The UC-Davis Aggies come into the game having split their first two contests. The lone win came over Division III school La Verne, while the loss was only two days ago in a road game against New Mexico State. They finished last season at 5-23, just missing an at-large bid to the NCAAs.

The Aggies were outrebounded by the other aggies of NMSU by a 47-20 count. While the tallest UC-Davis players check in at 6’9″, their guards will have a few inches over the Longhorn backcourt. But even with that in mind, one can’t help but think that a team outboarded by 27 — albeit by a very lengthy NMSU squad — may have a few problems with their fundamentals on the glass. Redshirt freshman Mark Payne is their top board man, although he is averaging only 5.5 per game so far.

Davis runs nine men deep on the bench, with Kyle Brucculeri and C.J. Portz alternating as fifth starter and sixth man. Ryan Silva is the only reserve that serves as a huge scoring threat for the Aggies, averaging 11 per game in the first two contests.

Nearly half of the shots for UC-Davis come from behind the arc, and with the team hitting at 44%, the Longhorns will want to prevent open looks. Sophomore Shane Hanson has been particularly deadly so far this year, sinking 7-of-11 treys. Silva is also a threat, going 6-of-11 from three-point range in the first two games.

Despite that, the Aggies have been middle-of-the-road thus far. Their offensive efficiency checks in at only 99.2 according to Ken Pomeroy, meaning that they average about a point per possession. For comparison, the 2006-07 Longhorns finished the year with a 114.3 efficiency. Defensively, the Aggies’ efficiency falls in the bottom third of all NCAA squads.

For Texas, this is a chance to see what the offense can do at something that is a bit closer to full speed. Will Damion James still be anchored to the three-point line, or will he embrace the attacking wing role that P.J. Tucker held just two seasons ago? Can the freshmen big men and Dexter Pittman get themselves into the mix offensively, or is this going to be another guard show from our talented top three?

Injuries are still going to be a problem for Texas, as Gary Johnson has still not been publicly cleared. And of course, Dogus Balbay and Matt Hill will be watching in street clothes, as they will likely be all season. Pittman is still available to play, but after his rough outing on Monday night, one can’t help but wonder if the foot is still bothering him a bit.

If the Horns can dominate the rebounding battle and limit the three pointers from Davis, they will win this one running away. Fail to do those things, and they still likely win — it’ll just be a close, ugly one. I’ll refrain from saying what nightmare scenarios could cause the Aggies to come out victorious, considering the last time someone did that — I’m looking at you, Flutie — things ended…badly.

Tonight’s game isn’t on TV, so head out to the Drum for the 7 P.M. tip. It’s early enough to squeeze in before your Friday night plans and not too late for those with little ones. Come orange, wear early, stay loud, be late, yada yada yada. We’ll see you there.

Last night

There were no Longhorns playing last night, but Kevin Durant did drop by the NBA on TNT studios to chat with the guys. I know that they’ve been using YouTube to have questions submitted for the crew, so I was hoping that maybe the video would be posted there this morning. No dice, but I did find this little gem…

Tonight

LaMarcus Aldridge and the Trail Blazers head to the City of Brotherly Love to face the 76ers. (6 PM CST)

The Toronto Raptors and T.J. Ford host the Indiana Pacers. (6 PM CST)

It’s the first NBA meeting between Kevin Durant and Acie Law IVLCXMI when the Sonics travel to Atlanta and take on the Hawks. (6:30 PM CST)

The Cavs and Daniel Gibson host the Utah Jazz. (6:30 PM CST)

Chris Mihm and Maurice Evans get some more national airtime when the Lakers and Pistons tangle from Staples. (9:30 PM CST, ESPN)

Orangebloods broke the news yesterday that J’Covan Brown has committed to Texas ($$ article). That’d be all fine and dandy if the kid had actually signed on the dotted line. But with the pressures from his parents and coach still trying to push him elsewhere, we’ll have to see if he ever ends up putting his Herbie Hancock on this thing and playing on the 40 Acres. Fingers are crossed very, very tightly that this one works out.

In 2KSports Classic semifinal action, UConn dispatched Gardner-Webb and will take on Memphis in the finals after the Tigers held off OU. In the nightcap, Derrick Rose finished with 17 points, five boards, and three assists, while OU’s Blake Griffin finished with an 8/8 night. Longar Longar was only able to log three eye-socket shatterings with his flailing elbows.

That UConn/Memphis championship game from Madison Square Garden highlights the NCAA hoops on TV today, airing at 8 PM CST on ESPN2. There’s also games all day long from the Puerto Rico Tip Off, starting at 11 AM CST on ESPNU. And if you’re into a little Gardner-Webb/OU action, that one is on the Duece at 5:30 PM CST.

This “College Basketball Invitational” is probably the worst thing to happen since Wayne Newyon first discovered plastic surgery. Why exactly is there a need to crown the 97th-best team in NCAA hoops? And who will even play in this train wreck of toxic waste? Rush the Court pulled a sample bracket from the Gazelle Group’s website, and it leaves…a lot to be desired. But then again, when I think about the god-awful fields they’ve put together for the Guardian’s Classic, 2KSports Classic, and especially this year’s Legends Classic, I don’t know why I’m really surprised. Classic.

Last night

Kevin Durant and the Sonics got over the hump, knocking off the Miami Heat 104-95. KD played 33 minutes in this one, scoring 18 points to go with five boards. On the night, he shot 50% behind the arc (3-for-6) and only 30% inside it (3-for-10). Interesting, no?

The Raptors were edged out at home by the Utah Jazz, 92-88. T.J. Ford just missed a double-double, dishing out eight assists while scoring 13 in his 32 minutes of play.

The Cavs and Magic needed an extra five minutes to decide a winner, but ultimately Orlando prevailed by a 117-116 count. Daniel Gibson saw the floor for 41 minutes, dropping in 16 to go with two assists, two rebounds, and two steals.

Royal Ivey did not play for the Bucks, who defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 102-99. These two facts are in no way related. In all honesty, the Grizzlies are so awful that Royal could’ve played them 1-on-5 and won by about 30, but Coach Larry Krystkowiak didn’t want to embarrass Memphis that way. So, hooray for sportsmanship I guess.

The Lakers took out the Rockets in Houston, 93-90. With Kwame Brown back at full strength, Chris Mihm played for only a minute and a half and didn’t find the stat sheet. But Maurice Evans made the most of his ten minutes, scoring seven and grabbing a board.

LaMarcus Aldridge started strong and faded in the 4th quarter, but still finished the night with 15 points and nine rebounds. He also added a steal as the Trail Blazers fell to the homestanding Nuggets, 110-93.

Tonight

Apparently the Spurs and Mavericks are playing tonight, and that’s important for some reason. But there’s no Longhorns on the NBA’s schedule, so I’ll be blissfully ignoring TNT. San Antonio and Dallas fans, enjoy your e-pene battle.

A couple of close calls for ranked teams last night, but no major upsets. North Carolina held off Davidson after blowing a seven-point halftime lead, while Texas A&M used a second-half comeback to beat UTEP. As discussed in the comments on yesterday’s post, A&M’s clear weakness is the free-throw shooting of DeAndre Jordan (1-for-6 last night). It’s just a matter of time until the Hack-a-Shaq strategy is put into play against this guy.

The rest of the Big 12 fell on its face last night, with Okie State losing to UNT by 9, Tech falling to the Bearkats of SHSU, and Iowa State being toppled by the Bradley Braves. That’s gotta be good for the ol’ conference RPI.

An interesting link comes our way from the folks over at Bring on the Cats. It turns out that one stat overlooked amidst KSU’s 2-0 start and Michael Beasley’s stellar debut is the fact that the Wildcats have turned over the ball 47 times in two games. That’s right, they are averaging 23.5 turnovers in a pair of games against Sacramento State and Pittsburg State. And, even more noteworthy, new coach Frank Martin doesn’t give a shit.

Another link courtesy of long-time LRT reader Caradoc, in which we learn about P.J. Tucker’s time playing for Hapoel Holon in the Israeli league. Turns out, a nutjob threw a firecracker on the court on Sunday and the security guard who acted quickly enough to retrieve it lost three fingers for his bravery. I know this usually doesn’t happen at basketball games over there, despite the turmoil going on outside of the arenas. But still, let’s get P.J. home. Maybe he can join Kenton Paulino on the Austin Toros…

(That link from Caradoc also brings us to the shameless begging portion of this update. If you see an article that you think we’d find interesting, please send it along. Contact at longhornroadtrip dot com. We’ll show you the love.)

Tonight the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament hits the semifinal stage, pitting UConn versus Gardner-Webb in the opener (6 PM CST) and #3 Memphis versus Oklahoma (8 PM CST). Both games are on ESPN2. It’ll be a great chance to catch freshmen phenoms Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose, so tune in or set the Tivos accordingly. And an interesting fact on that Gardner-Webb/UConn tilt — since the Runnin’ Bulldogs weren’t expecting to beat Kentucky, these games at MSG are being sandwiched between those they had already scheduled. Now they will be forced to play five games in eight days, including a second one against UConn next Wednesday night.

ESPNU’s got basketball all day from Puerto Rico. Check out this stellar lineup — Houston vs. VCU (8 AM CST), Marist vs. Miami FL (10:30 AM CST), Temple vs. Providence (1:30 PM CST), and the College of Charleston vs. Arkansas (4 PM CST). Something tells me I won’t be wasting a sick day to watch these games.