After a long week off following a convincing victory over a strong St. Mary’s team, Rick Barnes and the Horns finally kick off conference play with a road game in Columbia, Missouri. There are eight of us driving up there in just a few hours and the game has an awkward tip time of 12:45 tomorrow, so as a result you get the bonus of an early game preview.

The Longhorns have never lost a Big 12 opener in the nine years that Coach Barnes has led the team and Texas has a nine-game winning streak over the Tigers, but this one isn’t going to be easy. Mike Anderson has an experienced team now in their second year under his high-pressure system, and they can rattle teams into costly mistakes.

By the numbers

If you had one word to describe Mizzou, it would be pressure. But if you broke the rules and used a second word, it would be inconsistent. They’ve yet to put together 40 minutes of solid basketball yet, and as a result have fallen short in games against big competitors. The Tigers fell short against Michigan State in a virtual home game in Kansas City, and lost to Arkansas and California on the road. Their signature win on the year came against a Purdue team that is nothing better than a mid-pack Big 10 squad.

The high-pressure style that Mizzou plays has them pushing the tempo up to 75 possessions per game, the 12th-fastest rate in the country. But even at such a breakneck speed, the Tigers are still incredibly effective, with a +23.9 margin in Ken Pomeroy’s numbers.

They have the best three-point defense in the nation, but the ugly underbelly to that statistic is just how poor the Tigers are at defending the interior. When teams get past the perimeter pressure, they often find themselves with easy layups and bunnies.

The defense

It all starts with the defense for Mizzou. They love to put on full-court pressure following made baskets and free throws, so limiting their scoring serves another purpose beyond the obvious. Teams who attack the middle of the court with quick guards can often break the pressure and find themselves in a good transition situation with numbers. Texas has shown itself capable against pressing teams this season, but none have been as good at it as Missouri, save for perhaps Tennessee.

When the Longhorns manage to get it into the half-court set, more trouble awaits. Mike Anderson loves an extended 2-3 zone that is a really fun thing to watch. The pressure comes out nearly to midcourt, while players try to jump passing routes and unnerve shooters on the wings. Teams with quick ball movement can do really well against this look because of how far out the Tigers play, and Texas did a good job with that against the Mizzou zone last season.

When Mizzou shows a man look, their players oftentimes over-pursue in an effort to make the steal or anticipate a pass. This can lead to a lot of easy drives to the bucket or open jumpers, and you can be sure that Texas will take advantage of this if Mike Anderson tries it.

It’s also important for the younger guys to avoid the sidelines and corners, as the Tigers are great at immediately reacting and throwing a trap at an unlucky player who finds himself next to the out-of-bounds lines. I have complete faith in D.J. Augustin against this pressure, but if he happens to find himself in foul trouble, things could get dicey for A.J. Abrams or Justin Mason.

The players

Because of the frenetic pace at which they play, the Tigers can go nine deep without any problems.

Big man DeMarre Carroll was named Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Vanderbilt, and he’s making an immediate impact for the tigers. Carroll leads the team with 14.8 points per game and 6.7 rebounds and is the key to getting the Missouri offense going in half-court sets. When the Tigers attack the paint with Carroll, they have tremendous success not only inside, but also with their freed-up guards on the perimeter. When they get frustrated against defenses who deny the entry pass or dribble penetration, they tend to settle for forced threes and waste a ton of possessions.

While Carroll gets most of the pub down low, Leo Lyons is the big who impresses me most on this team. He’s in the mold of a Damion James in that he can hit the mid-range jumper, he can rebound, and he can usually score inside. Those points in the paint are sometimes hard to come by for Lyons, which just so happens to sound a lot like James at times, too. The great thing about Leo’s nice J is that it allows him to blow by people from the triple threat position, resulting in a lot of easy buckets at the rack.

Stefhon Hannah is still around and even better than before. He’s the team’s second-leading scorer with 13.9 points, but is also doing a great job at distributing the ball from both the point and off-guard positions. He’s an incredibly quick guard who loves to attack defenses off the dribble and then react quickly to find the open men when they collapse. And did I mention he can hit the three? Hannah is the team’s leading man with 41% success from behind the arc.

After a really great start shooting the three last year, guard Matt Lawrence came down to Earth a bit in the second half of the year. This season, he’s still a solid threat behind the arc, but is hitting at a much more mortal rate of 37%. Lawrence is probably the worst on-the-ball defender that Mike Anderson plays, so whoever he is matched up with should get by him with ease.

Not at all blood related, but also a guard is Keon Lawrence who can also occasionally hit the three, but is a fairly streaky shooter from behind the arc. Like Hannah, this Lawrence is a really quick guard who is constantly in the face of his man and loves to penetrate off the dribble and react to what the defense gives him.

Although he doesn’t even start, Austin native Marshall Brown is still the captain and a strong voice in the huddle and locker room. He was the starting power forward last year for Mike Anderson, but now is doing well in his role as an energy guy off the bench. When the going gets tough, he likely won’t be the one taking the big shot, but he’s still the one the team looks to for leadership.

What to look for

Besides the obvious key of controlling the ball in this one, it is also going to be interesting to see how fatigue plays into things with Missouri able to dip much further into their bench for significant minutes. Dexter Pittman will be nearly useless in this high-tempo affair, but look for some more minutes from Alexis Wangmene, who Coach Barnes said has been showing some solid progress in practices the last week.

As always, it’s important to not fall behind early on the road and allow the crowd to fuel the home team. But for a Texas team that loves to sprint out of the gates in roadies and then wither in the second half, it’s going to be important to keep up that intensity for all forty minutes. The Tigers look to exhaust teams both physically and mentally, so it will take a lot of composure from what is still a pretty young Texas team. Luckily for Longhorn fans, these guys stared down much worse in Pauley Pavilion and came out on top.

This one is available to anybody who has the ESPN Full Court package, and it will air on KNVA for those folks in Austin. There are tons of affiliates carrying the game across the country, though, so be sure to check out the local affiliate list from TexasSports.com to find where it’s on in your area.

For now, we bid you adieu and hit the road for Columbia, Missouri. There may or may not be time (or internet access) to do a TV listing tomorrow morning, but we’ll try to at least get in a few short updates from the road on the iPhone.

Tomorrow is wall-to-wall hoops action, which means the Friday pickings are slim as usual. If you happen to be staying in tonight, you’d be better off with the NBA doubleheader than with this pair of duds. But just in case you’re into the whole masochism thing, here are the pair of games from the Worldwide Leader…

Navy (7-8 overall, 0-0 Patriot) at Bucknell (5-9, 0-0) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU – The Bison are just two years removed from back-to-back appearances in the 2nd round of the NCAAs, including that famous upset of Kansas. But this season is more nightmare than fairy tale, as Bucknell has a sickening RPI of 236th and a record that promises their only NCAA hopes lie in the Patriot League tourney.

Siena (8-6 overall, 3-1 MAAC) at Niagara (10-3, 4-0) – 8 PM CST, ESPNU – Unlike the first half of the doubleheader, this one is a pretty big game in the world of the mid-majors. Niagara is the lone perfect team in the MAAC, but faces a tough test at home from a Siena team that upset Stanford back in November.

Conference play in the Big 12 finally begins tomorrow, and despite the fact that there seem to be only three clear-cut contenders, this season promises to be an exciting one as new teams will likely emerge in the middle of the pack and a handful of sensational freshmen will get a chance to shine.

Everybody runs their conference previews this time of year, and LRT is no exception. While we won’t get into a detailed player breakdown — those are saved for the actual game previews when the Horns face each team — this brief look at the league should give fans an idea of what’s to come.

Without any further blustering, here’s a rundown of the league, in our predicted order of finish:

1) Kansas Jayhawks – This is by far the deepest team in the league, and is without a doubt on the short list of national title contenders this year. When Texas played the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse for the regular-season finale last March, the usual Senior Night ceremonies seemed to be missing. But the sickening fact of the matter is that the Jayhawks return every single piece of their Elite Eight team, including Brandon Rush who was ohsoclose to going pro. The only question now is how many wins KU can rack up on their way to a 51st conference championship.

2) Texas Longhorns – If you’re reading this, you’re likely already a Longhorn fan and know all about this club. But just in case you don’t, I can sum it up in two words — balanced attack. All five of the Texas starters average double-digits in scoring, including freshman Gary Johnson, who was just cleared to play last week and will beef up an inside game that badly needed his presence. While Texas might run into problems against bigger, more physical teams in league play, defenses will still have their hands full trying to decide which threat to focus their attention on.

3) Texas A&M Aggies – If you thought lock-down defense was going to leave College Station with Billy Gillispie, you would be sorely mistaken. The Aggies boast the sixth-most effective defense in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy, and their inside-out attack is a pick-your-poision conundrum for opposing coaches. Inside, freshman big man DeAndre Jordan is an incredible threat, although the best defense so far seems to be simply fouling him — Jordan is an atrocious 33.9% from the line this year.

4) Oklahoma Sooners – Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like this team was headed for a tailspin after a perplexing home loss to Stephen F. Austin. But OU has since put together impressive wins over Arkansas and West Virginia (on the road) that has the Sooners hitting their stride at exactly the right time. Not to be outdone by Turgeon or Martin, Capel has his own excellent freshman in Blake Griffin, the Oklahoma City kid who is leading the Sooners in scoring this year.

5) Kansas State Wildcats – This slot could easily have gone to the team just below the Wildcats in our rankings, but K-State has the luxury of playing bottom-feeding Iowa State and Colorado twice each this season. While KSU is struggling to get an offense going with stars Michael Beasley and Bill “Towel Pisser” Walker, there is enough talent on this team to make some noise in the Big 12 if they can ever figure it out. And with mafia enforcer Frank Martin as coach, the Wildcats should get their fair share of calls from refs who don’t want to swim with the fishes.

6) Baylor Bears – The Bears challenging for an NCAA bid? It could be true, and quite frankly their fans deserve it. Just years after the Dave Bliss/Carlton Dotson disaster and the NCAA’s interesting sanctions, Scott Drew has finally gotten his great talent to jell. The Bears were seconds away from knocking off Washington State, currently the fourth-ranked team in the country, and had Arkansas on the ropes before making some stupid decisions to waste possessions late in the game. If Baylor can learn how to finish games, the Bears can be the surprise team of the year.

7) Nebraska Cornhuskers – Doc Sadler’s Nebraska team is leading the league in interior defense, and they already have a pair of quality wins over Arizona State and Oregon. They’re hoping to grab a few more upsets in the Big 12 and somehow sneak on to the bubble, but I feel a mid-conference finish is a bit more likely. Aleks Maric is still the big man on campus, running the show down low for an up-and-coming team in the northern half of the conference.

8) Missouri Tigers – Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year DeMarre Caroll is already making an impact after transferring from Vandy, while guards Stefhon Hannah and Keon Lawrence anchor a quick backcourt. Mike Anderson’s squad still plays exciting basketball, but they are still too sloppy to completely pull off his style of play. Give Mizzou another season or two and they will be fighting for a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

9) Texas Tech Red Raiders – This is the most bi-polar of the conference teams this year, one which has losses to Sam Houston State and Centenary, but also a win over Gonzaga and a great showing against Stanford. Just having Bob Knight on the bench means that this projection is likely too low for the Red Raiders, but until they show any semblance of consistency, it’s tough to have faith that this team can survive without last year’s leading scorer, Jarrius Jackson.

10) Iowa State Cyclones – Greg McDermott is in his second year on the Ames campus, but it’s still too early to expect results. He’s taking the Gillispie approach in building the ‘Clones confidence against an easier non-conference slate, but the seven wins against teams with RPIs of 200+ isn’t going to help too much against the likes of Kansas, Texas, or A&M. Jiri Hubalek is still fun to watch, but he won’t be playing in any postseason tournaments to finish off his senior year.

11) Oklahoma State Cowboys – For the same reason that K-State earned the nod over Baylor, Oklahoma State slides below the Cyclones. OSU is a better ballclub — although inept coaching certainly nullifies that advantage — but a murderous schedule with a pair of games against Texas, A&M, Oklahoma, and even Baylor means that the Pokes are going to be slogging their way to the finish line. You feel bad for the talent amassed on this roster, but Baby Sutton is in way over his head.

12) Colorado Buffaloes – There’s rebuilding, and then there’s complete demolition followed by a new structure. The latter is what new coach Jeff Bzdelik needs to do with a Colorado program that has not seemed dedicated to winning in many years. He’s definitely got talent on the team in Richard Roby and Austin product Xavier Silas, but any success to be had in Boulder is still a few years off.

#4 Washington State 73, USC 58 – Wazzu remained perfect with their road win against USC on Thursday night, forcing 13 Trojan turnovers in the process. The Cougars were a scorching 10-of-19 on three-pointers, as their excellent ball movement constantly found the open man behind the arc. Washington State’s best-ever start was a 17-0 record back in the 1914-15 season, but they will now face their biggest test of the year in Pauley Pavilion against UCLA.

#5 UCLA 69, Washington 55 – The Bruins also took care of business to set up that great battle on Saturday atop the Pac-10, but their starters are going to be a little dinged up. Darren Collison injured his hip in a collision with Ryan Appleby, while Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is nursing a bruised right knee after a very physical contest. The Bruins might have home-court advantage over the Cougs on Saturday, but a pair of hobbled stars could make things incredibly difficult.

#14 Butler 75, Wisconsin-Green Bay 65 – The Bulldogs had an abnormally cold night from the floor, but repeatedly forced their way to the foul line to earn their 15th win of the season. Matt Howard was particularly effective in drawing the whistle, scoring 22 points while only taking six shots. His 12-of-15 free throw shooting made up the rest of his gaudy scoring numbers.

#21 Wisconsin 70, Illinois 60 – Things aren’t getting any easier for Bruce Weber and the Fighting Illini, as they dropped a fourth-consecutive game for the first time in his tenure with Illinois. Wisconsin, meanwhile, continued to prove they are a contender in the three-team Big Ten race with their third conference win in as many tries.

#23 Stanford 66, Oregon State 46 – This one was embarrassing for the Beavers at home, as Stanford came out of the gates fired up after a poor shooting performance in their previous game against USC. The Cardinal built a double-digit lead within minutes, found themselves up by 19 at half, and cruised the rest of the way as their stifling defense denied any faint dreams of a Beaver comeback.

Some BCS conference action on the Worldwide Leader tonight, but Thursday means Pac-10 hoops on FSN, and that is certainly a league you want to watch. Here’s what’s on the airwaves tonight…

Hofstra (3-9 overall, 1-2 CAA) at UNC-Wilmington (8-7, 1-2) – 6 PM CST, ESPNU – For the love of God, do not watch this.

West Virginia (11-3 overall, 1-1 Big East) at Louisville (10-4, 0-1) – 6 PM CST, ESPN – Thuggins has West Virginia playing some good basketball as of late, while Louisville is a bit like Britney Spears. They’re troubled, unwell, and frankly everybody is a little tired of hearing about their latest screw-ups.

St. Louis (9-5 overall, 0-0 A-10) at George Washington (4-6, 0-0) – 7 PM CST, CSTV – The A-10 is looking solid this season, but these two teams aren’t the reason why.

Illinois (8-7 overall, 0-2 Big 10) at #21 Wisconsin (12-2, 2-0) – 8 PM CST, ESPN – After losing to Miami of Ohio at home, Brian Randle was asked about the team’s mindset by a reporter at the press conference. “There’s no desperation, I’ll tell you that,” Randle said. “People may not see it or want to see it, but we’re a good team…With 15 seconds left, we said in the huddle, ‘Believe.’ We are a confident team.” Since then, the Illini defeated Mizzou and Loyola, but then lost three straight to Tennessee State, Ohio State, and Penn State. With tonight’s road game at Wisconsin and Sunday’s roadie at Indiana, it might be time for Randle and Illinois to start getting desperate.

Arkansas (11-3 overall, 0-0 SEC) at Auburn (9-3, 0-0) – 8 PM CST, ESPN2 – It’s the SEC opener for both schools, and Auburn comes in incredibly banged up. They’ve got six scholarship players available at last report, and are going to have to play out of their minds to hang with the Razorbacks in this one.

Wisconsin-Green Bay (9-5 overall, 3-1 Horizon) at #14 Butler (14-1, 3-1) – 8 PM CST, ESPNU – Butler’s only loss of the year came to a Wright State team that is currently 8-5 on the year. So while it would seem easy enough to chalk this one up as a win for A.J. Graves and the Bulldogs, it is certainly fair to say that stranger things have happened.

#4 Washington State (13-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-10) at USC (9-5, 0-2) – 10 PM CST, FSN – Coach Tony Bennett was National Coach of the Year last season, and this year he’s doing just as solid of a job up in Pullman. The Cougs have not played many tough teams in non-conf, but they have a chance to silence the critics on their nightmare road trip this weekend. Get past USC tonight, and Wazzu gets to put that pristine record on the line against UCLA on Saturday.

And even more listings for those folks with ESPN Full Court…

Wisconsin-Milwaukee (8-7 overall, 3-2 Horizon) at Valparaiso (11-4, 2-1) – 7 PM CST – Valpo is actually sporting a pretty solid RPI, but that’s more a result of losing to really good teams than of beating anybody worthwhile. The Crusaders are 0-4 versus the RPI top 50, while they’ve chalked up six wins over teams ranked 200+. Horizon League play isn’t going to help things much.

Cal (10-3 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) at Oregon (10-4, 1-1) – 7:30 PM CST – The Ducks have really dropped off the map this year, but the Pac-10 is so deep that putting things together in conference play will be a huge boost to the resumé. It’ll be interesting to see what the crowd turnout is for this one, as it tips at 5:30 local time.

New Mexico State (8-9 overall, 2-0 WAC) at Boise State (11-3, 2-0) – 8 PM CST – The surprise team in the WAC hosts one of the biggest disappointments. But a 6-9 start for NMSU might be just a fuzzy memory if they can keep up the hot start they’ve got going in league play. Wins over Fresno State and Idaho aren’t exactly worth writing home about, but if the Aggies can shock the Broncos on the road, things could get very interesting out west.

Nevada (8-5 overall, 0-0 WAC) at San Jose State (7-7 overall, 0-2) – 9 PM CST – Nevada is certainly a contender in the WAC, and tonight finally marks the beginning of their campaign. The Wolfpack has been tested by the 20th-toughest schedule in the nation, and it should serve them well against their weaker conference. With SJSU, Hawaii, and Idaho opening the conference slate for Nevada, they could easily sprint to a 3-0 start in just eight days.