I mentioned last week that our trip to Michigan St. could surpass the Spokane adventure in scope and downright insanity. Six hours into the journey, I can safely say that was not an exaggeration.

Last night, after watching Texas defeat Oral Roberts we packed up the SUV and headed out for five days of driving and college hoops. Our route first takes us to Nashville for tonight’s game between Belmont and Austin Peay. The following day, we travel to Illinois for a contest between the Fighting Illini and Miami of Ohio. Friday puts us in Toronto, with the doubleheader in Auburn Hills looming on Saturday.

This update from the road comes courtesy of my passenger’s iPhone. I’ve dictated this entry while Dexy’s Midnight Runners plead with Eileen on the stereo and we fight through the heavy fog on I-30.

Roughly 20 minutes ago, we crossed into Arkansas where the stench was immediately overpowering. If we manage not to suffocate, more updates can be expected from the road.

Update (8:15 A.M CST): About 45 miles southwest of Memphis, we pass a trailer full of sheep. Their bleating cries could easily be heard over the sound of the highway — “Baa means no!”

Update (11:35 A.M. CST): Less than 40 miles from Nashville and fatigue is mixing with relief as we approach the first destination. We have not stopped in five hours, so we’ve been feasting on a healthy mix of Monster, Starburst, Wheat Thins, and Mountain Dew — truly a breakfast of champions.

Update (5:34 P.M. CST): After a day spent at the campuses of Belmont and Vanderbilt, we are cramming dinner down our throats before heading back to the arena for a 7:05 tip. While you can’t see this one on TV, you can still have hoops for supper by tuning in to Memphis/Cincinnati (6 PM CT, ESPN2) or Nicholls State/UNC (8 PM, ESPNU).

Although Texas defeated Texas State to move to 10-0 on Saturday night, Rick Barnes was anything but pleased. He put the team through a two-and-a-half hour film session the next day where every mistake was exposed, analyzed, and scrutinized by the coach. He was particularly disgusted with a defense that over-pursued and bit on too many ball fakes. Barnes certainly hopes that the session pays immediate dividends, as the sharpshooting Oral Roberts Golden Eagles arrive in Austin this evening.

This game is a perfect convergence of factors that could lead to an upset. Texas is playing on only two days rest, and the game against the Bobcats was a ridiculously up-tempo track meet. Oral Roberts, on the other hand, hasn’t played a game since December 8th. Texas certainly has problems with depth, and that could be a factor against a well-rested Golden Eagle team.

In addition, the inexplicable tip time of 5:30 P.M. means that John Q. Public will find it hard to make it to the game before it starts, and may even blow it off for the comfort of their couch. Meanwhile, many students have already gone home for the holidays, meaning that the Frank Erwin Center could be more of a morgue than an arena. If you think back to some of the team’s flattest games over the last few years, they often were accompanied by mediocre or quiet crowds.

Most importantly, Oral Roberts is a quality basketball team with experienced leadership. They have won their conference’s last two tournaments and won the regular season crown in each of the last three seasons. Last November, the Golden Eagles not only knocked off Kansas, but they did it in Allen Fieldhouse. While they’ve lost two starters from last season, their current roster has seven upperclassmen who play more than 20 minutes per game.

If Texas isn’t careful, tonight could get incredibly dicey. The combination of fatigue, an empty arena, and an experienced mid-major opponent could spell disaster.

By the numbers

Oral Roberts runs at a pace that is slightly below average, checking in with 64.5 possessions per game. That is a far cry from the 80+ that Texas State was averaging prior to Saturday night’s contest, which should help a tired Texas team. The Golden Eagles are also roughly middle-of-the-pack in both offensive and defensive efficiency, with no numbers that jump off of the page.

The starting five

Senior Moses Ehambe has started all nine games for Scott Sutton. Ehambe is a great outside shooter, hitting 46% of his threes so far this year. At 6’6″, he has quite a bit of height over the Texas guards and could knock down quite a few treys right in front of them. He has only been to the line ten times this year, so it’s safe to assume this guy won’t be attacking the rim. Texas needs to lock down on him around the perimeter, or it could be a long night.

Shawn King is another senior who has started all nine contests this year, averaging 10.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game so far. He is a blocking machine, stuffing 20 in the first eight games. It will be interesting to see how D.J. Augustin’s game is affected when he tries to drive the lane with this guy waiting down low. Connor Atchley will also be tested by the 6’10” center from St. Vincent.

Yemi Ogunoye starts at forward, and is known as a fantastic on-the-ball defender. While one might expect him to match up with Damion James based simply on size, against North Dakota State he was tasked with shutting down the league’s leading scorer, a 5’11” guard. Ogunoye could very well be matched up with D.J. Augustin if Sutton decides to employ this mismatch technique again, but no matter who he is sticking, one Longhorn will have a tough night.

Robert Jarvis is the team’s leading scorer and another threat from downtown. While he isn’t quite as good as Ehambe so far this season, he is sinking 44.3% of his three-point attempts. Texas had difficulty last year defending the three ball and occasionally has struggled with it this season as well. Oral Roberts will likely look to exploit this in their upset bid.

The second starting guard for Scott Sutton is Adam Liberty, but he is not much of a scoring threat. When Liberty does score, though, it is usually from long range or the line. He’s made more free throws (29) than field goals (22), and is shooting less than five percentage points lower from behind the arc than inside it. At 6’2″, he is a good match-up for Texas’ quick, undersized guards, but the Horns need to make sure they keep him off the charity stripe.

What to look for

The high-flying transition game of Texas might be stuck in second gear tonight, as most of the starters will have very tired legs. This comes at an unfortunate time, considering this Oral Roberts team has a problem controlling the ball. Despite a winning 6-3 record, the Golden Eagles have only forced three more turnovers than they’ve given up. If the Longhorns can overcome the fatigue and win the transition battle, the chances for upset are significantly diminished.

With the tempo being much more normal in this game, fans can also look for more minutes out of Dexter Pittman. He doesn’t fit well into the flow of a transition game, but the half-court sets we should see tonight offer him a great opportunity to work on posting up. Also keep your eyes on freshman Clint Chapman in this one. He played hard on Saturday, but his effort was overshadowed by a handful of stupid fouls. It will be interesting to see if he can make a difference tonight without sending the Golden Eagles to the line.

It’s been mentioned multiple times in this preview, but the Horns must stop the three. They also need to improve their entire defensive showing after such a tough night against Texas State. If the Longhorn defense from the UCLA or Tennessee games shows up tonight, it’s going to be a bloodbath. If not, the Golden Eagles could be in it until the end.

Not a lot of action around the country yesterday as most of the sports world was focused on NFL action. North Carolina crushed Rutgers 93-71, but the real story was Tyler Hansbrough leaving the game after suffering a mild concussion. The Aggies whipped Arkansas-Pine Bluff by a 64-37 count, although hook-nosed Mark Turgeon was irritated by his team’s inability to close out the patsies when they should’ve.

New polls are due out today, but there won’t be much action near the top. In the bottom half, Oregon, Xavier, Lousville, and Saint Mary’s all suffered losses and should slide down the rankings — if not completely disappear from them. With everybody staying put in the top of the ranks, it sets up three huge top-ten match-ups this week, with Duke and Pitt meeting on Thursday and the Michigan State/Texas and Georgetown/Memphis games slated for Saturday.

Chatter on the court at Saturday’s game with Texas State revealed that the new hardwood in the Frank Erwin Center is a little slippery, particularly down in the blocks. It’s also kind of ugly to be honest, with the orange more “bright” than “burnt,” and the Big 12 logo in the lane being replaced by a new one that reads as “Texas 12” rather than the conference name. Interesting.

With Monday Night Football on the “family of networks,” tonight’s TV slate is again a little weak. Duke hosts Albany at 6 PM CST (ESPN2), with a handful of games on the ESPN Full Court package. Big 12 fans who ponied up for ESPNFC can check out Bethune-Cookman at Iowa State (7 PM) and North Carolina A&T at Mizzou (7 PM).

In the long college basketball season, teams inevitably have off nights. Shots aren’t falling, the defense isn’t rotating, and the players all just seem a little bit flat. Fortunately for the Texas Longhorns, their first poor game came against a vastly inferior team. The Horns overcame a rough, sloppy start and poor shooting from its three-point specialist to move to 10-0 on the year, defeating their I-35 rival Texas State last night, 96-81.

The Horns struggled coming out of the gate, turning the ball over three times in the first three possessions on errant passes by D.J. Augustin, Connor Atchley, and Damion James. The first-half defense was particularly poor for a Rick Barnes-led team, with Texas State able to shoot 42.4% from the field in the first twenty minutes. A.J. Abrams had a tough time getting going, making only one of his five first-half three point attempts, while the team was a paltry 3-of-12 from behind the arc. Despite the poor defense and long-range shooting, Texas still headed to the locker room with a 42-40 lead.

The second half was a story of foul disparity, as Texas went to the line 21 times over the first thirteen minutes of the second frame, while the Bobcats shot only 20 free throws all game. The Horns used the charity stripe to their advantage, building a 21-point lead with just under seven minutes left to play. They fell into a harsh drought the rest of the way, though, scoring only ten more points on two field goals and five free throws.

A win is a win, but this was certainly the ugliest one of the season so far. Besides Connor Atchley, each of the Horns had their struggles. Augustin played a little reckless and out of control in the first half, trying to force drives and shots when they weren’t available and making some poor passes at high speed. He settled down in the second stanza, getting himself to the line as the team pulled away. The breakneck pace of the game clearly had an effect on the sophomore point guard though, most evident when his late free throw attempts constantly hit front iron. This is one of those games where the loss of Dogus Balbay was clear, as tired legs were getting to The D.J.

James had a rough game as well, settling for threes and long jumpers on a night when they simply were not falling. It’s clear that he will need to play more on the wings if Texas is ever going to “go big” and get the guards some rest, but on a night when the long-range Js aren’t going down, Damion needs to attack the rim and try to get himself jump-started with some easy buckets. He was an ugly 3-of-13 for the game, but made up for it with fourteen rebounds. A careful observer would note that twelve of those boards were on the defensive end, as he was almost always out of position on the offensive glass thanks to his inexplicable marriage to the perimeter.

Coach was also pretty hard on DaMo during the time outs, especially in regards to the inbounds play. Against the Texas State pressure, James would wait along the baseline for a teammate to give him the ball, even if they had all run to get into position for the play. Letting the ball dribble to a stop a few feet from the baseline allowed the Bobcats ample time to set up their press and really killed the Texas transition game. James also was harped on for repeatedly trying to bring the ball up the floor by himself, which led to some scary moments for Texas fans as he flirted with disaster.

Justin Mason had an incredibly difficult night shooting, constantly missing wide-open looks. Jay was only 2-of-8 on the night, including an 0-for-3 showing from long range. Mason still constantly hustled though, grabbing five rebounds and scrambling for all the loose balls. And on a night when the Texas D was looking a little hairy, Mason played fairly well on the defensive side.

Like Mason, there was also a bright spot to be found in the game that Abrams had. Despite his struggles from long-range, the local kid created off the dribble and finished the night with 20 points. When Abrams would drive the lane and throw up a floater last year, Texas fans cringed. Those shots hardly ever went in, and his momentum usually took him across the court and out of the play. This season, the runners are falling, and it allows A.J. the opportunity to still help the team when he isn’t knocking them down from outside.

Freshman Clint Chapman again put in some solid work on the glass, although a few of his five rebounds came off of his own misses at point-blank range. He still looks really stiff down low and he fouled out of this one, but you can’t help but notice the talent the kid possesses. With the staff Rick Barnes has on board, there’s no doubt he is going to be a beast before he leaves the Forty Acres. Now if only they can get him to stay straight up on the defensive end…

While it was a bumpy night all around for the Longhorns, you can’t forget that they still had a 21-point lead with seven minutes to go. Despite playing their poorest game all season, they had the Bobcats right where you would expect them — down by a lot late in the game. That bodes well for the future, when Texas is bound to have more games that don’t go quite according to script. Although the UCLA game was an infinitely tougher gut-check win, this was yet another chance for the players to prove to each other that they can fight through and win on a sub-par evening.

Last night

The Cavs can’t seem to get off their slide, falling to Philly 92-86 last night. Daniel Gibson missed the contest after being knocked in the face on Friday, further inflaming the extraction point on his wisdom tooth.

Royal Ivey only saw five minutes of action in Milwaukee’s 95-92 victory over Minnesota. Ivey missed the only shot he took and did not otherwise impact the stat sheet.

Mo Evans earned the start for the Magic and played 27 minutes in the 123-119 loss to the Grizz. He struggled from the floor, finishing with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, although Mo did grab five rebounds.

The Sonics ran into a buzzsaw last night in Utah, losing 96-75 to the Jazz. All five Sonics starters were held to eight points or less, with Kevin Durant only chipping in six.

Today

The Raptors host the unstoppable Celtics, although T.J. Ford likely won’t see any action in this one. (12 PM CST)

LaMarcus Aldridge and the Trail Blazers hope to reach the .500 mark when they travel to Denver. (7 PM NBA TV)

Chris Mihm looks for some playing time as the two L.A. teams tangle at Staples. The Clips will use the visiting locker room in this one. (8:30 PM)