It seemed like a familiar script for Longhorn fans. Build a big lead, let a team storm back into it, and then blow the game by a slim margin. So when a nine point Texas lead had evaporated in only three minutes, it seemed like the inevitable ending was just moments away.

But Damion James was fouled with only 1.6 seconds left on the clock and the score knotted at 72. Finally, it was a chance to re-write the script. He headed to the line, facing directly into the black and gold student section, where the Buffalo fans leaned down and pounded on their seatbacks. He needed to make just one to seal the win. This was it. Texas could put the demons to rest.

Until both free throws clanged off the iron.

With the weight of those misses on his shoulder, James played like a man possessed in the ensuing five-minute overtime. He ripped down six of his 14 rebounds in the extra session and added six of his 21 points as Texas pulled away. Ironically, two of those points came at the line, with the lead safely in hand.

The problem is that most Texas fans won’t remember that. They will only remember the pair of awful metallic thuds as James missed his chance to be the hero.

Fans also won’t remember the fact that the Longhorn offense played exceptionally well for the second straight game, shooting a season-high 57.4% from the field. The previous high had come just four days prior, when Texas blazed past Oklahoma State with a 52.2% clip. As a result of the hot shooting, Texas’ efficiency numbers were also sky high once again. The Longhorns posted a 124.5 offensive efficiency rating, their third-highest performance of the season.

The one constant in both of those games? Significant minutes for point guard Dogus Balbay. The Turkish sophomore played 37 of the 45 minutes against Colorado after seeing the floor for 33 against Oklahoma State. Prior to those two games, Balbay was averaging just 15.6 minutes per contest.

His presence on the court makes the offense flow, which was painfully obvious when he was taken out with roughly ten minutes left in the first half. In the two minutes he sat on the bench, Texas seemed content to pass the ball around the arc, yet still turned it over twice. With the ball in his hands, the Longhorns throw away far fewer possessions, as he’s posted a ridiculous 7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in these last two games.

Balbay’s presence also opens things up for sharpshooter A.J. Abrams. The senior guard had 29 points, and scored 20 against Oklahoma State. In the previous five games, he was averaging 15 points per contest. While the scoring boost is a nice result, the real reason that Balbay’s emergence is a massive development is the fact that it keeps A.J. from forcing bad shots. In these last two games, Abrams scored his 49 points on 61% shooting, including 56% behind the arc. In the previous four, he shot 38% from the field. Simply put, Balbay makes Abrams better.

Three-point defense was not a huge issue throughout the game, but once again it reared its head at the worst possible time. Colorado shot just 5-of-14 from long range, but hit two out of three attempts in the second half as they clawed into at a ten-point Texas advantage. The Longhorns have an awful tendency to let teams eat away at huge deficits by making hay from behind the arc. Against a team with more long-range consistency than the Buffaloes, that will be deadly.

Texas also struggled on the glass, which is quite embarrassing when you look at the height disparity between the two teams. The Buffs play with four guards for most of the game, none of which are taller than 6’6″. Add in the fact that Colorado’s leading rebounder was their 6’5″ off guard, and it’s a definite cause for concern. The worst offender for Texas was Gary Johnson, who laid a big fat goose egg on the stat sheet despite being the team’s second-best man on the glass. The Longhorns are going to face much stronger rebounders in Oklahoma and Kansas, so a performance like this will absolutely scuttle any chances of upsetting those teams.

Obviously, the collapse down the stretch is also a huge reason for concern. After all, it seems like it’s only about the 874th time that Texas has done it this year. But Longhorn fans can take some solace in the fact that, for once, this team did make the necessary plays to pull out the victory.

It’s easy to get excited by the 99-74 Texas victory over Oklahoma State last night. The Longhorns shot an incredible 56.9% from the field and scored their highest point total since blowing out the New Mexico State Aggies in the semifinals of the Legends Classic in 2007. A few simple lineup changes seemed to be a panacea for the offense, leading to an absolutely insane 1.379 points per possession for the Longhorns. But just days after suffering its third straight loss, is Texas truly hitting its stride?

It will be tough to know for sure, at least not until the Longhorns travel to College Station on Monday night. This weekend’s game at Colorado is a deceptive one, as the Buffaloes play a similar style to Nebraska, and the altitude in Boulder seems to always give road teams fits. The Longhorns will likely struggle, but should be expected to come away with a win. The trip to College Station, however, is another matter.

In the last four seasons, the home team has won every meeting between Texas and Texas A&M. And while the Longhorns have typically had to squeak out the victories in Austin, the Aggies have thoroughly spanked their rivals in all but one of their home wins. Only the 2006 game at A&M was competitive, as Acie Law needed a buzzer-beating three pointer to propel the Aggies to the win and eventually the NCAA tournament.

If Texas could overcome recent history and steal a road win in Reed Arena, the Longhorns would be riding a three-game winning streak, have 18 victories on the year, and still have five other contests in which to add to the resumé. Drop that game, and Texas would likely be staring another losing streak in the face with the powerhouse Sooners coming to down just six days later.

So while Texas fans might be feeling a little giddy after the dominating win last night, it’s best to temper expectations. If the Longhorns have truly made strides forward, the next two weeks could be surprisingly exciting.

We’ll be back tomorrow afternoon with more detailed thoughts on the Oklahoma State mudholing.

After a 24-4 run put the Longhorns up by twelve points with seventeen minutes left, it appeared that Texas could coast to a much-needed road win over a low-scoring Nebraska team. But as they have done numerous times this season, the Longhorns melted down the stretch and made questionable decisions in the final minutes to choke away another victory. This time, it resulted in a 58-55 loss in Lincoln, Nebraska, just the second time in the last eleven years that Texas has been defeated by the Cornhuskers.

The Longhorns (15-7 overall, 4-4 Big 12) built their large lead with solid defensive play, holding Nebraska to just two field goals during a thirteen minute stretch spanning both halves. But poor three-point defense reared its ugly head once again, as the Huskers (15-7, 5-4) hit four of five from long range the rest of the way, including an Ade Dagunduro rainbow taken from just outside Omaha that put them ahead for good.

Poor decision making was again a culprit in the loss, as A.J. Abrams tried to force the issue once again. With Texas only down two and holding the ball with 30 seconds to play, Abrams fought a futile battle to work for an open shot. But with three defenders in his face, rather than looking for his open teammates, he decided to force up a prayer from 25 feet. It was the second straight game where Abrams forced up a contested trey in the waning seconds, as his long-range look in a tie game against Missouri clanged off the rim with 32 ticks left on Wednesday night.

The loss was the third straight for Texas, who now drops into sixth place in the Big 12, half a game behind Kansas State and Nebraska, teams which now both hold tiebreakers over the Longhorns. The three-game skid is the first since the 2004-05 season, a year in which they were without LaMarcus Aldridge (hip injury) and P.J. Tucker (academic ineligibility). You would have to go all the way back to 1997-98 — the last season of the Tom Penders era — to find another such slide in Texas history.

Lost in the sting of defeat were solid performances by Dexter Pittman and Damion James. Big Dex was a force down low, but his game was hampered by foul trouble throughout. Pittman and the rest of the Longhorns seemed to be a step behind the smaller, quicker Nebraska guards, and the infractions quickly piled up. With Dexter’s minutes spread out, James had to step up on the glass, and did so in a big way. He finished the game with 13 points and 12 rebounds, despite fighting his own foul trouble.

The road doesn’t get any easier for Texas, with the Oklahoma State Cowboys arriving at the Frank Erwin Center on Tuesday night, currently ranked 11th in the nation in three-point percentage. For a Longhorn team that has let many opponents thrive from the perimeter, the outlook remains troublesome.

Through two games against lesser opponents, the two most notable things about the 2008-09 Longhorns were their sloppy ball control and an impenetrable defense. The big question was whether or not either of these trends would change against real competition. They didn’t.

Texas defeated St. Joe’s 68-50 in the opening round of the Maui Invitational yesterday, but turned the ball over 16 times in the process. That stingy defense remained, however, holding the Hawks to only 29% shooting, including just 4-of-21 from long range. Through three games, Longhorn opponents have been limited to 28.9% shooting from the field and 21.9% shooting from behind the arc. According to Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, Texas has the fifth-toughest defense in the country to date.

The downside, though, was the continued problems controlling the basketball. Texas had turned it over a nauseating 34 times in the first two games against Stetson and Tulane, and Coach Rick Barnes saw his team cough it up another 16 times against the Hawks. Many of the turnovers were unforced errors, with entry passes to the post being lobbed out of reach, or fast breaks being stifled by trying to squeeze the ball through three defenders.

The Longhorns are an incredibly athletic team, and it seems at times that they are too busy trying to run the other team out of the gym to actually slow down and play efficient basketball. With time, Barnes will certainly get this worked out; after all, he did say at the tournament’s Tip Off Banquet that “this team can be really good in a month.”

Bench play was a very bright spot in this game, with Alexis Wangmene, Gary Johnson, and Varez Ward looking great off the pine. Johnson was an absolute beast on the glass, logging a double-double with a 14/10 line. Gary oftentimes wasn’t even in the “right” position to grab a rebound, but used his athleticism and unbridled aggressiveness to get to the ball. If Johnson is providing these kind of 20-plus minute performances night after night, the Texas depth is going to keep opposing coaches up at night.

Wangmene stepped out in this one after seeing very little action in the first two games. Much like Johnson, Wangmene did most of his work by simply fighting down low. His 8/7 line doesn’t tell the whole story, either, as he added a block and helped Texas corral a few extra rebounds by just tipping the loose ball to teammates.

In the backcourt, Ward looked much more comfortable in the flow of the offense. He found the open man, providing four assists in only twelve minutes on the court. And perhaps most importantly for the young man, he made his first two free throws of the day to erase the bitter taste of his 0-for-6 season numbers from the line. Ward did miss his other two attempts, but it’s a nice psychological lift to get that monkey off his back.

As always, Damion James and A.J. Abrams led the way for the Longhorns, quietly putting up their typical double-digit scoring numbers. Abrams continued his hot start from long range, knocking down 4-of-7 behind the arc, many of which came with the tiniest bit of separation from the defender. A.J. still is looking to take runners off the dribble, a kind of shot that he had trouble making during his sophomore campaign. Last season, Abrams improved and was able to knock those down with regularity, but this seasons those runners are looking a bit more like the A.J. of old. Once he gets those to start falling again, defenses will really have their hands full.

DaMo didn’t grab quite as many rebounds as usual, but was quite impressive on the defensive end. He was often guarding smaller, faster players past the perimeter, but showcased enough lateral quickness to stick with his man. James had two steals and a block against the Hawks, but gave it back three times with those unforced errors mentioned above.

Sophomore guard Dogus Balbay is still a bit of an enigma at this point, just two games into his college career. Offensively, the speed we saw at times against Tulane doesn’t seem to translate to taking defenders off the dribble. He has a knack for finding the open man when he actually does get the D to collapse, but it appears that he can’t blow past the guards and into the paint to make that happen with any regularity.

On the other side of the ball, he is certainly showing that his reputation as a lockdown defender was well-founded, but at times looks like he may be pushing too hard to live up to that hype. When he stayed in position and played sound ball, St. Joe’s had no answer. But when Dogus over-extended himself to make a big play, that’s when the Hawks were able to squirt by and force the Texas D to rotate.

With the victory, Texas moves on to today’s semifinal against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. While St. Joe’s was definitely the bet team the Horns have faced to date, today’s match-up will be an incredible test. The preview of that one will be headed your way in the late afternoon. For now, it’s time to try out this whole surfing thing.

With Tulane looming just thirteen hours from now, time is running out to look back on Friday night’s season opening victory over Stetson. I suppose that means that this time’s just as good as any to speed through what we saw.

As Bob Knight said during the 894 hours of basketball coverage last night on ESPN, it often takes a good ten to twelve games to really have an idea of what a team is capable of in any given season. But there were still quite a few nuggets to take away from the 30-point Longhorn victory over Stetson, and of course even more things for Coach Barnes to drill at these first few weeks of the season.

The brightest part of the game was the solid shooting night from senior guard A.J. Abrams. Unfortunately, the tiny guard was not just asked to shoot, but also tasked with running the point during the first half as starter Dogus Balbay sat on the bench finishing a suspension. With Abrams at the one, the rest of the Longhorns seemed content to pass the ball around the perimeter and wait on A.J. to shoot. Most of the time, the senior knocked down his shots to keep Texas comfortably ahead. But there was absolutely no interior game to speak of thanks to the lack of penetration or entry passes opening things up.

Another huge factor nullifying the size advantage over Stetson was the absence of Connor Atchley, who had his chin sliced open early in the first half. Without the senior leader getting things going in his inside-out role, Texas was glued to the perimeter. Connor’s perfect night from behind the arc (3-of-3) was a huge lift coming out of the locker room, as Texas increased its already-lofty 46% shooting to a ridiculous 62% against the Hatters. Stetson was forced to stretch their defense out even more, and the Longhorns started attacking the weaknesses and working it inside.

The other big thing we took from Friday night’s game was our first look at freshman guard Varez Ward. It was obvious that all of the hype surrounding his defense was well-founded, as Ward looked better than would be expected for an 18-year old in his first collegiate game. On the offensive end, he was still a bit sloppy, but showed initiative in attacking the rim when other Longhorns were content to simply pass the rock around. Ward did pick up a pair of charging fouls near the rack, so he will need to work on maintaining control while trying to create. In addition, he missed all six of his free throws in a painful effort that could only be described as Shaq-ian.

Damion James picked up where he left off, as his mid-range stroke was still on display. With the Texas offense refusing to penetrate in the first twenty minutes, James added a few jumpers to augment The Abrams Show. But with Damion marginalized away from the rim, his rebounding numbers suffered on the night, and he finished with only seven boards against a smaller and less athletic Stetson team. As the team finds its identity and the younger post players step up on the glass, DaMo won’t be needed as much to clean up the trash against conference opponents. But in the meantime, having James lead the team with only seven rebounds could be worrisome with the murderer’s row of non-conf games looming.

Justin Mason took things over at the one in the second half, and the Texas offense certainly benefited. J-Mase is obviously not a point guard, and won’t be pressuring Balbay for the reigns anytime soon. But it was perfectly clear that in situations where Dogus won’t be available this year, Mason is the choice to step in. His cerebral play on offense opens up some nice options for subs throughout the season, as Barnes can opt to use a defensive-minded backcourt with Ward at the two and Jay serving as a serviceable point.

Defensively, Texas looked better than what we were expecting in a season-opening performance. They forced Stetson into quite a few low-percentage jumpers and did a good job switching and helping in the man defense. But the biggest problem on the defensive end was how easily the Hatter guards were able to attack on simple pick-and-rolls, forcing Texas into those help situations. Stetson was quite adept at moving the ball quickly to find the open man, and it led to more easy looks than the Longhorns will be able to give to quality teams. Fortunately, the Rick Barnes specialty is coaching up a defense over the five-month season, and holding any team to only 26% shooting is a great place to start.

Gary Johnson quietly put in a solid effort with a six-point, seven-rebound performance in only 17 minutes on the floor. But the rest of the Longhorns were tough to get a read on, as officials constantly called walks and charges in the paint and Barnes spread out the minutes amongst the bigs. Dexter Pittman was still able to put in ten points, but much of his post work was marred by the happy whistles from the refs. With the foul trouble plaguing him, it was tough to get minutes strung together, but we should soon see what Big Dex can do with quality playing time.

Matt Hill and Alexis Wangmene each only played four minutes and didn’t make much of an impression, while Clint Chapman saw the floor for thirteen. The sophomore from Oregon made a few solid defensive plays to give hope that fans will see some marked improvement this year. He’s still obviously rough, but the lost freshman we saw at this time last year was nowhere to be found.

The sloppy first half could spell a future concern for Texas, as the Longhorns barely had more field goals than turnovers for most of the first twenty minutes. But there was a clear adjustment in the locker room, with Texas only coughing it up four times the rest of the way. The addition of Balbay to the lineup should help with ball control in the future, as will a focus on eliminating unnecessary charges.

There are clearly a ton of questions left for Longhorn fans, some of which may be addressed in tonight’s game with Tulane. Look for a preview of the mighty Green Wave this afternoon.