College hoops was back in full swing yesterday, although most of the top teams had cupcakes on the menu. Texas improved to 10-0 on the year, holding off Texas State in a barnburner. Post-game breakdown on that one is due after a long day looking for Christmas gifts. Only nine shopping days left…

Louisville lost to Purdue in Indianapolis, going down by a 67-59 final. At this point I’m hesitant to call it an upset, as the Cardinals’ ship is sinking faster than Star Jones in the deep end. Three losses in their last five games and an indefinite suspension of Derrick Caracter leave me wondering where exactly Louisville will fit into the murky Big East picture. After Georgetown, Pitt, and Marquette the league is wide open — can the Cards right the ship in time to take advantage?

Nebraska fans stormed the court at the Qwest Center in Omaha after Big Red knocked off #16 Oregon, 88-79 in overtime. It’s only the second year for Doc Sadler, and while I don’t think anyone is considering the Huskers for an NCAA bid quite yet, the work he is doing in Lincoln is certainly great for the league.

Elsewhere in the conference, Pitt pounded Oklahoma State 85-68, giving the Pokes their 14th-consecutive road loss. In a battle of two teams with multiple personality disorder, OU took out Arkansas, 83-72. I’ve yet to watch the DVR on this one, so I’m not sure if the solid Arkansas team or the turnover-prone one showed up in this contest. Tech stumbled yet again, falling in New Mexico by a nasty 80-63 count. Missouri and Baylor both notched easy wins, while Kansas finally got their starting five back together and routed Ohio, 88-51.

On national television today, UNC faces Rutgers (7 PM CST, ESPN), while Texas-area fans can watch the Aggies face McNeese State on FSN Southwest (1 PM). ESPNU also has replays of yesterday’s games running all day starting at 10:30 A.M.

After a long week without Texas basketball, the Horns return to the court this evening with a game against some guys from just a few miles down the interstate. Texas State comes to town on a two-game losing streak, having fallen to Texas A&M and Rice prior to the finals break. The Longhorns, meanwhile, are off to their best start in 26 years and look to cruise easily to their 10th-straight win.

By the numbers

With two wins versus D-2 schools removed from the resumé, the Bobcats sit at 238th in Ken Pomeroy’s RPI approximation. They play a ridiculously up-tempo game, with both their raw and adjusted pace ranked tops in the nation. The Bobcats average 83.5 possessions per game, so expect an absolute track meet in this one.

Fortunately for Texas, that tempo plays right into their hands, especially when considering how piss-poor the Bobcat D is. Their defensive efficiency is slated at 205th in the nation, but that ranking plummets when it is adjusted to reflect the weak opponents Texas State has played. Their adjusted dEf is only 313th in the country, so when combining this info with the high-tempo game plan, we will likely see another 100+ point effort from the Horns.

Know your foe

Lanky junior guard Brandon Bush is the man for the Bobcats, leading the team in both scoring and rebounding so far this year. Bush has 15.5 points at 6.8 boards per game so far this year, and dropped twelve points on the Longhorns in Austin as a sophomore last year.

Six-foot, ten-inch freshman center Ty Gough is the second-best rebounder for the ‘Cats, although he is only grabbing 5.4 per game. Even though Texas State is going to have the height advantage in the backcourt, they are generally not a huge team. The Horns should control the glass in this one, and will hopefully keep the Bobcats from pushing the transition game off of offensive boards.

This game is a bit of a homecoming for senior guard Brandon Thomas, who played his high school ball just up the road at Pflugerville. Thomas has started seven of the eight games for Texas State this year and is averaging just over 20 minutes per contest. It’s tough to say how the homecoming will affect the kid, as some players get nervous in front of family and friends, while others seem to thrive under the pressure. Unfortunately for Thomas, he has to do it against a much more talented Longhorn team.

Brent Benson is the key reserve for Coach Doug Davalos. Benson has not started a single game, yet is the second leading scorer on the team with 13.5 points and only 20 minutes per game. He is their only true long-range threat, as he’s hitting at a 42.6% clip from behind the arc.

The big finish

This game should be nothing but a full-speed scrimmage, as the Horns outmatch Texas State in every facet of the game. The only way I forsee the Bobcats hanging with Texas in this one is a perfect storm of stupid turnovers and poor shooting. Barring that incredibly slim possibility, the Longhorns should run away with this one as they pad the scoring stats.

While this game is only being shown in the state of Texas on FSN Southwest, folks with the ESPN Full Court package will be able to pick it up. ESPN360 is also listed as a way to watch the game, but I’m really not at all familiar with how that online viewing option works. For those of you in Austin, you can save $2 on your ticket by printing this coupon. The deal is only for mezz tickets, but you should easily be able to move down as the Drum should be pretty empty for this one.

A huge update this time, considering there hasn’t been a Horns in the League report since the UCLA trip…

T.J. Ford averaged 12.3 points per game over the last six Toronto contests, including 26 points against the Hawks prior to his injury in the final minutes. T.J. also had 29 assists over the last two weeks, although Jose Calderon still saw a solid chunk of time at the point following Ford’s neck stinger. The Raptors went 3-3 over Ford’s six games, putting them solidly in second place in the Atlantic division. And with Boston playing out of their minds, that’s about all the Raps can ask for at this point.

Kevin Durant and the Sonics have really put things together since our last update, going 5-3 over the last two weeks and passing Minnesota as they vacated the Northwest Division cellar. KD averaged 21.8 PPG over that stretch, including three games of 30 points or more. He is currently the leading rookie scorer in the league and 27th-best overall, checking in with 20.2 points per contest.

Plantar fascitis has knocked LaMarcus Aldridge out of commission for at least a week, but the former Horn was playing solid ball prior to the injury. L.A. had two dub-dubs in the five games since our last update and averaged 18.2 PPG and 7.6 RPG. The Trail Blazers moved slightly closer to .500 over these last two weeks, winning their last four games after dropping the first two. Portland’s 11-12 record has them only 3.5 games back of the Nuggets.

Daniel Gibson also missed a game this week, but it was a sore wisdom tooth that sidelined D-Gib. He returned last night, however, and scored twelve points while shooting 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Gibson averaged 14.8 points over his last six games, although the Cavs lost every one as they struggled without LeBron James in five of them.

Royal Ivey has seen a lot more playing time in December, averaging 18 minutes per game this month. Royale With Cheese is putting up modest numbers with his increased playing time, chipping in 4.5 points, two rebounds, and two assists per game. The Bucks are on a skid, though, having lost nine of their last eleven games.

The Lakers are sitting at second in the Pacific Division, having won four straight until last night’s close loss to Golden State. Chris Mihm hasn’t played for the Lake Show since December 5th, however, and there is no injury news that explains his absence. Mihm was struggling prior to his disappearance, averaging only 4.8 points in 19 minutes over his last four games.

Maurice Evans is seeing more playing time with the Magic than he ever did with the Lakers, averaging 21 minutes per game this month. Mo has logged 6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in December and has helped defensively with seven steals and four blocks. Orlando is still the second-best team in the Eastern Conference at 17-7, sitting a half-game ahead of the Pistons.

Tonight

D-Gib and the Cavs look to break out of their funk when they host the 76ers. (6:30 PM CST)

It’s a battle in the frozen north when the Timberwolves visit Royal Ivey and the Bucks. (7:30 PM)

The Sonics and Kevin Durant hope to keep their momentum going as they travel to Utah. (8 PM)

We’re baaaaaack! I’ve completed my very last final — ever — which opens up a huge chunk of extra time to work on the website and continue bringing you Longhorn and national basketball news. Next week we embark on a road trip that may even top the epic journey to Spokane last March, and with a few bonus stops scheduled along the way, it’s going to provide a lot of great post-Christmas content for everybody. I’ll have more details on Monday, but it’s something you’ll definitely want to check back for.

Checking in on meaningless poll movement, Texas slides a spot to #3 in ESPN’s Power 16, while Luke Winn has yet to update his power rankings this week.

If you happened to catch that Vanderbilt game on Wednesday night, you were treated to one of the best second-half comebacks in recent memory. The Commodores clawed back from an 18-point deficit on the road at DePaul, forced overtime, and then iced away another win to remain perfect. DePaul shot a ridiculous percentage coming out of the halftime break to build that huge lead, but Vandy just remained calm and continued to play their game. Watch out, SEC. These guys are definitely not finishing 5th in their division.

Don’t look now, but former Texas assistant coach Frank Haith has the Miami Hurricanes playing some great ball so far. The U is 9-0 on the young season and sport the best RPI ranking in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy’s number-crunching. They still have a couple mid-major threats left on their December schedule, but there is a very distinct possibility that the Hurricanes could start ACC play with a 14-0 mark when they host Georgia Tech on January 12th.

Horns in the League returns tonight with a massive update on how each player has done the last two weeks. Also look for a piece on the big step backwards Bellmont is making with the student ticket situation at the Drum and, of course, the Texas State game preview.

A scary, scary moment in the Raptors game in Atlanta last night when T.J. Ford was fouled hard by Al Horford and fell straight to the court, slamming his head. T.J. was carted off on a stretcher, but has since been released from the hospital and is cleared to play. I’m guessing he won’t be right back out there, but it’s good to know things are looking up after seeing that frightening footage last night.

So much for St. Mary’s being ranked when they come to town. The Gaels ran into Southern Illinois on the wrong night, losing 71-56 to a team that had almost no offense over their first six games. All this really does to Texas is give a slight ding on the RPI later in the season, but it’s better to be playing a tough, one-loss St. Mary’s squad than a 16-loss Prairie View A&M.

Don’t ask me how I missed this in SI’s weekly power rankings last week, but apparently the Penn students brought their A-game for Tyler Hansbrough and UNC. They blew up pictures of his mother, who was a former Miss Missouri, and waved copies of this horrible senior picture collage. I pulled the photo from Tyler50.com, the official website of Mr. Hansbrough. Why, oh why would you put something this hilariously awkward on the internet when you are a college athlete? I half-expect to find Uncle Rico’s glamor shots if I keep clicking around long enough.

Chris Low at ESPN.com has a good feature on A.J. Ogilvy over at Vanderbilt. After seeing the Commodores shock a lot of folks last year, I thought they just needed a good inside presence to help out Shan Foster and get them over the hump. There was some below-the-radar buzz on the Aussie before he hit the college hardwood, but I wasn’t sure he’d be the answer as only a freshman. It turns out that Ogilvy is just as good as advertised, if not better, and has Vandy poised to be one of the top three or four teams in the SEC.

Finally, some more action on the tube for hoopsheads tonight. Cincy takes on Xavier and former OU guard Drew Lavender in the Crosstown Shootout (6 PM, ESPN2). Check out the 7-1 Musketeers if you haven’t had a chance yet, as they should absolutely school the ‘Cats. If you don’t believe me or Chris Low about the Ogilvy kid, watch Vandy hunt for a road win at DePaul (7 PM, ESPN Classic). And if you remember when UMass was solid and the A-10 was a part of the Big Monday package, reminisce as the Minutemen host BC (8 PM, ESPNU).