Thursday night’s game at Madison Square Garden provided a good preview for what fans of the 2006-07 Longhorns will be going through this year — ulcers and antacids. Texas fell to Michigan State in a nervewracking Coaches vs. Cancer semifinal on a last second shot, 63-61.

There were some definite bright spots for the Longhorns, most notably the coming out party of freshman point guard D.J. Augustin. But when a team shoots 20.6% from the field in the second half, things are going to get tough.

The young Texas players showed poise, refusing to panic when down ten to the Spartans midway through the first half. The Longhorns fought back and managed to take a four point lead to the locker room. But once the horn sounded for the final twenty minutes of play, the shots stopped falling.

Augustin changed his modus operandi a bit in the contest, finishing more of his drives to the basket with smooth layups. He still utilized the penetrate-and-dish style that we had seen from him last week, most notably on a play near the end of the first half where he passed up an open layup to drop it off to Jay Mason for the basket and the foul.

One great exchange came when a Spartan player embarrassed our defense for a nifty reverse layup. Seconds later, Augustin went to the rack on the other end of the court and one-upped him with a sick layup of his own. For a brief thirty-second span, Madison Square Garden felt like the site of an And-1 Mix Tape exhibition.

A.J. Abrams and Kevin Durant provided their usual offensive sparks for Texas, combining for 43 points — even with Durant shooting only 1-for-9 in a rough second half. Abrams struggled a little to get it started and finished only six-of-thirteen from behind the arc, putting him at a .566 three-point percentage for the young season.

Besides his four blocks — some coming from behind the play — Durant looked a bit sluggish on the defensive end. But with a coach as defensive-minded as Rick Barnes, one can only assume that he will improve noticeably in that department throughout the year.

Michigan State exploited our man-to-man defense early in the first half for easy buckets on back-door cuts. But a few personnel changes and a switch to a 2-3 zone seemed to steady the ship. The intensity went up on the defensive end, and Michigan State’s offense became stagnant.

An interesting note on the 2-3 zone is the make-up of its back line when the Horns run a small lineup. With Augustin and Abrams assigned to the top of the key, the back line consisted of Durant, James, and Jay Mason on the wing. Looking at the height difference across the court was almost as funny as an episode of Freddie. But not quite.

Damion James struggled offensively, missing a ton of point blank looks. It became very apparent from his expression just how frustrated he was. But the great thing about this kid is that he insists upon staying in the game, and he manages to influence the game in other ways. He officially blocked three shots, but also managed to disrupt the flow of the Michigan State offense time and again just by sticking a big paw in the passing lane or the face of a shooter.

Connor Atchley — God bless the kid — struggled like a deaf-mute at open mic night. He picked up quick fouls and it appeared to get into his head. His usually smooth three-point stroke was off, and the foul trouble seemed to lead to tentative defensive play. Of course, once beaten while playing tentatively, he would typically then pick up another foul trying to make up for his mistake on the play. Fortunately, the season is young and Connor is naturally going to take a little while to adjust to his increased role on this team. I have faith in the guy.

Shot selection in the transition game left a lot to be desired. The Horns would go on a break, only to jack up a quick three-pointer with no one in position underneath. I’m glad that we have forced so many turnovers and are going to push the ball. Now we just need to know when to pull it out and run the half-court set.

As predicted, the rebounding was a big part of the team’s downfall last night. With the shots not falling, the lack of second-chance opportunities really hurt, especially when Michigan State managed to get so many down the stretch. There were even a few times where the shooter himself managed to go unaccounted for and snag his own board.

Most surprising to me, however, was that Drew Naymick turned out to be huge for the Spartans in the final minutes. He was a machine on the offensive glass and got MSU the extra shots they needed to stay in the game and win it. The Spartans outrebounded the Horns 26-18 in the second half.

As for the Neitzel layup that ended the game, I’m barely going to touch it. A player slipped, and after that the team seemed unaware of what good help defense is. If you saw it, you know what happened, and if you didn’t, you don’t want to. We shouldn’t have even allowed Michigan State to be in that position, so I’m not going to dwell on a single play.

Texas will now play in the consolation game against St. John’s tonight at 6 P.M. central, televised on ESPN2. Preview is on the way.

Tonight the Longhorns (2-0) face their first “real” team of the season in Michigan State (3-0) as they play in the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. Both teams advanced to tonight’s game in Madison Square Garden after beating horribly overmatched opponents in four-team home “pod” brackets.

Michigan State struggled in their opener, beating the Ivy League’s Brown Bears 45-34. Their second round game proved much easier, as they coasted to an 86-61 victory over the Youngstown State Penguins. Not even the approaching release of Happy Feet could give YSU a boost against their Big 10 opponents. The Spartans also played The Citadel between rounds of the College Hoops Classic, crushing them 73-41 on Sunday.

Interestingly enough, the Spartans did not only struggle with Brown. In their first exhibition game, Michigan State trailed Grand Valley State for nearly the entire contest, finally taking their first lead of the game with four minutes to play. If not for the great play of guard Drew Neitzel, the Spartans may have been victims of a gargantuan letdown.

This year’s Michigan State team will look incredibly different to college basketball fans familiar with the likes of Mateen Cleeves. Besides the aforementioned Neitzel, the current Spartans roster lacks names that are recognizable outside of East Lansing. While Texas reloaded this year with a great freshman class, Michigan State sports a mix of new, young guys and returning role players who are being asked to step up.

In this space last week, I predicted that Texas would be able to rebound against a much smaller Chicago State team. That did not happen. Tonight they face a much larger squad in MSU, and will most likely get destroyed on the glass. In particular, freshman forward Raymar Morgan and 6-foot, 10-inch center Goran “G” Suton should pose problems for a Texas team that has yet to show good rebounding fundamentals.

Against Sisters of the Poor University and Kentucky Medical Tech Seminary, Texas was able to push the tempo and create transition buckets. It will be interesting to see if they can continue this trend against more able competition. In addition, you should keep your eyes on our young players. Will they be able to handle the spotlight of Madison Square Garden and a nationally televised game in only their third contest at the NCAA level?

For those Longhorns in Austin and across the country, tune in at 8 PM (central) on ESPN2 to catch the game. Or if you’re in the New York area, swing by MSG and catch it live; tickets are still available.

I’m about four hours from boarding a plane with the ultimate destination of New York City. And after last year’s debacle in the Big Apple, this year can only be better. There’s not much worse than seeing Duke stomp your team’s face in while their football-retarded fans chant “USC” at Vince Young, then doping yourself up on Nyquil and watching Reggie Bush steal the Heisman…and apparently a house.

So regardless of results, I have a feeling that NYC 2006 will be a much better trip. Even if we somehow lose both games, I highly doubt that either one will be by 30-plus points. And since the game is at Madison Square Garden instead of Continental Airlines Arena, I won’t have to endure an interminable bus ride back with some Duke sorority girl behind me going on and on and on to her cell phone friend about how “Oh my god, Paulus had like, 10 points, and Sheldon Williams had, like, 5 blocks, and we just looked sooooo good!”

I’ll have four days in the city, and now really have no intentions of watching the big Ohio State/Michigan tilt on Saturday (thank you, K-State) which leaves me with a lot of time to explore. If any of you have suggestions for places to eat or things to do and see, feel free to leave me a note by clicking on the “Comments” link below. It’s right next to that sexy speech bubble.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions, and I’ll be back tomorrow with the Micigan State preview straight from Queens.

Three years ago, as I waited in the rain outside the Frank Erwin Center for a game against Oklahoma State, I saw a small group of people folding up tents at the front of the line. A few weeks later, when it came time for the game against hated OU, I decided to follow their lead and spend two nights outside in a sleeping bag. I met many of the hardiest Longhorn basketball fans, who opened up their tents and tailgates to me. These guys led me through my O-Zone indocrination, taking me on road trips to Stillwater and Atlanta. Some people join frats or rush sororities. That spring, I pledged South O-Zone.

Over the two following years, I was front and center at practically every home game. I made road trips seemingly everywhere — Norman, Waco, College Station, Lawrence, New York, even Atlanta again. Some of my friends began to notice a disturbing trend. When I left the state of Texas to see the Horns play basketball, they’d always lose. To Oklahoma State in Stillwater and Xavier in Atlanta. To OU in Norman, Kansas in Lawrence, and the Aggies in College Station. To Duke in New York City, then the Sooners and Cowboys again in Oklahoma. By the time we made it to Atlanta in March of this year, I had an 0-8 record at out-of-state UT basketball games.

As a Red Sox fan, I’m used to having the “cursed” label thrown in my direction. But as a realist, I also know that the trade of a player in the 1910’s can’t make a ball roll between a first baseman’s legs in 1986. And by the same token, my mere presence in an arena can’t make a basketball team lose. So when Kenton Paulino hit that buzzer-beating three-pointer against West Virginia to propel Texas into the Elite Eight — and erase my “curse” — I felt completely vindicated.

Two days later, we lost to LSU and waited in bitter, cold, windy weather to thank the team as they boarded the buses. And as Brad Buckman thanked us for all of our support, I realized that I had seen that class of seniors mature through their four years on the Forty Acres. And suddenly I had the crazy idea of watching the team mature throughout an entire season, in person.

At the time, I still had dreams of standing in the same place outside the Georgia Dome a year later, congratulating the team after winning their first national title. But over the coming weeks, the entries of LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker, and Daniel Gibson into the NBA draft tempered those dreams. Add to that the transfer of one of my favorite players, Mike Williams, and things weren’t looking good. But I had already made a mental commitment to this crazy trip, and I continued ahead in my plans.

As the pieces of the schedule came together, it began to look like I couldn’t have chosen a better year for the ultimate road trip. With games in New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Knoxville, and the usual Big 12 haunts, the 2006-07 campaign offers a great package of road games. And thanks to all of those dream-shattering changes to the roster, this is actually shaping up to be a perfect season to watch a team grow from game to game. With seven young, incredibly talented kids, there is not a single person who can reasonably claim that the team I watched on Thursday night will be anywhere close to the team I see suit up in Lawrence, Kansas on March 3rd.

So that’s how the pieces fell in place. How a crazy, random thought on a cold, depressing night in Atlanta could blossom into an incredible journey. Now, eight months later, I take my first trip of ten outside of Texas. And maybe by March we can make that 1-9 out-of-state record look a little bit better for the superstitious folks out there.

I raved about A.J. Abrams’ hot shooting in the exhibition games, and I mentioned it as something to watch for on Thursday night in the opener. It turns out I was just a day premature with my little tip. Abrams shot absolutely lights out in Friday night’s quarterfinal matchup with Chicago State, dropping 28 points in a 92-66 win over the Cougars.

The game started out quickly, with Chicago State refusing to back down. The Longhorns first five or six baskets were all three-pointers, and I believe that Abrams’ first 15 points came on his first five three-point attempts. He even nailed a three while being fouled, but suffered a rare miss at the line to lose the four-point play. This game really showcased his quick release, as defenders who were sagging on him only slightly were unable to react in what seemed like a milisecond between his reception of a pass and the shot.

I’m sure that opponents next week in New York will be ready for A.J., but one of the most exciting things about this team is our number of weapons. Shut down Abrams, you get Durant and James. Shut down K-Smoove, and Abrams and James will light you up.

It wasn’t all candy and gum-drops at the Frank Erwin Center, though. Coach Barnes was visibly frustrated on the bench with the defense of some of our post players. He also got irritated with a lot of fouls our defenders were giving up fifteen and eighteen feet from the hoop on dribble penetration attempts.

One problem that stood out which I didn’t see Barnes rip into the team for — although I’m fairly sure he must have at some point — was our lack of rebounding. I mentioned here yesterday that the small Chicago State team should have been abused on the boards, and in the end we finished with a 43-37 edge on the glass. But many of those rebounds came in the late minutes when the Cougars had seemingly given up.

But if you take a peek at the box score, you’ll see that Chicago State beat us in second chance points, 19-13. And that’s where our inability to rebound really stood out. We’d make a defensive stop, but allow them second and third opportunities to score. Against the Alcorn and Chicago and Tacoola States this won’t really matter. But when we play Michigan State, LSU, Gonzaga, Kansas, and down the line of our tough schedule? It’s something that has to get drastically better. And that’s why I’m glad we have Rick Barnes running the show.

It took only two games for Kevin Durant to log his first double-double, ripping down 13 boards to go with his 21 points. Most impressive were his five blocks. He is going to be a real problem down low for other teams, especially if he manages to stay in position most of the time. Although, with that freakish wingspan he managed a few blocks from behind the play, too.

And speaking of blocks, it seems like it’s going to be a strong point for this Texas team. Chew on this: in the first two games, the Longhorns blocked a total of 22 shots. And since it’s always fun to project these things early in the year when they spit out ridiculous, record setting numbers, I have to do that here. If the team continues on its insane rate of blocking shots, they would swat away 330 in the regular season. By comparison, last year’s team — with LaMarcus Aldridge’s long arms inside — blocked 186 shots. Crazy extrapolations aside, I think we will do considerably better than that this year.

Our defense did a very solid job shutting down Chicago State’s star from the night before. David Holston scored 43 against St. Bonaventure in the opener, but was held to only seven points by the Longhorns. In fact, Holston didn’t even tally a point in the second half despite leading his team with 38 minutes played.

Damion James had another good game, scoring 14 and shooting 6-for-7 from the line. At the few times when it seemed that the team wasn’t focused on defense or rebounding inside, Damion typically took charge, holding the blocks and fighting for the ball. Everybody knew about Kevin Durant coming in, but I think James is going to be quite a popular player on the Forty Acres.

Jay Mason continues to impress me coming off the bench. He knows what is going on out there, and because of that is a very efficient interchangeable part in Barnes’ system. Jay had eight points last night, but also dished out three assists and recorded a steal. A very clean, positive stat sheet for the young man.

The team held on to the ball much better last night, save for the first two possessions of the second half. The Longhorns finished with 19 assists to 9 turnovers, but a few of those turnovers were on mishandled passes from Augustin. I prefer these types of turnovers to the out-and-out steals, because with time, teams start to sense when their teammates will give them the ball and where. And when that happens, the turnovers should definitely decrease.

Dexter Pittman and J.D. Lewis hardly saw the floor on Friday night, and Matt Hill’s time on the court was largely quiet. He played only 13 minutes off the bench, but didn’t manage to get to the line like we had seen in the opener and the two exhibitions. It’s definitely not a cause for concern, just an observation. When you have A.J. Abrams hitting 8-of-11 three-pointers, it’s only natural that some other guys seem to get lost in the shuffle.

All told, it was an enjoyable opening two weeks in Austin. The crowds were disgustingly thin, particularly in the student sections, but I give huge thanks to all who came out. Y’all are the ones who will truly enjoy how far this team has come by March, while the Johnny-Come-Latelys are still asking us who this D.J. Augustin kid is.

Four days until I head to New York for the team’s next two games. In the meantime, I’ll have some content so be sure to keep checking in. And good luck to our football and soccer teams this weekend in their games.