The Longhorns are off to a rocking 7-0 start this season, the third time they’ve reached that mark in the last five seasons. While they haven’t played any particularly great teams, their strength of schedule is currently the second-toughest of the nation’s fifteen remaining unbeaten teams. That SOS score will definitely take a hit after this afternoon’s game with the Texas State Bobcats, but the Longhorns can rest assured that they will still be amongst the unblemished.

The Bobcats are returning seven players from last year’s squad, but have only two seniors on the roster. They lost their three best players to graduation, but signed a trio of juco transfers that has fourth-year coach Doug Davalos excited about his team’s prospects this season. Unfortunately for Davalos and the Bobcats, not many others hold those same expectations. Texas State was predicted to finish at or near the bottom of the Southland Conference’s West Division by most media outlets.

By the numbers

So far this season, the numbers haven’t been pretty for the Bobcats. If the 3-6 start isn’t bad enough, their defense and sloppy ballhandling have fans pulling out their hair. Texas State has allowed teams to hit 48.9% of their three-point attempts so far this year, better than only one other team in all of Division I basketball. Against a Texas team that has a bevy of solid outside shooters, the lack of perimeter defense could lead to a nightmare situation for the ‘Cats.

On offense, Texas State can’t seem to hang on to the basketball. They turn it over more than once every four possessions, which led to nauseating performances against Arizona State and Cal State Northridge. In those two games, the Bobcats coughed it up a combined 57 times. That kind of performance would embarrass a Little Dribblers coach.

Texas State runs an up-tempo style of play that is actually fifth-quickest in the country to date. Having so many possessions per game certainly helps the Bobcats make up for the fact that they lose the ball so often, but against efficient offensive teams like Texas, that style can only lead to bigger blowouts. The Longhorns and Bobcats have met all three years that Coach Davalos has been on the sideline, and while last year’s game was respectably close, his up-tempo style has been a boon for Texas. In those three meetings, the Longhorns have averaged 91 points.

Meet the Bobcats

The frenetic pace of Texas State basketball means that Coach Davalos is constantly throwing fresh bodies on the floor. He has eleven different players who average at least thirteen minutes per game, and all of them have earned at least one start. In most years, that could give his team an edge in depth against Texas, but this season the Longhorns have just as many players, and all are more talented.

So far, power forward Cameron Johnson has been the offensive leader for Texas State. He posted a double-double against UT-Pan American last Saturday, and is averaging 12.3 points and 7.9 rebounds through the first nine games. Johnson can post up and score, but is still comfortable in the open, transition game that Texas State loves. Against the number one defense in the country, he’ll have his work cut out for him.

J.B. Conley is another forward who has quickly made a mark after transferring from Temple College. While he was a small forward in his two seasons of junior college, Davalos expects him to fill a variety of roles for Texas State. So far, the biggest role he has filled is three-point marksman. Conley has knocked down 52% of his attempts from behind the arc, which has led him to nearly eleven points per game.

Senior forward John Ryback is one of just two returning starters for the Bobcats, and his leadership is desperately needed on this year’s team. He has responded early, starting eight games and averaging 10.6 points per contest. At just 6’7″, he’s going to have a tough time against the bigger Texas frontcourt, but his ability to knock down the three-ball could allow him to draw out bigger defenders and level the playing field. This season, he’s hitting on 40% of his long-range attempts.

Uriel Segura is another juco transfer for Texas State who has also made a quick start. He is a 6’3″ combo guard who Coach Davalos hopes will give him the flexibility to have two point guards on the floor at once. Segura is a pass-first player whose 3.4 assists per game lead the team, but he also knows how to shoot the basketball. He’s averaging just a shade under ten points per game and is practically automatic from the line.

In his sophomore campaign, guard Josh Bowman is bouncing back nicely from an injury-riddled first year. He’s firmly entrenched in the core rotation, and has even started in six games. He’s averaging nine points per game, but has been having trouble shooting so far this season. In fact, his 57% success rate at the free throw stripe might actually make him a candidate to transfer to Texas.

Rounding out that core rotation is junior point guard Ryan White. The Longhorns had a lot of problems with the speed of the Long Beach State guards on Monday night, so White could enjoy a breakout game if he attacks off the dribble and pushes for transition buckets. At just 5’11”, he could be a defensive liability on the perimeter against a taller Texas backcourt, but his quick hands will still be a point of concern for the Longhorns. He had better than a steal per game last season, and is swiping nearly two a game this year.

Dylan Hale and Tony Bishop are both newcomers who grab a solid share of minutes for Texas State. Hale is the team’s lone freshman, hailing from Minnesota. He’s a left-handed defensive specialist who’s already playing 18 minutes per game, but Coach Davalos expects even greater things in his next three seasons. Bishop is a 6’6″ juco transfer from Richland College who boasts a freakish 7-foot wingspan. The lengthy wing player can cause some havoc on defense, but is averaging just eight points per game on the offensive end.

Perhaps the most important bench player for Texas State is Cameroon-born forward Emmanuel Bidias a Moute, who grabs over five rebounds a night despite seeing the court for just fifteen minutes in each game. Against the bigger Texas Longhorns, the Bobcats are going to need that presence on the glass from Bidias a Moute, and he’ll likely see more action than usual.

Junior center Jonathan Sloan and sophomore guard Roshun Jackson are the other two players who see the floor consistently for Texas State, although neither has done anything exceptional this year Last year, Sloan struggled with injury and illness, while Jackson played a bit role from the bench.

What to look for

We know the Bobcats like to run, and from the looks of Monday night’s game against Long Beach State, the Longhorns have no trouble doing that. Texas is significantly bigger than Texas State, so they should have a commanding advantage on the glass. That should lead to a lot of empty possessions for the Bobcats, and tons of second-chance opportunities if Texas happens to be missing its shots.

When not stifling Texas State on the boards, the Longhorns should also be forcing a ton of turnovers. The Bobcats don’t take care of the ball, and on Monday night the Longhorns made hay off their opponent’s miscues. Texas scored 33 points off turnovers against Long Beach State, and should enjoy another gaudy output in that category this afternoon.

The final thing we’ll be watching tonight is whether or not Dogus Balbay continues to shine. This kind of up-and-down game is made for a thoughtful floor general with great court vision, and that’s what Balbay has brought to the table so far this year. If he continues to perform at that high of a level, and can keep defenses honest with any semblance of a short- to mid-range game, Texas will be ridiculously good. We’re crossing our fingers that he has another career day in this shootout.

Final notes

As always, tickets remain for this non-conference patsy, so take a break from the Christmas shopping and come see the Longhorns. You’ll even be treated to a return visit from 90’s Texas star Terrence Rencher, who is one of the assistants on the Texas State sidelines. If things get too ugly, perhaps he’ll even tear off the suit and try to play in one of those hideous grey, orange, and white uniforms that Tom Penders’ Runnin’ Horns wore last decade.

For those staying at home, the game is available on cable in Texas on Fox Sports Southwest, while fans outside of the Lone Star State can catch it as a part of the ESPN Full Court package.

After a pair of games in which the Longhorns shot just 41% from the field — their only outings below the 50% mark — the pressure was on to bounce back against the pre-season favorite in the Big West Conference. But with Texas’ two big post presences limited to just 31 combined minutes, it was up to the freshmen and the role players to carry the Longhorns to victory. To say they responded to the call would be a gross understatement.

Six different Longhorns scored in double figures en route to a dominating 107-74 victory over Long Beach State, the highest offensive output for a Rick Barnes team in four years. Texas moved the ball well, used dribble penetration with great success, and played stifling defense that led to 23 turnovers and 33 points off of their opponents’ miscues.

Statistically, this was by far the best showing by the offense all season. Long Beach State wanted to run, and the 84 possessions in the game was the most the Longhorns have seen this year. Texas took advantage, scoring at an insane rate of 1.3 points per possession. Even with the 49ers shooting over 40% and knocking down 19 free throws, there was no possible way to keep up with the offensive explosion on the other end of the court.

What looked good

It’d be easy to say that everything looked good in this game, but that would be a tad oversimplified and a bit disingenuous. But it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that nearly everything looked good for the Longhorns on Monday night.

Dogus Balbay made just his second start of the year, and his inclusion in the lineup immediately made things flow. In the first four and a half minutes, the Longhorns had eight field goals, and four of them came off of assists from Balbay. For the night, he finished with a career-high eleven dimes, and managed to play his 24 minutes without a single turnover.

In many of the early games this season, the Texas offense would sometimes grind to a halt without Balbay on the floor. Defenses would switch to zone and double- or triple-team Dexter Pittman immediately as he received the entry pass. When the Texas shooters were off from long-range, the team would often go for minutes without making a field goal. No one seemed to want to dribble-drive, and the ball movement around the perimeter was oftentimes not fast enough to get open looks.

Against Long Beach State, though, it was quickly clear how much Texas had worked on their offense in practices. When teams tried to trap Pittman, he kept the ball high and reacted quickly. Jordan Hamilton, Avery Bradley, and J’Covan Brown all made strong moves to the hoop with the basketball and their stat lines reflected the benefits of that aggressive approach.

On defense, the sudden spike in turnovers was huge for Texas. They forced eight LBSU miscues in less than eight minutes, and the frustration was quickly apparent in the body language of the 49ers. While some skeptics might think that the increase in turnovers was a result of the extra possessions, stat guru Ken Pomeroy would beg to differ. He measures turnovers as a percentage of possessions, and Texas’ 28% rate in last night’s game was head-and-shoulders above their performance in any other game this season.

What needed work

The one thing Texas struggled with all night was slowing down the inside-out guard tandem of Casper Ware and Stephan Gilling. The pair combined for 34 points on the night, nearly half of their team’s entire offense. Ware was constantly beating Texas defenders with a lightning-quick first step, and he earned himself seven trips to the charity stripe. When Ware wasn’t scoring at the rack, Gilling was knocking down three-pointer after three-pointer — to the tune of a 6-for-12 night from long range.

While Texas won the game, and quite easily, the defense against these two guards will surely be highlighted by the coaching staff in film session. The Longhorns are going to face a lot of quick guards this year — Sherron Collins of Kansas and Kalin Lucas of Michigan State come to mind — and against a more well-rounded opponent, these kind of defensive lapses could be killer.

The other focal points in this one will seem incredibly repetitive for anyone who has been regularly reading this website. Once again, Texas struggled from the foul line — they were 8-of-15 tonight — and J’Covan Brown compiled a handful of dumb turnovers. The free-throw nightmare is going to be a season-long theme, but I am supremely confident that Barnes and his assistants will settle Brown down as the season goes on. Many of his turnovers last night were a result of his attempt to be overly flashy as Texas coasted with its big lead. In the post-game interviews, Barnes noted that this is simply Brown trying to “make a great pass instead of just a good pass.” If Brown will stop trying to make SportsCenter’s Top Plays, his turnover numbers will certainly improve.

Handing out blue stars

Practically everyone in this game looked excellent. Even though Brown was responsible for six of Texas’ eleven turnovers, he provided thirteen points and five rebounds. As mentioned earlier, Jordan Hamilton was much more willing to drive from the wings, instead of immediately popping a three-pointer. In fact, Hamilton took just 25% of his shots from behind the arc, a far cry from the 60% of his attempts that were coming from long-range prior to this game.

Avery Bradley was finally able to showcase that silky-smooth midrange jumper that Texas fans have been hearing about so often. He added 17 points in the winning effort, and provided two steals and a block on the defensive end. Down low, Gary Johnson was a beast off the bench. He scored fourteen points and grabbed five boards in just 22 minutes on the court, and his ability to get quality looks inside led to a scorching 88% shooting night.

The bench combined for 61 points in this game, a statistic you might likely never see again. Beyond the players listed above, even the role players who see the floor for just a few minutes were able to get into the act. Alexis Wangmene looked good down low, scoring eight points — four of them coming off of beautiful assists from Balbay. His defense also seems to have improved, as he was able to frustrate the opposing big men without picking up his typical rash of fouls.

While Shawn Williams didn’t showcase the three-point stroke that one recruiting expert had trumped up during the off-season, he continued to hustle and play tough inside in his limited minutes. The guy just knows how to get to the ball, and he’s going to be a feisty rebounder when Barnes isn’t getting what he needs from the front line.

The big finish

On a personal note, last night’s game was probably the closest I’ve come to ending the streak of consecutive games attended. Something nasty decided it wanted to infect me on Saturday, and with finals and papers due for most students, there was nobody else going to guilt me into attending. I managed to make it to the game in time but likely looked like a serial killer, slouched in a seat by myself with a hooded sweatshirt pulled tight around my head. Fortunately, the Longhorns looked great so their performance didn’t make me feel any worse.

Next up for Texas is an I-35 battle against Texas State, a team that is predicted to finish at the bottom of the Southland Conference this year. It won’t be a tough test for the Longhorns, but provides another opportunity to tweak the little things they’ll need to work on before the big 1-2 punch of North Carolina and Michigan State. Game preview will be up on Saturday morning, and in the meantime I’ll be working on photo uploads and Notes from the Road.

“Real life” has stepped completely in the way of any productivity since departing Kansas City last Tuesday night, and you can clearly see the results on the website. With only the Rice preview in the way of content over the last nine days, things have been a bit……slow. Unfortunately, that real-life nuisance has continued its annoying creep and cost us a game preview tonight.

Fortunately, the USC team that comes to the Drum tonight should not be much of a challenge, and perhaps would have been a waste of words. The Trojans already have two losses, including an eight-point home embarrassment against Loyola Marymount and a narrow defeat on the road against the Cornhuskers. Unfortunately, that will make the taste of tonight’s revenge beating a little less satisfying for Longhorns fans hoping to wash out the bitter taste of the 87-68 NCAA Second Round loss to the Trojans back in 2007.

To get your pre-game fix, be sure to check out these great previews from our Longhorn friends on the web:

TexasSports.com
Burnt Orange Nation

For the first time in 13 years, the Texas Longhorns will face the Rice Owls in a true road game. During that time, the two teams have played a handful of times in Austin and at Houston’s Toyota Center, but have not played on the Rice campus since the final season of the Southwest Conference. This time, the Owls are playing in the sparkling new Tudor Fieldhouse, a 5,208 seat gym that head coach Ben Braun hopes will lure more recruits to the perennially-weak program.

Rice is off to its best start in years, grabbing victories in four of the first five games. While the wins have come against sub-par competition, they are an important part of instilling a new attitude at a program that was winless in Conference USA just two years ago. Braun led the Owls to four conference wins last year, and hopes to build upon that success in the first season with his own recruiting class.

By the numbers

Rice is a very average team statistically so far this year. Despite the fact that they have four wins, the efficiency stats actually show that they give up 0.021 points per possession more than they score. While that number might seem small, posting a negative differential of any size is incredibly troubling for a team that has four wins, and even more so when those wins have come against teams such as Sacramento State and Houston Baptist. If Rice is less efficient than these weak teams when beating them, what are they going to do in conference play?

The Owls are not shooting the ball exceptionally well, but are making up for it on the offensive glass. They are grabbing 36% of their misses, which is a great help for a team shooting just 40% from the floor. For a comparison, the Longhorns are currently making 54.6% of their shots. Today it is very likely that Rice will shoot an even lower percentage and have an even tougher time grabbing offensive boards against the bigger Texas frontcourt. That combination means that things could likely get ugly in a hurry.

Defensively, the Owls are forcing turnovers and bad shots by their opponents. This season, they have a +12 turnover differential, and are holding opponents to 30% shooting on the season. When you consider that Rice’s lone loss came against the Arizona Wildcats, you realize that their defensive shooting percentage is even more dominant in those early-season wins. If the Owls can continue their success at forcing turnovers, it could keep today’s contest a little bit closer, but will not make much of a difference in the long run.

The starting five

Rice is led by sophomore guard Connor Frizzelle, who is averaging twelve points per game this year. He is coming off a freshman campaign in which he started 21 games and scored 8.7 points per contest, and hopes to improve his defense in his second season. He also needs to work on ball control, as he has logged just one more assist than turnover so far this year. One area in which he needs no improvement is three-point shooting, where he is 12-of-22 on the season.

At forward, 6’8″ Lucas Kuipers is hoping to bounce back after missing the second half of last season with a broken wrist he suffered in January. Kuipers has 5.6 rebounds per game so far this year, and is chipping in 7.8 points as well. Although he’s doing well on the glass, he’s not afraid to step out and knock down mid-range shots, something Rice will have to do today.

Joining Kuipers in the frontcourt is Suleiman Braimoh, a junior who plays just 15 minutes per contest despite starting in each game. A Nigerian-born player from New York, Braimoh is not a long-term answer for the Rice frontcourt, but is doing a serviceable job providing leadership and experience for the more talented, younger players that Braun is developing. This year, he’s posting averages of 6.4 points and 4.6 boards per game.

Tamir Jackson is one of those talented newcomers, a freshman guard from New Jersey who was pursued by a handful of Big East schools before he signed with Rice. While he’s a combo guard, so far he has struggled with the basketball. Jackson has 19 turnovers on the year with just thirteen assists, but is still contributing to the tune of 10.4 points per game. While he needs quite a bit of seasoning, Braun believes that Jackson will be a solid anchor for future Rice backcourts.

Thanks to Jackson’s troubles handling the basketball, senior Lawrence Ghoram has had to hold down the role of floor general. Much like Braimoh, Ghoram is a player that Braun is looking to for leadership during these transition years. He has a solid assist-to-TO ratio of 2.5 this season, and improved his three-point shooting over the summer. He has hit 4-of-7 from behind the arc so far and has logged 8.6 points per game.

Off the bench

While Coach Braun was hoping to run deeper than the eight men he used last season, his rotation has been just eight men again this year. Texas A&M transfer Bryan Beasley may become the ninth man in the rotation later this year, but so far is playing less than nine minutes per game.

The key man off the bench is 6’10” center Trey Stanton, a transfer from Navy. Although he’s the sixth man, his 21.6 minutes per game is good for fourth on the team, and his 23-point, nine-rebound performance against Furman led the team to victory. Stanton is the biggest man on a small Rice team, so he will likely see a ton of minutes against the deep Texas frontcourt. If he picks up fouls early, the Owls will be absolutely abused inside for most of the afternoon.

Arsalan Kazemi is a freshman from Iran, and is the first D-I basketball player from that country. Rice is expecting great things from the 6’7″ forward, and so far his freshman campaign seems to indicate those expectations will be met. He’s leading the team with six boards per game, even though he’s only on the court for 18 minutes per contest. As he becomes more experienced and demands more time on the floor, Kazemi is going to be a force in C-USA.

Another freshman seeing solid minutes is guard A.J. Holland. His father was a longtime assistant coach in the SEC, and that basketball pedigree should mean that Holland will be a solid leader on the floor. He’s seeing just twelve minutes per game so far, but looks to be a much bigger presence next season, after Ghoram’s graduation.

Keys to the game

This one should be an easy win for the Texas Longhorns, as they have advantages in practically every category. They are bigger, deeper, and more talented than the Rice Owls. Even the crowd may end up being decidedly pro-Longhorn, negating the one edge the Owls should enjoy this afternoon.

With that being said, today’s keys to the game aren’t really necessary to win. But based on what we’ve seen from Texas’ first four performances, they will be interesting factors to watch and use as a benchmark for the team’s progress.

So far, Texas has not been great at controlling the basketball. One thing that Rice does well is forcing turnovers, so this should provide a good test of how far the Longhorn ballhandlers have come since Tuesday’s win over Pitt.

The biggest problem for Texas continues to be free throw shooting. While J’Covan Brown and Gary Johnson have proven reliable at the line and Damion James is making 73% of his free throws, there is not another Longhorn making more than 60% of their attempts. If Texas hopes to be a championship team, that will have to change. Just ask the 2008 Memphis Tigers.

Finally, we will be keeping an eye on whether the Texas guards attack the lane. Without Varez Ward, the only Longhorn who showed any inclination to drive to the basket on Tuesday night was Dogus Balbay. As a result, the Texas offense bogged down when he wasn’t in the game and the Pitt defense collapsed into the lane to negate the Longhorns’ inside game. Brown, Justin Mason, and Avery Bradley will need to start penetrating more often, or else teams will simply force Texas to beat them from outside.

This afternoon’s game might be hard for a lot of folks to see, as CBS College Sports is not available on AT&T U-verse, and is part of an add-on package for Time Warner customers. As always, you can enjoy Craig Way’s radio call from Tudor Fieldhouse, but if you want to see the action, you may have to hit up the local sports bar.

We did, in fact, make it back safely from Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon. Since then, we’ve been a bit caught up in all the familial business and football overload, but will be back in the saddle later today.

Look for our Pitt wrap-up later tonight, a Rice preview early Sunday, and notes and photos from the KC trip sometime next week. In the meantime, enjoy the last round of holiday hoops tournaments and the last regular season Saturday for college football!