It certainly wasn’t pretty, but it still was a win — the 300th win at Texas for Coach Rick Barnes, in fact. But in a game where the two teams combined for more turnovers than field goals, it sometimes felt more like an episode of Benny Hill than a Division I collegiate basketball game.

Texas (6-1) and Lamar (4-3) had a combined 44 turnovers on the night, but it was the Longhorns who finally found an offensive rhythm. While the Cardinals held a six-point lead over the Longhorns five minutes into the game, Texas turned up the defensive pressure and ran away with it. Over the ensuing 18 minutes of basketball, the Longhorns outscored the erratic Cardinals by a 43-16 margin and never looked back. Texas cruised the rest of the way, enjoying an easy 76-55 win in front of 5,473 burnt-orange faithful.

What looked good

The Texas defense was stellar for most of the night. The Longhorns held Lamar to just 25.7% shooting from the field, giving the Cardinals an offensive efficiency of just 0.661 points per possession. Texas denied the perimeter, shoring up what had been a glaring weakness against Rice just days before. As a result, Lamar was only 1-of-9 from behind the arc.

Often, the baskets that the Cardinals did get were a result of the Longhorns actually overplaying on defense. But in a game where Texas forced 21 turnovers and blocked nine shots, those few easy looks were a fair trade-off for the active, suffocating D.

Matt Hill had three of those blocks, as he performed admirably off the bench for 19 minutes. The second half was initially a whistle-fest, with the referees calling 15 fouls in less than eight minutes of action. As a result, Gary Johnson was saddled with foul trouble and Hill was needed to plug the gap. In addition to his three blocks, Matt added six boards and five points. While many teams remaining on the Texas schedule will have bigger frontcourts than the Cardinals, the performance from Hill was promising.

Alexis Wangmene was also bothered by fouls, including one offensive one that looked very much like a Zinedine Zidane-style flop by Lamar’s Devon Lamb from our vantage point. But in the seven minutes that Wangmene did manage to stay on the floor, his defense was much better than in weeks past. He established position, stayed tall, and managed to recover quickly when he was out of the play. Alexis was still outworked for rebounds by a smaller Lamar team, but it was encouraging to see the strides he had made defensively.

On offense, Cory Joseph continued his hot streak, posting a new career high for the second-straight game. He knocked down three of his six long-range attempts as he chalked up 16 points, and just missed a double-double by grabbing nine defensive boards. In the Rice and Lamar games, Joseph shot 58.3% from behind the arc and logged 30 total points.

Tying Joseph’s 16-point output was sophomore star Jordan Hamilton. Against Rice, Hamilton was one of the few Longhorns probing the Owl zone, but he often ran into resistance near the lane and missed the challenged shots he took.

On Wednesday night, Hamilton looked to pass when the shots weren’t there. Unfortunately, his teammates usually weren’t ready for the ball, and the Longhorns fumbled away a few passes that would’ve resulted in easy layups. In the post-game presser, Barnes also praised Hamilton’s defensive play, saying that it was all the sophomore wanted to work on in the previous two days of practice.

Tristan Thompson also quietly posted some good numbers, earning his second career double-double with an 11-point, 13-rebound performance. Perhaps more importantly, Thompson only had to play 31 minutes in the win. The freshman logged 80 minutes in back-to-back games in New York, and will likely be called on for a ton of minutes in tough games once conference play rolls around. These glorified exhibitions are a perfect opportunity to get Thompson some game-speed reps without overworking him.

What needs work

The most glaring issue for the Longhorns was once again an inability to hang on to the basketball. Texas turned it over 23 times, giving the team a turnover rate of 27.6%, or more than one miscue in every four possessions. Most frustrating was the fact that many of the Longhorn turnovers came from bobbling passes or throwing it directly past an oblivious teammate and into the stands. Joseph, Jai Lucas, and J’Covan Brown accounted for 14 of the Texas turnovers, while posting just eight assists between them.

In addition, the free throw rollercoaster continued against Lamer. The Longhorns started out wonderfully, knocking down 11 of 15 attempts in the first half. But yet again the charity-stripe demons resurfaced, as Texas posted a 12-for-22 mark in the final twenty. The main culprit was Thompson, who finished a disappointing 5-of-11 at the line. If the freshman continues to struggle with his free throws, opponents will simply not allow him any easy baskets inside. He’s going to have to find his stroke once again, because opposing frontcourts are going to make him earn those points.

Next up: vs. Southern Cal (4-4); Sunday, 9:30 P.M. CT

For fans who like high-scoring basketball, Saturday’s game against Rice might not have been that enjoyable. Throw in the fact that Texas escaped with only a three-point victory, and maybe some of those folks might have even described the afternoon as miserable. Tonight, things will be very, very different at the Frank Erwin Center when the Lamar Cardinals square off with Texas. The Cards are going to bring a ton of points to the Frank Erwin Center, and the Longhorns should cruise to an easy win.

By the numbers

The aforementioned slow game against Rice was actually a full 20 possessions slower than four of Texas’ first five games, clocking in at just 54 possessions. The Lamar Cardinals, meanwhile, average more than 72 possessions per game and are putting up 98 points a night. Their actual efficiency numbers are atrocious, however. The Cardinals score just .974 points per possession — by contrast, the Longhorns earn 1.125 per trip — while their defense gives up points like a middle school debate team squaring off against Columbia Law. Opponents are scoring 1.099 per possession, so look for the Longhorn offense to run wild in this one.

The rest of the defensive numbers make it painfully clear just how bad the defense really is. Lamar opponents are making nearly 50% of their three-pointers and almost 53% of their shots inside the arc. When the Cardinals aren’t letting people hit shots like it’s NBA Jam, they send folks to the free-throw line with regularity. Lamar opponents shoot more than a free throw per two field goal attempts, a free-throw rate that is among the 25 worst in the nation.

They stole the basketball 22 times against St. Gregory’s on Saturday, but haven’t found the same success against their three D-I opponents. They are stealing it just once in every twenty possessions — good for 340th out of 345 teams in this metric — so even though they are forcing turnovers, it hasn’t fueled their up-tempo attack. Knocking the ball out of bounds and forcing travels simply doesn’t kickstart a transition offense.

Meet the Cardinals

The Lamar roster is littered with newcomers, but most come to the table with JuCo experience. Fortunately, head coach Steve Roccaforte also has four starters returning for last year’s team, which has enabled the Cardinals to hit the ground running in 2010-11. The insane tempo at which Lamar plays dictates the need for a long bench, and the Cardinals have no shortage of players who can sprint and can score. Four different Lamar players are averaging more than 12 points a game so far this season, while eleven different players are seeing at least ten minutes a night.

Charlie Harper is a versatile forward who leads the starting five with 13 points a game. The 6’5″ junior forward is being counted on to grab the boards this season, and so far he’s responded with a team-leading 5.8 per game. Joining Harper in the frontcourt are a couple of young forwards in Stan Brown and Darius Harris. The 6’8″ freshman Harris made his first career start against St. Gregory’s on Saturday, but played just eight minutes. Brown, meanwhile, is averaging just about 10 minutes a night. At 6’9″, he’s one of just a few big men in the guard-oriented Lamar lineup.

The other big body on the Cardinals roster is 6’10” senior center Coy Custer, who has come off the bench in all six games this year. He’s playing just 11 minutes a game, but still contributing 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds a night. If Texas chooses to go small and match Lamar’s style, Custer’s role should be minimal. If the Longhorns try to go big, however, Custer, Brown, and Harris will all need to step up to keep Lamar competitive.

It’s the backcourt where Lamar is loaded, and the Cardinal guards can score in bunches. Senior Kendrick Harris puts in about 12 points a night, but it’s his 43% success rate from behind the arc that is the scariest number. JuCo swingman Brandon Davis is also lethal from long range, knocking down 41% of his three-point attempts, while scoring 12.5 per game. There’s no dobut that Lamar is going to put points on the board tonight, so look for this pair to score quite a few of them.

Junior Anthony Miles is bouncing back after a late-season injury marred his 2009-10 campaign. He’s started all six games this year, and has put up almost 10 points a night. He’s benefiting from the addition of JuCo transfer Mike James, who missed the first four games of the season, but has scored 30 points in his two appearances.

James fits well into the up-tempo Lamar attack, and his presence allows Miles to shift from point to an off-guard role where he can score even more. The Horns will also need to watch James when he’s on the perimeter, as he’s 3-for-6 from behind the arc in his two games.

Lamar is also getting minutes from a trio of JuCo transfers in Vincenzo Nelson, Orlando Brazier, and Devon Lamb. Lamb averaged 28 points per game at Southwest Christian JC last season, and he’s been the most productive bench player for the Cardinals so far this year. He’s scoring more than nine points in just 16 minutes a night. Nelson and Brazier, meanwhile, are providing additional minutes inside, although they give up a few inches against a lot of opposing forwards.

The final Cardinal seeing significant playing time is sophomore Donley Minor. The 6’2″ guard is known for being a sharpshooter, but is only hitting 36% of his three-point attempts at this point. He’s due for a breakout game from long range, so don’t be surprised if he starts sinking them tonight.

Keys to the game

With the efficiency numbers so one-sided, there’s very little that Texas could do to lose this game. Essentially, if Texas can simply protect the basketball to limit the fast break points for the Cardinals, things shouldn’t be close. If the Longhorns are unable to make their free throws, as they were in the final minutes against Rice, it would only serve to keep Lamar in the basketball game.

With the outcome hardly in doubt, tonight is more about looking at problem areas for the Longhorns to see if they’ve improved. After a tough first half against Rice, Jordan Hamilton lit up the stat sheet with a ton of threes in the second half. Tonight, we’ll be looking to see if he’s still attacking the basket and if his shot selection improves from inside the arc.

In addition, if the Longhorns stick with a traditional lineup, we’ll be watching to see how Matt Hill and Alexis Wangmene do against undersized competition. It’s no secret that Hill and Wangmene will be overmatched against many of the starting bigs in conference play, but they’ll have to be able to perform against players like these. If not, their minutes off the bench in the spring won’t be very effective.

Cheap tickets abound

Once again, there’s a web coupon available for cheap seats to tonight’s game. Click here and print out the coupon for $6 end-zone mezzanine tickets, and then join us in the lower arena for the game. It’s your last chance to see the Horns play at the FEC until December 11th, so bring out the family for what is sure to be a high-scoring, entertaining night.