For the first time in more than a month, the Texas Longhorns have a winning streak.

While two wins in a row is not a whole lot to crow about, Wednesday night’s 69-59 victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys is a huge step in the right direction for a team that had lost six out of its last ten. The win pushes the Longhorns to 8-6 in league play, and into a three-way tie for fourth with Baylor and Texas A&M, two teams they will face — on the road — in their last three games.

Things didn’t start off beautifully for Texas, as Oklahoma State shot nearly 50% from the field for a majority of the first half, including a 6-of-12 mark from behind the arc. The Longhorns did force eight turnovers in the first half, but the flurry of long-range scoring for the Pokes ensured that Texas could find no breathing room in the first twenty minutes.

James Anderson also couldn’t find much breathing room for those first twenty minutes, as Justin Mason and solid help defense limited the Big 12 Player of the Year candidate to just six first half points. Five of those came in the first three minutes, but Anderson was held scoreless from the field for more than 24 minutes after that.

In the second half, it was the entire Oklahoma State offense that couldn’t breathe. The Pokes were limited to 2-of-10 shooting from behind the arc, and shot just 33% from the field. Anderson was able to add another eight points to his total, but OSU managed just 24 total points in the final twenty minutes. The Texas defense took all of its little lapses from the first half and completely eliminated them in the second.

Beyond the defense, the biggest storyline of the night came from the biggest player on the court. Against a much smaller Oklahoma State lineup, Dexter Pittman finally turned in the performance fans have been waiting for since Fayetteville. After Texas mustered only six points in the paint during the first half, the start of the second half was all about Pittman. The Longhorns made a concerted effort to get him the ball inside, and his strong moves with the ball made it clear he wasn’t going to be stopped.

Dexter’s final line on the night was 16 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in 20 minutes. If that is the kind of production Texas can get from him down the stretch, there’s not much more you can ask for. Pittman is not a guy who needs to be playing 25-plus minutes per game because it limits his effectiveness. Dexter can’t hang with run-and-gun teams, and big men with long range can pull him out of the paint and limit his defensive presence. But in games like this one, he’s one of the most effective weapons the Longhorns have, and he’ll have to produce at that level the rest of the way.

As always, Damion James turned in a huge effort for the Horns. He knocked down a ton of midrange jumpers in the first half to kickstart the offense, and pulled down seven boards on the night. His 19 points were certainly important, but what was much more notable was his 6-of-8 performance at the line. Heading into the game, James was shooting just 64% from the charity stripe.

Also impressive was Jordan Hamilton, who did so many little things right tonight. For one, his defense was much improved. Even when he was beat my his man, it wasn’t for lack of effort. Oftentimes this season it has seemed like Hamilton only cared to play on one side of the ball, but not in this game. Not only did he move laterally and pressure the ball on defense, but he made smart decisions with the ball on offense. He took the open three-point looks against the zone in the first half, then took the ball to the rim when OSU played the perimeter later in the game. And, most importantly, Hamilton passed the ball instead of forcing it when there was nothing there.

Apart from the continual free throw woes (21-of-36 on the night), the biggest disappointment in this game was J’Covan Brown. Coach Rick Barnes inserted the freshman back into the starting lineup after limiting him to just five minutes against Texas Tech on Saturday. Unfortunately, Brown seemed to be trying to prove himself the entire time and looked completely uncomfortable on the floor. When J’Covan is playing freely, attacking the defense, and finding his open teammates, the Longhorns are tough to stop. But if Brown is going to respond to the spotlight the way he did tonight, Texas is going to have to struggle through the rest of the year with a point guard by committee.

Looking ahead

The regular season sweep of Oklahoma State has positioned the Longhorns to make a late-season push for one of the first-round byes in the league’s conference tournament. Texas, A&M, and Baylor are all tied for fourth place, and are just a game behind Missouri in third. The Tigers still have games left with Kansas and Kansas State, while the Longhorns travel to both College Station and Waco. With just three games left on the schedule, everything is truly still up in the air.

When a team has lost five of its last seven games, any win is a big win. When a team has lost five of seven and then wins by forty points, that’s flat-out monumental. While Texas’ 91-51 win did come against the league’s cellar dwellers, this afternoon’s performance was so different from what fans have seen from the Longhorns the last three weeks that it can’t help but to inspire some hope.

Naysayers will latch on to Nebraska’s record and paint this as nothing but an anomaly from a Texas team that is on life support. But what is lost amidst the 1-9 conference record and the absolute mudholing that took place at the Frank Erwin Center is the fact that this Nebraska team is very, very stingy on defense.

The Cornhuskers led the Big 12 in field goal percentage coming into this game, while their defensive efficiency of 0.936 points per possession was 66th in the nation. By our rough math, Texas posted an efficiency mark of more than 1.2 points per possession against that typically-stout Husker defense. An offensive explosion like that could mean that maybe — just maybe — after nearly four months of tinkering with the lineup, Rick Barnes has finally found something that works.

What looked good

The story of the game was the promotion of J’Covan Brown to the starting lineup, and the difference was quickly apparent. With a slashing guard in the lineup who actually possesses the ability to finish at the rim, the Longhorns were able to make the Husker defense react and leave other men open. This resulted in an excessive number of open looks, and Texas shot more than 61% from the field in the first half, including 7-of-11 from behind the arc.

As Barnes continued toying with new lineup combinations, Dexter Pittman and Dogus Balbay saw their playing time decrease. Shockingly enough, the Longhorn offense looked even better for it. Texas’ half-court sets suddenly featured excellent spacing, while having Jordan Hamilton and Gary Johnson on the court for longer stretches meant that defenses had to defend tall, quality shooters even further from the paint.

Hamilton’s play was the most impressive, when you consider where he’s come from. Sure, Avery Bradley lit up the scoreboard with an insane 6-of-6 start from behind the arc. But it was Hamilton who had clearly made adjustments to his game, as he tried very hard to avoid the mistakes that had hampered his play in previous weeks. Jordan was passing up the types of contested shots he willingly threw up against the likes of Oklahoma and Kansas, instead opting to work the ball inside. Lo and behold, when the Texas post players drew defensive help, Hamilton was left with open looks — and he often made them count.

Jordan’s final line was a staggering 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal. After going 3-of-21 in his last two games with just one assist to four turnovers, Hamilton’s performance against Nebraska was the definition of a 180. He certainly still needs to work on his defense and was still getting an earful from Coach Barnes in the second half, but if that is the kind of night Hamilton can have on a regular basis, it will be tough to beat the Longhorns in the future.

At the point, Brown continued to show his own growth. While he still favors the flashy pass to the safe one — sometimes to his own detriment — Brown now seems to recognize where the ball needs to go and isn’t always in shoot-first mode. His ridiculous alley-oop to Bradley late in the first half will likely be on every set of Texas highlights the rest of the year, but he made an equally impressive no-look feed into the post in the second half that left Nebraska frozen. Brown’s defense was much better tonight, and he posted a 2-to-1 assist-to-TO ratio in his 30 minutes on the court.

The play of the experienced frontcourt might have been overshadowed by the fantastic performances from the freshman trio, but it was definitely worth noting. Johnson and Damion James quietly posted identical 13-point, 9-rebound lines, but perhaps more importantly combined to shoot 8-of-10 from the line. For Texas to be successful, James and Johnson have to play well both in the midrange and in the paint, which means that they must make it count when they are fouled inside. It’s been well-documented how Damion’s free-throw woes have cost Texas in the past, but the importance of him converting from the stripe cannot be overstated.

What needed work

While the win was dominating and the offense impressive, there were still some things that were disappointing for the Longhorns. Perhaps most troubling was another weak performance from Pittman. The big man played just 16 minutes this afternoon, and his offensive woes against the constant double-teams continued. Defensively, Dexter still played very, very well, stifling the Nebraska bigs and logging an authoritative block. But considering the Texas offense looked much more fluid without him taking up space inside, it may be time to think about the role Big Dex serves in the Texas gameplan. Perhaps the Longhorns are best served by utilizing Pittman in short stretches, where he serves to ramp up the physicality and defensively own the paint.

In addition, Jai Lucas did not show much in his twenty minutes on the court. It should be noted that Jai didn’t do anything particularly poorly, and in fact made quite a few hustle plays that are worth mentioning. His scramble for a loose ball led to the Brown-Bradley alley oop, and he pulled down a pair of boards amidst much taller traffic.

Unfortunately, Jai gives up so much height that it’s nearly impossible for him to get off a shot, which makes him as much of an offensive liability as Balbay and Justin Mason. The difference is that those two players bring a defensive intensity to the court which earns them solid minutes, while Lucas’ vertical shortcomings make him a liability on defense, too. It’s not that Lucas is really doing anything wrong when he’s on the floor, but there’s no question that there are other players who can provide more if given some of Jai’s minutes.

Looking ahead

Seeing Texas play a free and open style of basketball was exciting and certainly came as a breath of fresh air after the last few weeks. But looking ahead to the next opponent, this up-tempo style might be a tad worrisome. The Missouri Tigers live for high-speed basketball where they can force mistakes and score easy buckets, so if Texas elects to continue this style of play, they will have to be very, very careful to maintain ball control.

Meanwhile, the picture in the muddled Big 12 became a little clearer on Saturday afternoon. At the beginning of the day, there were just two games separating second place from eighth place. Thanks to losses by Texas Tech and Oklahoma, the group vying for those first-round byes became a little bit smaller. Now, K-State and A&M are tied for second at 7-3, while Baylor, Missouri, and Texas are just a game behind. While a win on Wednesday night will not be easy, knocking off the Tigers would be a huge boost as Texas works towards one of the top four seeds in the conference tournament.

Ten out of twenty-seven. That’s 37%, or the embarrassing performance the Texas Longhorns turned in at the free-throw line on Saturday afternoon. Damion James did his part in scuttling the team’s percentage, making just four out of thirteen attempts from the stripe. Meanwhile, the Sooners made 20-of-28. Look at those numbers for just a second. James missed more free throws than the entire Oklahoma team, and they took fifteen more shots from the line!

It wasn’t just free-throw woes that cost the team. The Longhorns wasted possessions with stupid shot selection, and had a ton of missed opportunities at the rim. Dogus Balbay twice made nice moves to get to the basket, but instead of providing his typical two or four points, he missed the easiest shot in the sport. Jordan Hamilton‘s Edward Hyde showed up just one game after he had performed as Henry Jekyll, resulting in selfish possessions that ended with bad decisions and forced shots.

The only bright spots in the game for Texas were Dexter Pittman and Avery Bradley. While Bradley took some poor shots of his own early in the game, he settled down and provided a fantastic 21-point performance, including 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc. As Avery improved his offensive game, his defense tightened up as well. Oklahoma’s Tommy Mason-Griffin was no longer able to create the minuscule separation he needs to sink threes, and Bradley moved with exceptional quickness to shut down TMG’s drives down the stretch.

Pittman, meanwhile, played with fire in the paint. When Texas made a concerted effort to feed him in the post, he made good decisions with the ball and had the patience to take what the defense gave him. Unfortunately, Dexter spent half the game on the bench, and not due to foul trouble. While Coach Barnes was electing to use slashers like Hamilton, the lack of a true post player made it difficult for the Longhorns to capitalize once the defense collapsed on the driving wingman. As a result, Jordan didn’t have a wide-open outlet down low, and rather than kicking it out to reset, he often chunked up ugly, contested shots.

If you’re into moral victories, you could also say that the second-half comeback by Texas was something to hang your hat on. And to be fair, it truly is reassuring to see that the team didn’t fold at half and just mail it in for the final twenty minutes. But at the same time, that very comeback is what makes this loss so incredibly frustrating. After a first half where Ray Charles would have made a three if he were wearing a Sooner jersey, Texas fought back from an 18-point deficit and was down just six with ten minutes left. Oklahoma gave Texas every chance to erase the deficit and win the game, but the Longhorns simply ignored the opportunities. Whether it was the missed free throws, the empty possessions, or just stupid turnovers, Texas refused to capitalize.

Perhaps the only positive that can come from this game was the delicious cherry turnover I enjoyed at an Arby’s in Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma. Thanks to the 11 Texas turnovers in the game and an awesome marketing department at OU, my delicious treat was free.

Oklahoma State led the visiting Longhorns by nine points with two minutes left in the first half. Junior guard James Anderson had 22 of his team’s 34 points on 8-of-9 shooting, incuding a perfect 3-of-3 behind the arc. Gallagher-Iba Arena was rocking, and it looked like the Texas Longhorns could be on their way to a fourth loss in five games.

Then Jordan Hamilton took over.

The freshman swingman scored seven points in the final two minutes of the first half while Anderson added a pair of OSU free throws, and Texas closed the gap to just four points heading to the locker room. Hamilton added 18 more in the second half, part of a career-high 27-point performance, and the Longhorns stormed past the Cowboys in the final twenty minutes, cruising to a 72-60 win.

What looked good

Obviously, Hamilton’s breakout performance was the highlight of the night. His shot selection was much better, and even the two questionable ones he threw up in the first half somehow found the bottom of the basket. Perhaps fueled by his unconscious shooting, Hamilton also worked a lot harder on the defensive end. He was pressuring OSU ballhandlers past the perimeter, making it nearly impossible for the Pokes to get any offense going outside of drives by Anderson and Obi Muonelo.

While Anderson’s first-half explosion keyed the early Oklahoma State lead, a few of his baskets were coming even in the face of good pressure. However, quite a few of his buckets were coming when he beat the defense off the dribble and sailed to the rack for easy points. In the second half, though, Dogus Balbay played incredibly on defense, holding Anderson to just four points in the final twenty minutes. Even though Anderson had a full six inches on Balbay, the Cowboys didn’t ever look for him when he actually tried to isolate his defender on the blocks.

J’Covan Brown also had a very solid night, a fact that might be overlooked since he only scored five points. When Balbay started piling up fouls late in the game, Brown was able to lead the team with a steady hand from the point guard position. J’Covan had just one turnover to four assists and played a full 30 minutes off of the bench. In fact, when the teams came out for the second half, Coach Rick Barnes opted to make just one change from his starting lineup — Brown was on the floor in place of defensive stopper Justin Mason.

Another Horn giving big production from the bench was Gary Johnson. He played very good defense inside, denying access to the bucket and forcing his man to take well-contested shots. Gary was the only Longhorn with double-digit rebounds, as he grabbed ten boards to go with his eight points.

Finally, it should be noted that Texas shot 6-of-7 from the free throw line in this game. Before anyone gets too excited and thinks the team has turned some sort of corner, keep in mind that all seven attempts came from the team’s three best free-throw shooters — Brown, James, and Johnson. (Jai Lucas technically has the second-highest free-throw percentage on the team, but has just seven total attempts all year.) The free-throw monster is still definitely going to affect future games, but it was nice not having to watch free points clank off the iron.

What needed work

A recurring theme in these games is Texas’ inability to knock down incredibly easy shots inside the paint and just outside the lane. In the first half, the Longhorns missed six layups according to the official play-by-play. While Texas has a bunch of good shooters that can knock down midrange jumpers and treys, on some nights those shots aren’t going to fall. The Horns have to be able to get the ball inside and actually convert on the easy looks.

The other point of concern was rebounding, as Texas again had trouble corralling boards that hit them right in the hands. The final count had the two teams deadlocked with 31 rebounds each, but the Longhorns should have easily dominated that battle. The Longhorns far outsized the Cowboys, but they allowed OSU to steal too many boards that they had already established position on. Against a solid frontcourt like that of the Kansas Jayhawks, Texas will allow far too many second-chance points if they keep coughing up rebounds.

Looking ahead

Texas has a long week off to prepare for the Oklahoma Sooners, who they face in Norman on Saturday. Although the Sooners are talented, the team is in disarray. They have lost three of their last four, including a 17-point shellacking at the hands of the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday. Road wins are not going to be easy to come by in the Big 12 this season, so the Longhorns definitely need to take advantage of winnable games such as this one.

Unfortunately, that pesky “real” life got in the way yesterday, so we will just make some quick notes on the loss before hitting the road for Stillwater in an hour or so.

1) Free throws finally cost the Horns – You could make the argument that free-throw woes were part of Texas’ downfall at Kansas State and probably build a solid case. But with Saturday’s loss to Baylor, there is simply no doubt. When your opponent needs a putback with miliseconds on the clock just to tie the game, it’s easy to see that 15-of-23 shooting from the line in regulation prevented the win. The Longhorns have actually become even more horrid at the line in conference play, hitting just 59.9% of their attempts and dropping their season average to 61.3%.

2) Bad Jordan showed up – I can’t take credit for the name (that goes to the fine folks at Shaggy Bevo), but there’s no denying that there is a Jekyll-and-Hyde aspect to Hamilton’s play this season. In this game, he took three bad shots and turned it over once in roughly two minutes on the court. That basically equates to four turnovers, which is something the Horns can’t afford if they are going to tighten up the rotation. To compliment the core players, Texas needs a few quality minutes from Jordan every game, not a few nightmarish ones.

3) Jai Lucas needs to move off the ball – It’s a delicate situation, as Jai transferred to Texas because he wanted a chance to play the point. But the guard has been sloppy with the basketball and has yet to prove that he can create his own shot against anyone besides overmatched opponents from small conferences. Against the Bears, Jai managed to turn the ball over three times in his two minutes at the point. As Coach Barnes works on a tighter rotation, Lucas best serves the team as an A.J. Abrams type of marksman. Of course, his height deficiencies make him a liability on defense against most teams, so he should be playing in short stints to bring a scoring spark off the bench at the two.