Although Texas pulled away a 58-37 victory over UT-San Antonio last night, it felt like anything but a basketball game. The Roadrunners did absolutely everything to prove their mascot a misnomer, dribbling endlessly at the top of the key, then trying to drive or kick out for a three in the final five seconds of a possession. It made for disjointed, ugly basketball, and I can safely say that I’d never want to see this team on the schedule again…or at least not until they find a new coach.
Longtime readers know that I’m a big fan of Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, and this game was absolutely made for number crunching. I had mentioned in the pre-game that UTSA favors a slowdown game, but this was even more than that. UTSA coach Brooks Thompson seemed to realize that the only way to beat the Longhorns was to limit each team to a handful of possessions per half and just pray that his squad shot a better percentage.
The teams played at a pace of 47.4 possessions, but the Longhorns played at an incredible 122.4 efficiency. For those unfamiliar with Pomeroy, this means that for every 100 possessions, Texas would score 122.4 points. If you wanted to counter the effect of UTSA’s slow pace and project this out for an “average” Texas game, the numbers would look much better. Using last year’s pace of 69.7 possessions per game with last night’s efficiency, the Longhorns would’ve been expected to score 85 points. So, don’t let the score fool you.
In the first half, Texas struggled enough to make UTSA’s tactics pay off. They were only 8-of-23 from the field and seemed content to play four men around the perimeter, leaving only one rebounder down low. The shorter Roadrunners benefited, and won the first half battle on the glass by a 17-10 count.
But in the second twenty, the Longhorns came out firing on all cylinders. They hit the boards with enough intensity to overtake the rebounding battle by a 19-18 count within minutes. (They would go on to edge the Roadrunners on the glass 29-27 for the game.) Their shooting percentage went through the roof as well, jumping to over 54% for the second frame. With the Longhorns finally scoring at will, UTSA’s slowdown gambit only served to keep the game closer than it should’ve been.
D.J. Augustin looked solid once again, leading the way with 19 points and four assists. He did play every minute of the game, though, which is something that will be much more difficult for him to pull off in the rigors of conference play. The sweet drives to the lane were still a part of his repertoire, as D.J. had at least two highlight-reel layups that I can remember.
Damion James showed off his outside shot, hitting jumpers from just a few feet inside the arc. The only complaint I had with Damion’s performance was an aversion to playing inside. With the Horns sporting a three-guard lineup for much of the night, there was no reason why James should’ve been hanging out around the perimeter, leaving Connor Atchley as the only inside presence. Damion needs to attack the rim more often and assert himself on the offensive glass. He had nine rebounds on the night, but only two of them came off of Longhorn misses.
While the Longhorns are still giving up a lot of height by playing Justin Mason as a third starting guard, he fought hard for rebounds and played well offensively. Jay-Mase scored 12 points on the night and grabbed five rebounds, three of them offensive.
The Longhorns showed a lot of quality ball movement last night, which is very good with Mason in the game. Last year, he would sometimes turn the ball over by trying to do too much with the dribble or hanging on to it too long. This team seems to realize that quick passes can help to find the open man or open seams, and I hope to see more of it this year.
For the freshman, Alexis Wangmene and Clint Chapman saw some quality minutes with Gary Johnson and Dogus Balbay unavailable due to injury. I really like Chapman’s motor, as he seems to be such a quiet, unassuming guy that harbors a tenacious side. He grabbed four rebounds in seventeen minutes on the floor and really got after it, even on plays where he’d already lost position. Wangmene also looked good in the short spurts we saw him, but it was tough to get a good read with only 12 minutes on the floor (and most of that wasted time as UTSA guards dribbled possessions out near half court).
I expected more from Connor Atchley, but as I mentioned earlier, he was often stranded down low in the first half. And even at 6’10”, the kid can’t be expected to pull down every rebound against the entire UTSA squad as the rest of the Longhorns hang out at the three-point line. To be fair, Connor seemed to recognize what was happening and would try to tap out some of the rebounds to his teammates. But often that wasn’t successful, and the Roadrunners controlled the loose caroms. It will be interesting to see what opens up for Connor if and when Damion decides to play down low in the three-guard sets.
Dexter Pittman didn’t see much action as he found himself in coach’s doghouse pretty quickly. Dex lost rebounding position against the shorter, smaller Roadrunners, and didn’t do what he was supposed to do on the set plays drawn up for him. He grabbed two offensive boards in his five minutes of action, but otherwise did not make an impact.
I liked a lot of the new things I saw from this team last night. In particular, I like seeing Atchley on the floor for inbounding plays, and not trapped under the basket. Many will remember that the pressure from New Mexico State in Spokane caused a ton of problems on the inbounds plays. In that game, the Aggies constantly forced Atchley perilously close to a five-second call with suffocating inbounds D. But last night, he was the escape option, using his long arms to pop out at the top of the key for the high lob when all of the cuts were covered. That is an excellent use of our personnel, and I’m glad to see it happening.
As I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of quick ball movement from this year’s team, as well. There seemed to be more off-the-ball screening, too, which really flowed nicely with the snap passes and the three-guard lineup. All told, it just looked more like an offense, which is something that Texas fans aren’t that used to with defensive-minded Rick Barnes at the helm. It will be interesting to keep an eye on how the offensive game plan evolves throughout the year, particularly in regards to the lack of an inside game last night.
The Horns now enjoy three days off before starting play in the Legends Classic on Friday night. Tip will be at 7 PM CST from the Erwin Center against the Aggies of UC-Davis. See y’all there.
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