hope to limit Higgins’ effectiveness.

While it’s been an issue all season long, Texas has certainly improved their free throw shooting in the last few games. As often as Colorado fouls opponents, though, tonight knocking down the freebies will be even more key than usual. The Buffaloes can level the talent disparity by making Texas earn their points, so we’ll likely see a ton of free throw attempts for the Horns this afternoon. Make them, and Texas should cruise to victory. Miss too many, and the final score will be a lot closer than it should be.

After a disappointing performance against an average Southland Conference team, the Longhorns look to bounce back quickly in a road test against Arkansas tonight. Last year, the Longhorns fell victim to an upset at this same arena, losing to a young Razorback team, 67-61. While this season’s Arkansas team isn’t as young, it’s possibly just as inexperienced, thanks to a handful of suspensions and dismissals.

Five different Razorbacks were suspended by Coach John Pelphrey at the start of the season, and while a few have rejoined the team, starting point guard Courtney Fortson is still missing in action. The coach is still tight-lipped about the suspension, refusing to say when — if ever — the sophomore will reclaim his duties as the team’s floor leader. Without Fortson in the mix, freshman point guard Julysses Nobles has been thrust into the role, where he has had his share of growing pains.

By the numbers

The Razorbacks are sitting at a perfect .500 record, having knocked off a handful of small schools like Delaware State and Alcorn State, while losing to a diverse group of teams including Louisville, Baylor, and Morgan State.

For Arkansas, the biggest problem is their lack of size, and it manifests itself in the rebounding battle. The Razorbacks grab just 30% of their offensive rebounding opportunities, placing the team firmly in the bottom third of the nation. On defense, they allow their opponents to snag 33% of their offensive board chances, which is a respectable number on the surface. But when you look closer at the stats, it’s clear that the numbers are skewed by the cupcakes on Arkansas’ schedule.

In the seven losses that the Razorbacks have suffered, they have not held an opponent to less than a 47.2% offensive rebounding mark. In six of those losses, Arkansas gave up more than 51% of the opportunities, with East Tennessee State recovering a ridiculous 69.4% of their chances. Against a much bigger and deeper Texas team, the Razorbacks are going to have their hands full keeping the Longhorns from cleaning up the offensive glass.

For the second-straight game, Texas will also be facing an opponent who mirrors their struggles from the line. While the Longhorns are hitting just 62.8% of their free throws, the Razorbacks are making 65% of their attempts. If tonight’s game turns into a physical foul-fest, both teams could leave a ton of points on the stripe.

Meet the Razorbacks

The key player for Arkansas is sophomore sharpshooter Rotnei Clarke. In his season debut, Clarke set a school record by scoring 51, knocking down 13 three-pointers on the night. He has a quick release and elevates well to get shots over taller defenders despite his 6-foot frame. Clarke is deceptively quick off the dribble, and worked hard on his runners in the off-season to make his game even more dangerous.

The Razorbacks spend a lot of their time setting screens off the ball for Clarke, and as a result, their offense can often bog down if the defense is successfully shutting down the long-range gunner. But when Clarke’s shot is falling, it opens things up inside for a pair of big men who can score in bunches.

Michael Washington is the center who benefits the most from the outside-in attack of the Razorbacks. But the 6’9” senior isn’t just a lump in the paint — he actually has three-point range, and will often try one or two trifectas per game. He’s very active on the glass and has a fairly consistent midrange jumper. This year, he’s third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding, providing 13.2 points and 5.6 boards per game.

The other man reaping the benefits when defenses key on Clarke is freshman forward Marshawn Powell. Like Washington, he has a nice midrange jumper and hustles for the rebounds against bigger, stronger opponents. Powell still needs to add some muscle to his 6’7” frame, but he’s playing very well for a freshman and is actually tops on the team with 6.6 boards per game. His 14.9 points are second on the team behind only Clarke.

Jermal Farmer is the other main scorer for Arkansas, making a quick impact after transferring from Cloud County College in Kansas. In his Razorback debut, Farmer scored 28 points, but was overshadowed by Clarke’s 51-point outburst. A 6’5” swingman, the Juco transfer is an incredibly athletic player, and one of the few on the Arkansas roster who can create his own shot.

As mentioned earlier, Nobles is a freshman guard who has been thrust into the starting role at the point thanks to Fortson’s suspension. He’s logged 60 dimes in his first fourteen games, but has posted an assist-to-TO ratio of just 1.54-to-1. Nobles hasn’t yet shown consistency from the floor this season, but his three-point percentage (36.8%) is actually second on the team behind Clarke’s astronomically-high 51% mark.

Marcus Britt and Stef Welsh are the only men off the bench who play more than 20 minutes a game, and they combine for 12.5 points per contest. Britt is a junior guard who has a steady hand with the ball and helps Nobles with distribution duties. Welsh is a senior who has locked down the sixth-man role and is best known for his stifling defense. Last year, he was the main man responsible for holding A.J. Abrams to just seven points.

Keys to the game

Based simply on the size mismatch and the trouble that Arkansas has on the glass, the rebounding battle will be key to the outcome tonight. If the Razorbacks want to have any chance at the home upset, they will have to keep Texas from piling up second-chance points, and they will have to earn their own extra possessions by beating the Longhorns on the offensive glass.

The other huge factor in tonight’s game will be the play of Clarke, the three-point specialist. If the suffocating Texas defense can limit his scoring, it will not only scuttle the Arkansas offense, but also exhaust the Razorbacks as they work even harder to free Clarke up for open looks. If Arkansas hopes to pull off a huge upset tonight, there is no doubt that the dead-eye sophomore must have a huge game.

Those two keys are essentially all that matters tonight. But for Texas fans, it will worth keeping an eye on what the Longhorns do against the zone looks that Arkansas will mix in. Texas seemed completely unwilling to attack the soft middle of the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi zone on Saturday, settling just for ball reversal on the perimeter and an excessive number of threes. The Longhorns simply must attempt to run some passes through the high post or attack the defense with some solid dribble penetration. If they can’t do it against the likes of Arkansas, they will have a really hard time getting any offense against many of their Big 12 foes.

The big finish

It’s interesting to note that both the Longhorn basketball and football teams are 13-0 as of this morning. If both can win their weekday games over the next three days, the the basketball team will match the best start in school history and the football team will win some sort of trophy. I hear it’s a shiny crystal thing that looks like a football…

This game preview is coming to you from the passenger seat of a car on northbound I-35, so further website updates will be at least a day away. We’ve got a nine-hour drive in store right after the game tonight, meaning that post-game thoughts — and a few thoughts about the A&M-CC disappointment — won’t be available until Wednesday night.

In the meantime, you can get quick updates from the road and Bud Walton Arena by following our Twitter @LonghornRdTrip. Don’t say it — we know. The whole idea of the Twitter thing seems a bit ridiculous, and we were more than resistant to the idea. But after much convincing, we finally realized that it does provide an incredibly easy way to update from inside the games, and even allowed us to break the diagnosis of Varez Ward’s injury a full twelve hours before the mainstream media. If you don’t feel like following our updates on another whole website, don’t fret — in theory, we’ll even have the Twitter updates lodged into this website’s sidebar in the near future.

For those of you fortunate enough to not be living in the state of Arkansas — or crazy enough to make the drive — you’ll have to catch tonight’s action on ESPN2. Enjoy the game, and we’ll see you folks here again tomorrow night.

No, the title doesn’t say “pasties.” That would be an entirely different sort of game preview. What it does say is patsies, the collective noun for the awful-to-middling teams that the Longhorns face in non-conference when not squaring off against the North Carolinas and Michigan States of the world. With Tuesday’s road trip to Arkansas looming on the horizon and conference play starting up on Saturday, this afternoon’s contest with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi represents the final “easy” win on the schedule.

While the Islanders likely won’t provide much of a threat to the Longhorns’ perfect mark this afternoon, they are infinitely better than the teams from Gardner-Webb and UT-Pan American that played sacrificial lamb at the Erwin Center. A&M-Corpus Christi started their season with a convincing 67-43 win over Oregon State at Texas Tech’s “Duel in the Desert” event. Since then, they’ve added a trio of wins against teams that play in Division II, and destroyed UT-Pan Am at home. Unfortunately for the visiting Islanders, they are 0-5 in road games this year.

By the numbers

Coach Perry Clark has taken the Islanders in a different direction since Ronnie Arrow led the team to a Southland Conference championship and nearly a first-round upset over 2-seed Wisconsin in the NCAAs. While Arrow’s teams were pushing the tempo and forcing a ton of turnovers, the current batch of Islanders are perfectly content playing half-court games, where they rely on a stout defense to earn their victories.

The biggest hole in the A&M-CC game is at the free throw line. It may be hard for Texas fans to believe, but the Islanders actually shoot a lower percentage from the stripe than the Longhorns do. No, really — it’s true. Texas A&M-CC shoots just 60.5% from the free-throw line, while the Longhorns have improved to 62.2% after Tuesday evening’s solid shooting night.

Another issue for the Islanders is their trouble hanging on to the basketball. They cough it up on more than a quarter of their possessions, which is 332nd in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy. While that percentage only equates to about 18 turnovers per game, A&M-Corpus Christi plays a much slower brand of basketball than what they will see today. The up-tempo pace of Texas basketball means that the Islanders could likely turn it over 25 times this afternoon.

Meet the Islanders

Everything in the Corpus offense starts and ends with Kevin Palmer. At 6’6″ and 205 pounds, his natural position is small forward. But due to injuries last season, he was forced to play in the backcourt and turned out to be quite the facilitator. Palmer dished out 94 assists, tops on the team, while also leading the Southland Conference in scoring with 18.2 points per game. Back in the frontcourt this season, his scoring has increased to 20.2 PPG to go along with 5.6 boards per contest.

The reason Palmer has been able to shift back to forward is that freshman point guard Terence Jones was finally cleared to play by the NCAA. He’s responded quickly, scoring more than eight per game, and has reclaimed the team lead in assists from Palmer. He’s a strong 6’2″ guard that fits well into Clark’s defense-focused game plan, but he will certainly have his hands full with the high-powered Texas offense.

Jones’ newfound eligibility also allows guards LaMarr Drake and Shamar Coombs to shift off the ball to shooting guard, after splitting the duties at point last season. Drake missed the second half of the year after being ruled academically ineligible, forcing Coombs to take the reigns the rest of the season. This year, Coombs has been fairly invisible on the offensive end, scoring less than five points a game while posting a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. Drake, meanwhile, is having his own struggles. He finally made his season debut against Kent State, and his first three games back have been shaky.

Where the Islanders have made their hay this season has been inside. In addition to Palmer, they are relying on the solid play of forwards Demond Watts and Justin Reynolds. They are 1-2 on the squad in rebounding, combining for fourteen boards per game, while they are responsible for almost 20 points per game for the Islanders.

Big man Filip Toncinic could be the most interesting match-up for Texas, as he checks in at an even 7-feet. Coming off the bench, he is a much bigger contributor on defense than offense. Although he scores just five points per game, his defensive presence is game-changing. He has only seven blocks on the season, but having Toncinic down low forces opponents to find other ways to attack the defense. It should be interesting to see the shot-averse Dogus Balbay drive the lane when the seven-footer is in the game.

Horace Bond is a junior who has started every game this season and last season, and provides solid numbers on the glass. He’s playing more than 25 minutes per game this year, and is chipping in nearly six points per contest. Interestingly enough, his 44% shooting from three-point is tops on the team, but he has taken just nine attempts this year. That stat will likely not matter in a game as lopsided as this one, but don’t be surprised if, at one point this afternoon, the big man steps out and tickles the twine from long range.

Marcus Hammond is the only other Islander who plays significant minutes. At 6’5″, 200 pounds, he backs up superstar Palmer and provides steady minutes down low. He won’t make a huge impact on the game today, unless Palmer finds himself in foul trouble.

Keys to the game

As is usually the case in games like this, the only true key for the Longhorns is to show up on time for the game. But for Texas fans, there are a handful of things we’ll be keeping our eye on as we look ahead to conference play….

Can Texas keep up the solid free-throw shooting? — It’s been an Achilles heel all season long, but Tuesday night provided a glimmer of hope for Longhorn fans. Was the 76.2% mark against Gardner-Webb a sign of things to come, or just an aberration?

How will J’Covan Brown bounce back? — The freshman guard had a really tough night shooting the ball on Tuesday. He’s certainly never been one to shy away from an open look, so we have no doubt he’ll keep firing it up this afternoon. What is a question is how he’ll respond if he has a second-straight cold game. For the sake of the Longhorns, we hope he lights it up against A&M-CC and no one ever has to find out.

Can Jai Lucas keep it up? — He has a funky shot and a severe height disadvantage. But Jai Lucas proved just how dangerous he is from long range when he went 5-of-7 on Tuesday night. If he keeps shooting that way, the Longhorn offense becomes even more dangerous, and Texas can truly become an inside-out kind of team. If Lucas lights it up again tonight, it will officially become time to feel giddy.

Seats still remain

This sub-head shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. It’s a 16,000-seat arena in the middle of a football state in early January, and the opponent is a directional school that most have never heard of. But fortunately for Austin-area basketball fans, UT’s marketing department is committed to filling those seats. All mezzanine tickets to this afternoon’s game are just $3, so you have no reason not to grab the family and head down to the Drum for the cheapest afternoon of family time you can find. Plus, the lower bowl will likely be half-full, so you can move the kiddos down closer to the action whenever you want.

For those staying at home, you can catch the game on Fox Sports Southwest in the state of Texas. Elsewhere in the country, you’ll have to be subscribed to ESPN Full Court, or use ESPN360.com if your internet provider doesn’t suck. We’ll see you Sunday evening with the breakdown.

After a pair of games against top-ten opponents, the Longhorns take it down a notch tonight in a home contest against the vastly overmatched Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. Much like the UT-Pan American game, this one will be out of hand very, very early. As a result, this game preview will be short and sweet, focusing more on the big picture than on the specific players facing off against the Horns.

First and foremost, you can ignore every single person who points out that the Bulldogs defeated Kentucky on the road two years ago. This is a completely different Gardner-Webb team, and those Wildcats were also a completely different team. This year’s Runnin’ Bulldogs have managed just three wins, and not a single one of them came against Division I competition. While Gardner-Webb has a very tough, challenging schedule, the results have been embarrassing. Excluding a two-point loss in their conference opener against UNC-Asheville, the Runnin’ Bulldogs have lost their games by an average of 31.5 points and have not kept it closer than a 16-point loss to Western Carolina.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs love to push the tempo, proving that their mascot is anything but a misnomer. The Longhorns play the 8th-fastest style of basketball in the country, while Gardner-Webb is the 20th-fastest, so expect a ton of possessions and a lot of points. And because the visiting team does so many things horribly, expect a vast majority of those points to be scored by Texas.

You may be asking your computer screen, “Just how horribly can a Division I team play?” We’ll let stat guru Ken Pomeroy’s numbers do the talking. In the simplest of terms, red is bad. The darker the red, the worse your team is at that aspect of the game. Gardner-Webb’s numbers have more red than a Soviet flag.

You can also take a look at the numbers framed in brackets next to each stat. That represents where Gardner-Webb ranks in relation to the rest of Division I basketball teams for that statistic. For ten different factors out of the twenty listed, the Runnin’ Bulldogs are 310th or worse. It should be noted that there are only 347 teams that play men’s basketball at the NCAA Division I level.

Texas also has a massive size advantage over Gardner-Webb and should have its way in the paint tonight. The tallest Bulldog who sees significant minutes is Auryn McMillan, a 6’8″ senior from Australia who averages 8.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. His backup is another Australian, the 6’11” Matt Maden. While he averages less than four minutes a game, Maden will likely be called upon for some extra playing time against the much bigger Texas frontcourt.

Having said all that, it should already be apparent that tonight the only real key is to see how Texas plays after the holiday break. How will Dexter Pittman respond after missing most of the Michigan State game with foul trouble? Will Jai Lucas have a breakout performance in only his third game as a Longhorn? Can Dogus Balbay set a new career high with three dunks in one game?

For those not in Austin or not willing to brave the cold for this inevitable beatdown, the game will be aired in Texas on Fox Sports Net. Longhorn fans spread across the nation can check it out on ESPN Full Court, or at ESPN360.com, if your ISP allows it. For now, enjoy the lopsided affair, and we’ll be back tomorrow for the post-mortem.