The Texas Longhorns return to action on the mainland tonight, hosting Sam Houston State at the Frank Erwin Center. After a pair of losses to open play in the Maui Invitational’s championship rounds, the Longhorns bounced back with a convincing win over a shorthanded Mississippi State squad. Texas hopes to build on that win tonight and establish some momentum this week before heading into a very tough pair of non-conference match-ups against Georgetown and UCLA.

Sam Houston State comes to Austin riding a two-game winning streak, having knocked off Liberty and UC-Irvine at home in the sub-regional round of the Legends Classic. This road trip to a big-time college arena will certainly not intimidate the Bearkats, as they have already battled Arkansas down to the wire in Fayetteville before being blown out by Indiana at Assembly Hall.

By the numbers

The Bearkats have struggled mightily on offense so far this year, scoring just 0.868 points per possession, a number that ranks 301st out of 347 Division I teams. A big part of this problem is Sam Houston State’s dedication to the perimeter. The team has taken nearly 39% of its shots from behind the arc, despite knocking down only 29% of those long range attempts.

Defensively, the team has bounced back against lesser competition after getting crushed by Indiana. The Hoosiers posted an insane 1.47 points per possession in their 99-45 win over Sam Houston State, but the Bearkats were able to hold Liberty and UC-Irvine to just .754 and .853 PPP, respectively. Although the Flames and Anteaters aren’t high-quality competition, it’s still impressive that the Bearkats were able to dominate the defensive glass against those two teams and turn most possessions into one-shot trips.

One number that is especially troubling for the Bearkats as they prepare to face Texas is their defensive free-throw rate. Against Arkansas and Indiana, Sam Houston State’s defensive FTRs were 62.8% and 83.0%, respectively. FTR measures how often a team gets to the line, so it is apparent that against bigger, more talented teams, the Bearkats were constantly being whistled for fouls. Although Texas has done poorly from the line, Sam Houston State still cannot afford to give the Longhorns as many free throws as they gave to their other major-conference opponents.

Meet the Bearkats

Sam Houston State has used a deep rotation so far this season, with 11 players averaging at least 11 minutes. Senior guard Darius Gatson (No. 1) is the team leader in minutes, and even he only averages 25.3 per game.

Typically, that kind of substitution pattern would be indicative of a run-and-gun, high-pressure squad, but that isn’t the case with the Bearkats. Coach Jason Hooten is trying to incorporate five junior college newcomers this season, while hoping to replace the loss of three starters from last year’s team. While the results have been mixed, so far the team is using a balanced attack, having a different leading scorer in each of their six games.

Gatson was the leading scorer in the team’s first game, pouring in 20 against Arkansas. For the year, he’s also leading the team in points, averaging 9.5 per game. At just 5’11”, he is a bit undersized to face most major-conference opponents. However, with Myck Kabongo still unavailable for the Longhorns, Gatson will be squaring off with Javan Felix, also an undersized guard.

Swingman DeMarcus Gatlin (No. 11) was one of three Bearkats who started against Texas in last year’s game, shooting just 3-of-10 from the field in 35 minutes of action. He’s is the team’s leading retuning scorer from 2011-12, but is averaging just 6.7 points this season.

Michael Holyfield (No. 35) is the team’s other returning starter and its only true big man. At 6’11”, he is typically the anchor of Sam Houston State’s four-out, one-in look, and is really their only option for posting up opponents. He has been struggling with foul problems all season long, an issue that has plagued him for most of his career. He fouled out against Texas after playing just 26 minutes last season, and he’s averaging more than seven fouls per 40 minutes this year.

With Holyfield filling the lane, junior forward James Thomas (No. 20) is the closest thing to a 4 the Bearkats have. He’s often used to set high screens and then roll to the basket. Although Thomas is just 6’5″, he has played very tough against the bigger lineups of Arkansas and Indiana, scrapping for every point and rebound inside.

Junior guard Jeremy McKay (No. 10) has started all six games for Sam Houston State, but is still struggling to find his shot. He’s made just 28.6% of his three-point attempts and only 27.7% of his shots from inside the arc. McKay showed a nice burst off the dribble against Indiana, but his inability to knock down long shots makes it easier for defenses to sag off of him and take away that driving threat.

Former walk-on Marquel McKinney (No. 2) has earned one start so far in his sophomore campaign, and he has proven to be the team’s only real three-point threat. He’s knocked down more than 40% of his long range attempts, and is third on the team with eight points per game. At 6’3″, McKinney also gives Coach Hooten a little more size in a backcourt that features two guards under six feet.

Forward Terrance Motley (No. 24) has played well after missing the first two games of the season for undisclosed reasons. Despite coming off the bench, he’s leading the team with six boards per game, and is second on the squad in scoring. Like Holyfield, Motley is averaging more than seven fouls per 40 minutes of hoops, so the Longhorns will want to attack him and hope to pile up the whistles.

Coach Hooten has another promising option on the bench in Nathaniel Mason (No. 33), a 6’4″ wing who transferred from Des Moines Area CC. He showed some nice driving ability and knocked down a three against the Hoosiers, but he’s only 25% from behind the arc on the year.

A trio of guards round out the deep rotation, with Aaron Harwell (No. 5), Paul Baxter (No. 21), and Will Bond (No. 32) combining to average about 37 minutes per game. Baxter is a freshman from Austin’s Bowie High, and the son of former Longhorn Ron Baxter. Harwell was a big contributor last year after transferring from Centenary, but has a limited role this season. Bond arrived in Huntsville from Trinity Valley CC, where he was a three-point marksman. This season, he’s hit more than 38% of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Keys to the game

1) Hang on to the ball – The Longhorns have been absolutely atrocious when it comes to turnovers this season, coughing it up on 29.4% of their possessions against D-I opponents. Even in their shocking loss to D-II Chaminade, the Horns ended 23.4% of their possessions with a turnover. Although the Bearkats aren’t known for a high-pressure D, many of the Longhorn turnovers this season have been unforced errors. With points and wins hard to come by on this young season, Texas simply cannot afford to waste possessions.

2) Dominate the glass – In their two Maui losses, the Longhorns were essentially shut out on the offensive boards. Chaminade and USC claimed 71.8% and 80% of the Texas missed shots, respectively, limiting the Horns to a seemingly endless string of one-shot possessions. Fortunately, Sam Houston State has had problems keeping their major-conference opponents from dominating the boards. Texas needs to exploit that size advantage and own the glass on both ends of the floor.

3) Get Sheldon McClellan going – Although McClellan had a nice game against Mississippi State, his performances have been streaky so far this year. Sheldon has appeared to get frustrated easily and not always embrace the role of go-to scorer that the team needs him to accept. Sam Houston State gave Texas a lot of trouble last year by doubling down on the baseline and trapping along the boundaries. McClellan can’t let that defensive approach frustrate him and take him out of the game this time around.

It took three days, but the Texas Longhorns were finally able to earn a victory in the Maui Invitational, knocking off Mississippi State to take seventh place in the tournament. After an embarrassing loss to Division II host Chaminade and a narrow overtime defeat at the hands of USC, Texas came out of the gate with renewed energy and more of an offensive identity on Wednesday morning.

What looked good

Julien Lewis fueled the Longhorns from the opening tip, knocking down a pair of three-pointers in the first 2.5 minutes. Starting late in the USC loss, the Longhorns worked hard to free up Lewis, setting staggered screens to lose his defender. In the corner, at the elbow, and coming off of curls, Julien was consistently knocking down his shot. Against the Bulldogs, he finished 6-of-10 from the field. In his last two games, the sophomore made 66.7% of his shots.

Using Lewis as an off-the-ball shooter in the mold of former Horn A.J. Abrams is a welcome development. Last season, he would often try to create his own shots off the bounce, and he typically struggled to find any consistent success. With most of his makes coming off of catch-and-shoot situations in Maui, Lewis’ driving game improved, as well. On one particular bucket, the defender rushed out to challenge the shot, and Julien blew past him on the baseline for an easy finish.

Sheldon McClellan came off the bench for a second-straight game, but he responded to the challenge this time. While McClellan was clearly frustrated by the physical nature of the USC game and the tight defense the Trojans threw at him, he fought through the contact against Mississippi State. Sheldon knocked down more than 50% of his shots against the Bulldogs, and that offensive success helped him to stay more keyed-in on the defensive end.

Two of McClellan’s buckets came on the exact same baseline out-of-bounds play, and Mississippi State coach Rick Ray was screaming across the court to his defense when the Longhorns lined up to run it a third time. The Bulldogs still didn’t deny McClellan the ball, but he didn’t score easily that time around. Later, on the fourth attempt, Mississippi State finally stuck with the sophomore and forced the Longhorns to go to another option on the inbounds.

Freshman big man Cameron Ridley had the best game of his young career, just missing a double-double with eight points and 12 rebounds. He also led the Texas interior defense, swatting five of the 12 shots that the Horns blocked on the day. Ridley was confident and strong with the basketball inside, going up strong after most offensive rebounds, and making quick decisions when being fed in the post.

Prince Ibeh was also a big part of Texas’ formidable interior defense, blocking three shots of his own. When Ibeh and Ridley played together, it was almost unfair. While one provided steady on-ball defense, the other would come over to clean up the challenged shot. Ibeh still has a long way to go on the offensive end, and looks genuinely panicked at times when trying to post up. Still, his defense against Mississippi State and for most of the USC game will give fans and coaches a glimpse of the potential he has to alter the game inside.

What needed work

As it has been all season, the biggest issue for the Longhorns was a rash of turnovers. Although Lewis had an excellent shooting day, he coughed it up eight times, including one instance where he simply lost his dribble on the wing and just watched it bounce out of bounds. Texas continued to throw questionable passes and made lazy ones on the perimeter. For the game, Texas posted its second-worst turnover rate of the season, ending 34.1% of their possessions with a miscue.

Mississippi State took full advantage of these mistakes, scoring 20 points off of turnovers. Although that didn’t make a difference in this game, a late turnover and fast-break dunk led to overtime and a loss against USC. Texas did a good job forcing quite a few Mississippi State turnovers, which mitigated their own mistakes. But against tougher competition, those errors are going to result in losses.

Many of those mistakes came on transition opportunities where the Longhorns waited too long to make decisions and didn’t keep spacing coming down the court. Players often got themselves just a few feet from the rim before trying to make a decision, sometimes already airborne. Passes were thrown behind teammates, they were thrown when teammates weren’t expecting them, and multiple opportunities were wasted. This Texas team is very athletic and will need to score often in transition this season, but the youngsters clearly need to get some more reps in order to improve their decision-making skills on the break.

Demarcus Holland saw a major increase in minutes against USC and Mississippi State, but struggled when tasked when running the offense. He did knock down a nice pull-up jumper against the Bulldogs, but typically was far too loose with his dribble when trying to slice down the lane. Holland will learn how to adjust his pace as he plays more minutes, but right now he seems to only attack at one speed.

Defensively, you can see that he buys into the system and is constantly thinking, aware of where he is in relation to the ball and his teammates. However, in one-on-one situations, Holland played too tightly on guards that he could not keep in front of him. USC’s Jio Fontan was able to easy shake Holland and get to the rim on two occasions, while Ibeh had to bail out Holland with a block on one play against Mississippi State. If Holland can’t rapidly improve his lateral quickness, he needs to recognize his own limitations and scale back the pressure just a bit.

Ioannis Papapetrou also played quite a few minutes at the point, giving Javan Felix a nice breather in the team’s third game in three days. Mississippi State did a very poor job turning away Papapetrou’s drives down the lane, giving up some easy finishes at the rack. However, the offense lacked off-the-ball motion when he was at the point, so the second unit will need to avoid ball-watching when he’s running the show.

If Myck Kabongo is reinstated soon, this will likely not matter much this season. On the other hand, if he’s deemed ineligible and Papapetrou becomes the backup point by default, the second unit cannot be a one-man show.

Up next: vs. Sam Houston State; 7 P.M., Tuesday

After losing their first two games in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, the Texas Longhorns look for a little redemption in this morning’s seventh-place game against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are down to only eight players, six of which are on scholarship, and have lost their first two games in Lahaina by a combined 73 points. If there’s any team in this field that the Longhorns can try to cure their ills against, this would be the one.

Keys to the game

1) Push the pace – The Bulldogs are coming off two up-tempo games against North Carolina and Marquette, in which they averaged 73 possessions per contest. Even with overtime needed for yesterday’s game against USC, the Longhorns played just 62 possessions. Add in the fact that the Bulldogs have used a core rotation of seven players for these two games, and there’s no question that fatigue could be a factor. If the Longhorns push the tempo and use the entire bench, they should be able to take advantage of that exhaustion as the game wears on.

2) Dominate the offensive glass – The Longhorns struggled to reclaim their missed shots in the last two games, and that resulted in tons of empty possessions. Texas managed to win just 28.2% of their offensive rebounding opportunities against an undersized Chaminade team, and only grabbed 20% of their chances against the formidable USC frontcourt. Mississippi State’s depleted roster has just three players at 6’7″ or taller — Roquez Johnson (No. 25), 6’7″; Wendell Lewis (No. 5), 6’9″; and Gavin Ware (No. 20), 6’9″. The Longhorns must take advantage of Mississippi State’s lack of frontcourt depth and reclaim missed shots to earn second-chance points.

3) Pester Thomas on the perimeter – Freshman guard Fred Thomas (No. 1) has not been shy about launching the long ball in Maui, taking 18 attempts in the team’s first two games. Although he struggled to a 1-for-10 mark against North Carolina on Monday, Thomas knocked down 50% of his looks yesterday against Marquette. The Longhorns need to stick with the freshman on the perimeter and make sure that his inevitable barrage of three-point attempts come with a hand in his face.

Still smarting from an embarrassing loss to Division II Chaminade, the Longhorns quickly return to action in this afternoon’s consolation bracket game against Southern Cal. Last night, the Trojans were obliterated by Illinois, 94-64. Brandon Paul put on a clinic from long range, dropping six three-pointers on USC en route to a 26-point performance. Although the Trojans looked overmatched and bewildered at times, they pose a very tough test for a Texas team that has yet to impress this season and is still reeling from an ugly loss.

This season, the Trojans are looking to rebound from an injury-plagued 6-26 mark in the 2011-12 campaign. Having lost only Maurice Jones to grade issues and a transfer, Coach Kevin O’Neill now has a full roster, loaded with talented transfers. Through their first three games, the Trojans have improved their adjusted offensive efficiency to .956 points per possession, up from an abysmal .876 PPP in 2011-12.

Keys to the game

1) Control the basketball – Coach O’Neill has long been known as a defensive guru, and even his worst teams have at least focused on that side of the ball. The Longhorns have struggled with ball control so far this season, posting a turnover percentage of 29.7% against their D-I opponents. In last night’s loss to Chaminade, Texas performed slightly better by only coughing it up on 23.4% of their possessions. Points will likely be hard to come by for both teams in this game, so the Longhorns cannot afford to waste their opportunities with careless turnovers.

2) Compete on the glass – Texas was dominated on the boards by a much smaller Chaminade team last night, and will be facing a very formidable USC frontcourt this afternoon. Junior Dewayne Dedmon is one of three seven-footers on the roster, as both Rice transfer Omar Oraby (7’2″) and former Texas A&M center James Blasczyk (7’1″) come in off the bench. Throw in athletic forwards like Eric Wise and Aaron Fuller, and the Longhorns will have their work cut out for them on the glass. Texas already struggles to score, so being shut out on the offensive boards would spell disaster.

3) Get bench production – Both of these teams played in the evening session yesterday, giving Texas about 17 hours of rest between games, while USC will only have about 14. Although Texas used every player in the core rotation and only Javan Felix played more than 32 minutes, both coaches will likely rely on a liberal substitution pattern. In a game that is probably going to be close and low scoring, it could be the contributions of an unheralded bench guy that earns the win for his team this afternoon.

There are so many things that can go wrong on a vacation: your flights can get delayed, luggage can be misplaced, local delicacies can disagree with your stomach, you can get the hotel room with the shower that won’t stop dripping. Or, you can lose to a Division II program on national television.

The Texas Longhorns did exactly that last night in Lahaina, falling to Chaminade, 86-73, and becoming just the seventh team to lose to the host school in 83 Maui Invitational games. For head coach Rick Barnes, it was his second loss to Chaminade, having dropped a game to the Silverswords when he was coaching Providence in 1991.

There is no sugar-coating this loss, no spin to put on the results. It was an ugly and uninspired game, plain and simple. You could call it the lowest point of the Barnes era, and there would be no argument from anywhere in the burnt orange fanbase. In fact, you could probably widen the scope just a bit when measuring the depths of this low point, as this was the first Texas defeat at the hands of a D-II opponent since the 1980’s.

Despite being much bigger than the Silverswords, the Longhorns were pushed around and out-muscled in this game. Chaminade has just two players listed at 6’7″ on their roster, and used only two others who are 6’6″. They challenged the Longhorns with physical play early, and the whistles were plentiful for both sides. But Texas backed down, failing to exploit their size advantage inside for easy points.

Chaminade took that aggressive, physical approach and used it to turn the tables on the glass, as well. The Silverswords grabbed 38.5% of their offensive rebounding opportunities and held the Longhorns to just 28.2% on their own offensive glass. Texas shot 46.4% from the field, much higher than the 36.8% that Chaminade could manage, but winning the rebounding battles kept the Silversword possessions alive and allowed them to overcome the shooting disparities.

The Silverswords also took advantage of their opportunities at the charity stripe, while the Longhorns continued to struggle. With Chaminade playing aggressively, they posted an impressive free-throw rate of 68.4%, which equates to roughly two free throws for every three field goal attempts. At the line, they logged a steady 34-of-39 performance, while the Longhorns struggled to make just 17 of 30. That number includes misses on the front ends of one-and-ones by both Cameron Ridley and Jonathan Holmes in the second half, costing the team not only two points, but two more free throw opportunities.

The Texas offense looked lost on most possessions until the final few minutes, as players stood anchored to the ground and hoped that others would make a play. There was no inside presence to speak of, as the Longhorns struggled against the physical nature of Chaminade’s undersized frontcourt. Guards waited around the perimeter for cuts and screens that never came, and simple passes were bobbled out of bounds.

On one second half possession, Coach Barnes called a timeout during an unproductive halfcourt set. The players came towards the huddle, arguing about who was supposed to go where. “It doesn’t matter!” Barnes screamed at the team. “It doesn’t matter! Don’t stand around!” After the vitriolic timeout, the Longhorns wasted the possession by turning it over on a shot clock violation.

If you must look for the silver linings in this disaster, there were a few slivers of hope for the future. Although Ridley continued to shoot like Shaq at the free throw line, picked up offensive fouls, and left a baseline drive completely undefended when he ran away from the ballhandler, he did show off some solid moves in the post. On two or three different occasions, he took the entry pass and made a quick, strong move for the bucket. He obviously has a long way to go, but the fundamentals and raw talent are clearly there.

The Longhorns also made a late charge as they tried to cobble together a futile and short-lived comeback bid. Texas turned up the backcourt pressure to force mistakes, and the Horns actually started knocking down long-range looks. Fans have to wonder why it took 30-plus minutes for Texas to put forth that effort and play with some intensity.

Coach Barnes didn’t feel encouraged by the late-game surge, telling reporters, “Sometimes there is such a thing as phony tough guys when you’re playing with house money now. You’re coming back saying ‘What the heck,’ and you play.”

The coach also shot down any excuses for his roster full of freshman and sophomores. “We’re not going to buy the youth thing. It chalks up to toughness. It chalks up to guys doing their job, chalks up to leadership or lack of.”

With Myck Kabongo still sidelined due to an NCAA investigation and Jaylen Bond limited due to injuries, Texas is still searching for that leader. Sheldon McClellan made some big plays late, but was held mostly in check by the Chaminade defense and had to grind out his points at the line. Freshman point guard Javan Felix led the team in scoring and logged five assists, but turned it over three times and couldn’t get the team running their halfcourt sets. With major-conference opponents looming in the next two days, the Longhorns will need to answer the leadership question immediately.

Up next: vs. USC; Tuesday, 4 P.M. CT