Just a quick hit from Oklahoma City, as we’re soon heading to the Ford Center to try to scalp our way into the semis. While it was hilarious to see the Ags fall flat on their faces after talking shit all afternoon, the win by Oklahoma State is making tickets harder to come by.

If you happened to miss last night’s incredible comeback victory over Baylor, you saved yourself the craziest rollercoaster of emotions I’ve ever experienced at a sporting event. Of course, you also didn’t get to see the biggest comeback in Big 12 Tournament history and in Rick Barnes’ tenure on the 40 Acres. C’est la vie.

Kevin Durant started the game by missing his first ten or eleven shots. But the cold shooting wasn’t limited to KD. Tons of good looks from the Horns were just rimming out, and point blank shots were banking hard off the glass. Combined with Baylor’s hot shooting, Texas’ offensive impotence gave the Bears a huge 18-point halftime lead.

In the second, BU pushed the lead as large as 20 points before the rally began. Kevin Durant scored 24 points in the second half alone and kept the team fired up as they dug their way out of the hole. The surprise player of the game was senior Craig Winder, who played twelve minutes off the bench in relief of a largely ineffective Justin Mason. Winder scored eight points, including a bucket with just under two minutes left to take the lead.

All told, it was a game that truly defied explanation. But I may try to revisit it after the weekend comes to a close. For now, we push onward to a quick look at this afternoon’s game.

The win sets up a semifinal matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys today at roughly 3:20 P.M. For a recap on their star players, please check out my pregame thoughts from the triple-overtime game in Stillwater and the blowout in Austin.

I think the key thing to remember in this one is that the Pokes are going to be playing their fifth game in eight days. While the Horns have a short bench, they did get some good minutes out of Winder last night to keep the three starting guards fresh. The OSU fatigue might not be a visible factor until the game gets to crunch time, but the Horns need to make sure they are ahead or within striking distance when those final five minutes roll around.

For now, it’s off to downtown OKC and the Ford Center. TV is ESPN2 for this contest (Big XII markets check your local listings), so be sure to tune in. Otherwise, you just might miss a 30-point comeback or a four-overtime thriller.

For the third time in six weeks, the Texas Longhorns and Baylor Bears are going to tangle on the hardwood. The first contest resulted in a narrow five-point victory for the Horns in Austin, while the final minute of the game in Waco turned into a nailbiter with Texas finishing on top by a point. This time, the two teams play on a neutral court in the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City.

Baylor advanced to the tournament quarterfinals by absolutely dismantling the 6-seed Missouri Tigers, 97-83. But while the green-and-gold faithful were certainly pleased with the school’s first tourney win since 2001, perhaps the biggest Bear fan on Thursday night was Connor Atchley.

Over the last four games, Atchley has hit something of a slump. He seems to have lost the confidence he was building late in the season, losing position on rebounds and disappearing from the offensive mix. But in his two games against Baylor this season, he was the most important Longhorn on the floor. In the previous two match-ups, C.Atch had a combined 24 points, fourteen rebounds, and three blocks. If there’s anything that’s going to get his confidence back for a great March run, it’s another shot at the Bears.

It’s certainly tough to beat the same team three times in one season, particularly one that has played you tough in the first two battles. Tonight is a scary proposition, as Texas comes into this contest with nothing but pride on the line. The Horns are already assured an NCAA berth based on their resumé, and seem to have played themselves well beyond the dreaded 7-to-10 seed range. At this point, the Big 12 Tournament is nothing but an opportunity to get a pretty trophy. Granted, if Texas is to win another game over A&M, the argument could be made that they deserve to slide up the S-curve — but is that even worth it with the short bench at Rick Barnes’ disposal?

If you can’t remember what to look for in the Baylor Bears, you’ve got both of my earlier game previews to provide greater detail on the opponents. In the first game, Texas played a Baylor team at full strength, while the second time around, superstar Aaron Bruce rested a bum ankle on the bench.

As always, Kevin Rogers is a threat against a less-talented Texas frontcourt. But he’s also very foul prone, which serves well to negate that threat. In both of the first two games, he finished with four personals. The rest of the Baylor frontcourt plays well below their potential, leaving Texas most concerned with the perimeter game of the Bears.

Bruce is obviously a tough defensive assignment. In the first game, Baylor constantly ran screens along the baseline to free up their Aussie star for open three-point looks. We’re sure to see a ton of the same tonight, although Texas cannot afford to only focus on Bruce. Austin-product Curtis Jerrells can knock down the three, as can Henry Dugat and young Tweety Carter. It seems that Texas has taken some steps forward in their perimeter defense since the early February disasters, but tonight will certainly let us know exactly how far they have progressed.

Horn fans should also keep an eye on the production from Damion James and Matt Hill. Late in the season, James has really blossomed into the offensive threat we were all looking for, and his increased output will be necessary for a deep March run. Having all five starters as viable scoring options makes the Longhorns a very tough team to game-plan for, particularly with the short turnarounds between tournament games.

Meanwhile, Hill is coming back from a stress fracture that sidelined him for a month and a half, including both of the earlier games with Baylor. With Texas essentially running a six-man rotation during the homestretch of the season, it will be extremely helpful for Matt to provide some much-needed bench relief in the frontcourt. I don’t think that Dexter Pittman will fare well against Baylor’s up-tempo attack tonight, so that leaves only Atchley and Hill to rotate in for Barnes down low.

As I mentioned earlier, a win today is not that important for Texas. The 2003 Final Four team lost their first Big 12 tournament game and then went on to win four straight games in the Big Dance. I would not be disappointed to see Craig Winder out there eating up minutes for Coach Barnes while he rests the overworked backcourt of D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams. If that results in a loss, so be it. I’d rather our team be on a full tank of gas next Thursday or Friday. And besides, who honestly wants to spend a whole weekend in Oklahoma?

Thirteen-plus hours in a car, random snow flurries, a trip to an airport 2347132 miles outside the city, and a 30-minute adventure to the most ghetto McDonald’s ever resulted in a 3 A.M. hotel check-in. That means I’m going straight to bed in order to be ready for the 11 A.M. tip instead of taking the time to write you a comprehensive look at the Jayhaws.

Suffice it to say that they are good. All five starters are excellent, and they have McD’s All-Americans coming in off the freakin bench. (For those unfamiliar with Kansas’ all-star lineup, that would be Darrell “Slim Shady” Arthur and Sherron Collins.) Their big men are going to give us fits, so we need another big game from Damion James, and we need Connor Atchley to bring back the improved play we saw flashes of earlier this season.

Texas is playing for a second-straight co-championship, while Kansas is hoping to win the league outright after having their own consecutive pair of shared titles. It’s not going to be easy, considering Texas A&M is the only Big 12 South team to ever win in Allen Fieldhouse. But this Texas team is hotter than its been all season, and another victory over a top ten team in just four days can cement the Horns as a legitimate threat for a deep tournament run. Don’t hold your breath for the upset, but also don’t be surprised when Texas shows that they can hang with a supremely talented ballclub.

For much more detail, please check out the excellent game preview that the folks at Burnt Orange Nation put together. It will get you much better prepared for the big match-up than my sleep-deprived, gloss-over attempt ever could.

Texas A&M (24-4 overall, 12-2 Big 12)comes to town tonight to face the Longhorns in a game that both must win in order to keep themselves in the mix for the conference title. Add that bit of drama to the passion always attached to this rivalry, and the Drum is bound to be absolutely electric. Can you remember the last time there was this much excitement about a basketball game with the Aggies? This newfound rivalry is nothing but great for basketball in the state of Texas, and the energy surrounding this game is contangious.

If you don’t recall what happened last time out, this handy-dandy link should help refresh your memory. Texas hung with the Aggies for 30-35 minutes by attacking the rim and getting to the line. In the end, A&M pulled away with a ton of offensive rebounds and fast-break points against a Texas team that looked like it had hit the wall.

The key players for the Ags are Joseph Jones and Antanas Kavaliauskas in the paint and Acie Law IVXCLMIIX at the point. For a more detailed rundown on the team, you can check out the game preview from the first match-up.

While these three are the most reliable stars for Coach Billy Gillispie, all of his players are scoring threats and he even gets quality contributions from the bench. To stop Texas A&M, it’s really a game of pick your poison. Work too hard on guarding the perimeter, and AK and Jones will destroy you inside. Pack the lane, and the Ags will shoot right over the Horns. Fortunately, A&M does not often grab their offensive rebounds, so Texas will need to corrall those misses and limit the Aggie possessions to one-and-done.

On the offensive end, the Horns need to continue with what worked in College Station. Namely, attack the rim and draw the fouls that come with A&M’s aggressive defensive style. It’d also be great to keep knocking down the free throws that gets you, something the Horns had a hard time doing in the second half in College Station. Of course, they shot something like 99.9999999% at the line in the first half, so it really was just the law of averages setting in.

In the second half of the first game, Texas A&M sagged their zone and dared the Horns to shoot over it. Too often, Texas obliged and went away from what had worked so well for them. I would not be surprised to see Gillispie utilize the same defensive scheme tonight. It’s key that Texas not fall into the trap a second time.

I’m not holding out a whole lot of hope for a victory tonight, but I would love to be proven wrong. I had the same sinking feelings before we headed to the neutral-site game against LSU, and that turned out well. Of course, A&M is a much stronger team than the Tigers and are ridiculously good on both sides of the ball. Fortunately, the crowd should be fired up tonight and the Erwin Center uncharacteristically deafening. Hopefully that means the home-court advantage will come into play. We’ll find out at 8 P.M. tonight.

In roughly twelve hours, we hit the road for Norman, Oklahoma. This may elicit sympathy from you, the reader. Perhaps you even instinctively let out a small cry of pain. It’s okay. That reaction is completely normal. For me, the feeling is a lot like sitting in the waiting room when you’re four and need your immunizations for the first day of school. Except, of course, that being in Oklahoma sucks a lot more.

The Texas Longhorns (20-7 overall, 10-3 Big 12) head into this road trip on a roll, winners of their last four. The homestanding Sooners (15-11, 6-7), on the other hand, come in on a slide. They’ve lost three in a row and now have both Texas and Kansas in the next three days. If the Sooners can’t pull off the win tomorrow, things could get ugly.

If you don’t remember much about Oklahoma from the first match-up, feel free to re-read my preview of that game. The biggest difference this time around will be the addition of Longar Longar, who was suspended the first time the two teams met. He’s one hell of an offensive rebounder and will be a big match-up problem for Texas down low.

In addition to Longar, senior Nate Carter is a force in the Sooner frontcourt. Although it seems like he’s been at OU for 16 seasons — breaking Hollis Price’s record by one year — he doesn’t play like an old man. Carter is averaging eleven points per game, and is also going to challenge Connor Atchley and Damion James in the paint.

For a Texas team that often struggles to defend the perimeter, this poor-shooting OU team is a great match-up. David Godbold is leading the Sooners from behind the arc, with only a 36% success rate from three-point range. But percentages aside, Michael Neal is truly the biggest long-range threat for OU. Although he is only at 30% on the season, he has warmed up during Big 12 play, hitting at a 44% clip against league opponents. If Coach Barnes continues to challenge A.J. Abrams defensively, this is the man I’d expect to see him guarding.

The first meeting between these two teams was a one-sided affair that the Longhorns absolutely ran away with. Although the final score only showed an 11-point victory for Texas, they coasted with a 20-point advantage for much of the game before most of the starters were pulled. A huge reason for the Longhorn domination was a lopsided 32-20 tally on the boards, which helped lead to a 16-6 victory in second-chance points.

The addition of Longar inside is going to make it more difficult for the Horns to rebound, but I feel that they still can control the rebounding margin. If they don’t, the Sooners have a much better chance of ending the skid and defending their home court. They simply don’t have the outside shooters to keep up with Texas, so they are going to need as many easy buckets inside as they can get. If the Horns keep OU off the offensive glass, I don’t think the Sooners have a chance.

With Oklahoma State losing on Wednesday night, the Longhorns secured a first-round bye in the conference tournament. That makes these final three games a bit like gambling with someone else’s money. The Horns are likely already in the NCAAs, and are now only playing for better seeding. The OU contest is the one of the three remaining games that they are most likely to win, so it’d be great to steal a road win and push the victory total up above twenty. But a loss is not the end of the world, and that is a great relief after the amount of turnover the Horns experienced in the offseason.

The Time Warner DVR guide in Austin says that the game will air on Channel 23, but apparently there were some issues with Tuesday night’s game on that channel. My best advice would be to check out a sports bar with a satellite package, just in case Time Warner somehow botches the broadcast again. But if you’re feeling a little more adventurous, there are still tickets available. Feel free to come join us in the sixth circle of Hell Norman.