The Texas Longhorns used stifling defense to earn a comfortable win over Sam Houston State on Tuesday night. This afternoon, they face a UT-Arlington team with a stingy defense of its own. While the Maverick defense is ranked fifth in Division I in effective field goal percentage, the Longhorn defense is tops in the nation in that category. Throw in the problems that both offenses have had hanging on to the ball this season, and fans could be in store for an ugly, low scoring affair this afternoon at the Erwin Center.

Meet the Mavericks

Junior point guard Shaquille White-Miller (No. 12) is listed at a generous 5’9″, but he holds his own despite the size disadvantage. In his first full season as a starter, White-Miller is still suffering from some growing pains, turning it over as many times as he’s dished out dimes. His shooting from the floor has been a rough 25%, making it even easier for opposing defenses to sag off and take away driving and passing lanes.

Fellow junior Brandon Edwards (No. 35) is a 6’6″ forward who really scraps inside for every loose ball and rebound. He performed admirably in the home opener against a bigger Oklahoma team, and is currently second on the team with nearly eight boards per game.

The big man in the middle is 6’10” senior Jordan Reves (No. 55), who is tops on the team with 12.3 rebounds per contest. UTA loves to feed the big man in the post, where he’s knocking down more than 53% of his shots. Against the likes of OU’s Romero Osby, Reves was frustrated early and struggled on both ends of the floor. If he can get comfortable against Texas, he can make a big impact. But, if Prince Ibeh and Cameron Ridley can set the tone early, it could take him out of the game.

Although the Mavs don’t take very many shots from behind the arc, the team’s top long-range threat is Polish product Karol Gruszecki (No. 33). Gruszecki came to UTA via North Platte CC, and is currently knocking down his threes at a 40% clip.

The final member of the starting five is Kevin Butler (No. 24), who started the first two games of the season on the bench. Butler is a very strong 6’5″ forward who has driving ability and can finish through contact. Last year, he led the Mavericks with 12 points in their game against the Longhorns, and he’s currently the team’s leading scorer with 10.8 points per game this year.

Butler is a very tough matchup for opponents, because the smaller UTA lineup usually dictates that he is defended by a 4. His speed and driving ability usually tilt that pairing in his favor, while his strength makes it risky for opponents to throw a smaller defender at him.

The player Butler replaced in the starting lineup is guard Jamel Outler (No. 3), a 6’2″ sophomore who transferred from Texas Tech. Despite being moved to a sixth-man role, he’s still fourth on the team with 8.8 points per game. Like Gruszecki, he’s a dangerous long-range shooter, but doesn’t take a ton of shots from behind the arc. Outler averages less than five three-point attempts per game, and has hit nearly 37% of those shots.

Junior forward Greg Gainey (No. 21) has already shown a nice, well-rounded game in his minutes off the bench. At 6’5″, he has the strength to score inside against bigger opponents, but has a nice midrange J that can stretch things out a bit. Another JUCO product, Gainey arrived in Arlington via South Plains College and has made a quick impact, averaging 7.8 points per game as a reserve.

Freshman guard Drew Charles (No. 4) is the backup point guard, but he has had some issues with ball control this season. In the Oklahoma game, the Sooner pressure forced him to travel on two consecutive possessions while trying to turn up court after receiving the outlet pass. He finished that game with six turnovers, but has managed to only cough it up two more times in the team’s other three games.

The final player in the UTA rotation is senior guard Cameron Catlett (No. 25), who played fourteen minutes against North Texas on Wednesday night after missing the first three games of the season. Last year, Catlett started the game against Texas and scored six points in 21 minutes of action.

Keys to the game

1) Force Maverick mistakes – While it’s hard to believe, UT-Arlington actually turns the ball over almost as often as Texas does. The Mavericks end 26.9% of their possessions with a miscue, and looked absolutely lost at times against Oklahoma’s backcourt pressure. Texas hasn’t forced many turnovers this season, but a little bit of additional defensive pressure could give the Horns some extra possessions this afternoon.

2) Don’t give it right back – Extra possessions are meaningless if the Longhorns turn around and give the ball back on the other end. UTA made a very nice comeback against Oklahoma by throwing full-court looks at the Sooners, so the Longhorns will have to be ready for that. Texas struggled when Sam Houston State brought backcourt pressure late in Tuesday’s game, so it is definitely an area for concern.

All of this focuses simply on bringing the ball up the court, which is unfortunately only half the battle for Texas. Lazy passes and bad angles have led to numerous turnovers when just trying to start the offense at the top of the key, so Javan Felix and his fellow Horns need to focus and take care of the ball in their half-court sets, as well.

3) Get to the line – Texas took advantage of Sam Houston State’s aggressive defense and made it to the line 38 times in Tuesday’s win. The Horns posted an incredible free-throw rate of 88.4% in that game, meaning that they took almost nine free throws for every ten field goal attempts. Fortunately for Texas, the Mavericks also tend to send their opponents to the charity stripe, as they are ranked 306th in Division I with a defensive free-throw rate of 47.6%. If Texas is aggressive against this UTA defense, they should earn numerous opportunities for free points at the line.

After a harrowing week of basketball on the island of Maui, the Texas Longhorns returned to mainland action on Tuesday night, hoping for a quick recovery against Sam Houston State. Led by a stifling defensive performance, the Longhorns overcame 19 turnovers and long field goal droughts to cruise to a 28-point win.

Texas limited the Bearkats to only 0.506 points per possession on the night, while allowing just 21% shooting from the field. The Longhorns used excellent team defense and mixed in a variety of looks and lineup combinations to keep Sam Houston State frustrated throughout. That defensive dominance was never more apparent than in a stretch of eight-plus minutes, spanning both halves, in which the Bearkats managed just one field goal.

Texas stifled their opponents with sound man defense in the first half, hedging hard on ball screens while using a larger lineup. Facing a four-out, one-in look from the smaller Bearkats, Coach Rick Barnes elected to go with a smaller lineup of his own during the first half and the Longhorns began switching screens. In the second half, big man Cameron Ridley saw much more action as the Longhorns shifted into a zone defense that was just as effective.

One of the most impressive players on the defensive end was freshman Demarcus Holland, who earned his first career start. In his 26 minutes on the court, only four points were scored by players he was guarding.

The first bucket came as Sam Houston State rushed down the court and Holland couldn’t find his man, Paul Baxter, who dribbled through traffic before drilling a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line. The other basket came when the 6’2″ Holland was isolated on the block against 6’7″ Erik Williams. Even then, Holland played solid belly-up defense and kept his arms straight up, forcing Williams to take a hook shot as he stepped across the lane.

Demarcus seemed to be making the little plays all night long. In one instance, he bailed out Ioannis Papapetrou, who allowed James Thomas past him on a drive from the wing. Holland swiped at the ball, forcing Thomas to bobble it and ultimately travel along the baseline. Later in the game, Papi returned the favor for his teammate, standing tall to get a blocked shot after Holland was hung up on a screen at the free throw line. Holland also snagged five defensive rebounds, many of them coming as he sagged off to help from the weak side.

Offensively, Demarcus did not perform nearly as well. He missed one three-point attempt and had another one blocked, and he missed his two other shots on the night. He did score five points from the line, earning four of his seven free throw attempts by hustling for loose balls and rebounds. However, Holland was tagged with two turnovers for the game, one coming on an ugly pass at the end of the first half and the other coming when he simply held the ball in front of the aggressive Darius Gatson well behind the arc.

Those turnovers were once again a problem for the entire team, with the Longhorns losing it on 26% of their possessions. That number is ugly on its own merits, but when you consider that 26% is actually an improvement from the last game against Mississippi State, the scope of the problem becomes more overwhelming.

The most frustrating aspect is that many of the Texas turnovers happen because of a lack of awareness by players off the ball, while quite a few others come from making lazy passes. Javan Felix turned it over on a five-second call where he stood at least five feet behind the arc, while the rest of his team waited idly around the lane. Texas also lost one on a five-second call on an inbounds play where the Bearkats doubled to deny the pass, while no other Longhorns came back to help.

When starting the offense, passes between the two guards at the top of the key are far too often deflected or nearly stolen. This has been a problem all season long, and it was once again an issue against the Bearkats. Papapetrou has had numerous soft passes stolen as he gives the ball back to Felix, while Javan has given it away on simple passes to the wings. In this game, Felix was responsible for five turnovers, and could have had a sixth if the Bearkats had held on to one of his telegraphed passes to Holland on the wing.

Another recurring issue for the Longhorns is poor decision-making in the transition game. Texas has the athletes to get out and run, and with an offense that is struggling in half-court sets, easy transition opportunities cannot be wasted. Sheldon McClellan blew two of those chances in this game, while Holland spoiled another. McClellan barreled ahead in a two-on-three situation, trying to sidestep a charge before missing his layup. Later in the game, he had it poked away from behind as he sized up a one-on-one move. No team wants to waste their fast breaks, but an offense as inefficient as Texas’ certainly cannot afford to do so.

Although McClellan wasted those two opportunities, he did manage to lead the team with 16 points. Unfortunately, that came on 4-of-13 shooting, with six of those misses coming from inside the arc. Texas has had a lot of success finding Sheldon on baseline inbounds plays this season, and the same was true in this game. Using a different set from the one they repeatedly abused Mississippi State with, the Longhorns hit McClellan for a wide-open three on one baseline inbounds, one of the two triples he hit on the night.

McClellan came off the bench for the third consecutive game, as Coach Barnes continued to send the sophomore a message about effort, particularly on the defensive end. He ended up playing 28 minutes and contributing to the solid team D, although he did lose sharpshooter Will Bond in transition on one play, allowing him to hit his only three of the game.

In addition to freeing up McClellan on inbounds passes, Texas also did a good job isolating Jonathan Holmes on the blocks and finding him for easy buckets. While the young Longhorns are still struggling to get the ball into the post, Holmes was the recipient of two nice feeds for points in the paint. He also added a three-point bucket and a nice stickback on an offensive rebound that he grabbed despite being out of position.

Unfortunately, those issues with hitting the post players have cost Texas quite a few points this season. Many post feeds have been thrown at bad angles or zipped past the bigs far too quickly. Other times, the Longhorn guards and wings have just been completely oblivious to a wide-open teammate who has worked hard to get to the right spot on the floor. While the turnover problems are clearly the biggest issue right now for Texas, this certainly must also be high on the priority list for the coaching staff.

The Longhorn coaches will also be concerned by the team’s performance on the glass, as once again Texas could not exploit a significant size advantage. The Horns grabbed only 22.6% of their offensive rebounding opportunities, which was a huge reason why they could only manage a dismal 0.88 points per possession. Fortunately, it is clear that rebounding was a big talking point at halftime, and that the team responded to that message. The Bearkats held a 21-18 edge on the glass at half, but Texas turned the tables after the break, outrebounding Sam Houston State by a 29-14 count in the second twenty minutes.

The Longhorns also had a nice second-half effort from Julien Lewis, who picked up two early fouls and was limited to just 19 minutes for the game. He came out of the locker room and made an aggressive drive to earn two quick free throws in the second half, then followed it up with a nice backcut for a reverse layup and the foul. He also made a strong baseline drive later in the half to draw the defense and free up Ridley on the block, and he earned eight trips to the line with his constant dribble penetration.

Prince Ibeh also made a nice contribution in his limited minutes. Once again, he impacted plays inside by altering shots and keeping rebounding opportunities alive for teammates by tipping balls that were just out of his reach. More important, however, were the two strong, quick moves he made after receiving feeds in the post. After looking panicked with the ball in Maui, where he repeatedly allowed defenses to collapse on him as he froze up, seeing Ibeh exhibit some confidence is a welcome change for Texas fans.

With one more tune-up awaiting on Saturday before daunting games against Georgetown and UCLA, the Longhorns have to hope for even more improvement throughout this week of practice. Although shots weren’t falling for long stretches of the game, there were quite a few possessions where the Longhorns made nice, hard cuts and set solid screens to get the offense going. Although the effort waned throughout the game, it’s clear that some steps are being made in the right direction. Texas fans can only hope that those improvements both continue and accelerate in the coming days.

Up next: vs. UT-Arlington; 3 P.M. CT, Saturday

The Texas Longhorns return to action on the mainland tonight, hosting Sam Houston State at the Frank Erwin Center. After a pair of losses to open play in the Maui Invitational’s championship rounds, the Longhorns bounced back with a convincing win over a shorthanded Mississippi State squad. Texas hopes to build on that win tonight and establish some momentum this week before heading into a very tough pair of non-conference match-ups against Georgetown and UCLA.

Sam Houston State comes to Austin riding a two-game winning streak, having knocked off Liberty and UC-Irvine at home in the sub-regional round of the Legends Classic. This road trip to a big-time college arena will certainly not intimidate the Bearkats, as they have already battled Arkansas down to the wire in Fayetteville before being blown out by Indiana at Assembly Hall.

By the numbers

The Bearkats have struggled mightily on offense so far this year, scoring just 0.868 points per possession, a number that ranks 301st out of 347 Division I teams. A big part of this problem is Sam Houston State’s dedication to the perimeter. The team has taken nearly 39% of its shots from behind the arc, despite knocking down only 29% of those long range attempts.

Defensively, the team has bounced back against lesser competition after getting crushed by Indiana. The Hoosiers posted an insane 1.47 points per possession in their 99-45 win over Sam Houston State, but the Bearkats were able to hold Liberty and UC-Irvine to just .754 and .853 PPP, respectively. Although the Flames and Anteaters aren’t high-quality competition, it’s still impressive that the Bearkats were able to dominate the defensive glass against those two teams and turn most possessions into one-shot trips.

One number that is especially troubling for the Bearkats as they prepare to face Texas is their defensive free-throw rate. Against Arkansas and Indiana, Sam Houston State’s defensive FTRs were 62.8% and 83.0%, respectively. FTR measures how often a team gets to the line, so it is apparent that against bigger, more talented teams, the Bearkats were constantly being whistled for fouls. Although Texas has done poorly from the line, Sam Houston State still cannot afford to give the Longhorns as many free throws as they gave to their other major-conference opponents.

Meet the Bearkats

Sam Houston State has used a deep rotation so far this season, with 11 players averaging at least 11 minutes. Senior guard Darius Gatson (No. 1) is the team leader in minutes, and even he only averages 25.3 per game.

Typically, that kind of substitution pattern would be indicative of a run-and-gun, high-pressure squad, but that isn’t the case with the Bearkats. Coach Jason Hooten is trying to incorporate five junior college newcomers this season, while hoping to replace the loss of three starters from last year’s team. While the results have been mixed, so far the team is using a balanced attack, having a different leading scorer in each of their six games.

Gatson was the leading scorer in the team’s first game, pouring in 20 against Arkansas. For the year, he’s also leading the team in points, averaging 9.5 per game. At just 5’11”, he is a bit undersized to face most major-conference opponents. However, with Myck Kabongo still unavailable for the Longhorns, Gatson will be squaring off with Javan Felix, also an undersized guard.

Swingman DeMarcus Gatlin (No. 11) was one of three Bearkats who started against Texas in last year’s game, shooting just 3-of-10 from the field in 35 minutes of action. He’s is the team’s leading retuning scorer from 2011-12, but is averaging just 6.7 points this season.

Michael Holyfield (No. 35) is the team’s other returning starter and its only true big man. At 6’11”, he is typically the anchor of Sam Houston State’s four-out, one-in look, and is really their only option for posting up opponents. He has been struggling with foul problems all season long, an issue that has plagued him for most of his career. He fouled out against Texas after playing just 26 minutes last season, and he’s averaging more than seven fouls per 40 minutes this year.

With Holyfield filling the lane, junior forward James Thomas (No. 20) is the closest thing to a 4 the Bearkats have. He’s often used to set high screens and then roll to the basket. Although Thomas is just 6’5″, he has played very tough against the bigger lineups of Arkansas and Indiana, scrapping for every point and rebound inside.

Junior guard Jeremy McKay (No. 10) has started all six games for Sam Houston State, but is still struggling to find his shot. He’s made just 28.6% of his three-point attempts and only 27.7% of his shots from inside the arc. McKay showed a nice burst off the dribble against Indiana, but his inability to knock down long shots makes it easier for defenses to sag off of him and take away that driving threat.

Former walk-on Marquel McKinney (No. 2) has earned one start so far in his sophomore campaign, and he has proven to be the team’s only real three-point threat. He’s knocked down more than 40% of his long range attempts, and is third on the team with eight points per game. At 6’3″, McKinney also gives Coach Hooten a little more size in a backcourt that features two guards under six feet.

Forward Terrance Motley (No. 24) has played well after missing the first two games of the season for undisclosed reasons. Despite coming off the bench, he’s leading the team with six boards per game, and is second on the squad in scoring. Like Holyfield, Motley is averaging more than seven fouls per 40 minutes of hoops, so the Longhorns will want to attack him and hope to pile up the whistles.

Coach Hooten has another promising option on the bench in Nathaniel Mason (No. 33), a 6’4″ wing who transferred from Des Moines Area CC. He showed some nice driving ability and knocked down a three against the Hoosiers, but he’s only 25% from behind the arc on the year.

A trio of guards round out the deep rotation, with Aaron Harwell (No. 5), Paul Baxter (No. 21), and Will Bond (No. 32) combining to average about 37 minutes per game. Baxter is a freshman from Austin’s Bowie High, and the son of former Longhorn Ron Baxter. Harwell was a big contributor last year after transferring from Centenary, but has a limited role this season. Bond arrived in Huntsville from Trinity Valley CC, where he was a three-point marksman. This season, he’s hit more than 38% of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Keys to the game

1) Hang on to the ball – The Longhorns have been absolutely atrocious when it comes to turnovers this season, coughing it up on 29.4% of their possessions against D-I opponents. Even in their shocking loss to D-II Chaminade, the Horns ended 23.4% of their possessions with a turnover. Although the Bearkats aren’t known for a high-pressure D, many of the Longhorn turnovers this season have been unforced errors. With points and wins hard to come by on this young season, Texas simply cannot afford to waste possessions.

2) Dominate the glass – In their two Maui losses, the Longhorns were essentially shut out on the offensive boards. Chaminade and USC claimed 71.8% and 80% of the Texas missed shots, respectively, limiting the Horns to a seemingly endless string of one-shot possessions. Fortunately, Sam Houston State has had problems keeping their major-conference opponents from dominating the boards. Texas needs to exploit that size advantage and own the glass on both ends of the floor.

3) Get Sheldon McClellan going – Although McClellan had a nice game against Mississippi State, his performances have been streaky so far this year. Sheldon has appeared to get frustrated easily and not always embrace the role of go-to scorer that the team needs him to accept. Sam Houston State gave Texas a lot of trouble last year by doubling down on the baseline and trapping along the boundaries. McClellan can’t let that defensive approach frustrate him and take him out of the game this time around.

It took three days, but the Texas Longhorns were finally able to earn a victory in the Maui Invitational, knocking off Mississippi State to take seventh place in the tournament. After an embarrassing loss to Division II host Chaminade and a narrow overtime defeat at the hands of USC, Texas came out of the gate with renewed energy and more of an offensive identity on Wednesday morning.

What looked good

Julien Lewis fueled the Longhorns from the opening tip, knocking down a pair of three-pointers in the first 2.5 minutes. Starting late in the USC loss, the Longhorns worked hard to free up Lewis, setting staggered screens to lose his defender. In the corner, at the elbow, and coming off of curls, Julien was consistently knocking down his shot. Against the Bulldogs, he finished 6-of-10 from the field. In his last two games, the sophomore made 66.7% of his shots.

Using Lewis as an off-the-ball shooter in the mold of former Horn A.J. Abrams is a welcome development. Last season, he would often try to create his own shots off the bounce, and he typically struggled to find any consistent success. With most of his makes coming off of catch-and-shoot situations in Maui, Lewis’ driving game improved, as well. On one particular bucket, the defender rushed out to challenge the shot, and Julien blew past him on the baseline for an easy finish.

Sheldon McClellan came off the bench for a second-straight game, but he responded to the challenge this time. While McClellan was clearly frustrated by the physical nature of the USC game and the tight defense the Trojans threw at him, he fought through the contact against Mississippi State. Sheldon knocked down more than 50% of his shots against the Bulldogs, and that offensive success helped him to stay more keyed-in on the defensive end.

Two of McClellan’s buckets came on the exact same baseline out-of-bounds play, and Mississippi State coach Rick Ray was screaming across the court to his defense when the Longhorns lined up to run it a third time. The Bulldogs still didn’t deny McClellan the ball, but he didn’t score easily that time around. Later, on the fourth attempt, Mississippi State finally stuck with the sophomore and forced the Longhorns to go to another option on the inbounds.

Freshman big man Cameron Ridley had the best game of his young career, just missing a double-double with eight points and 12 rebounds. He also led the Texas interior defense, swatting five of the 12 shots that the Horns blocked on the day. Ridley was confident and strong with the basketball inside, going up strong after most offensive rebounds, and making quick decisions when being fed in the post.

Prince Ibeh was also a big part of Texas’ formidable interior defense, blocking three shots of his own. When Ibeh and Ridley played together, it was almost unfair. While one provided steady on-ball defense, the other would come over to clean up the challenged shot. Ibeh still has a long way to go on the offensive end, and looks genuinely panicked at times when trying to post up. Still, his defense against Mississippi State and for most of the USC game will give fans and coaches a glimpse of the potential he has to alter the game inside.

What needed work

As it has been all season, the biggest issue for the Longhorns was a rash of turnovers. Although Lewis had an excellent shooting day, he coughed it up eight times, including one instance where he simply lost his dribble on the wing and just watched it bounce out of bounds. Texas continued to throw questionable passes and made lazy ones on the perimeter. For the game, Texas posted its second-worst turnover rate of the season, ending 34.1% of their possessions with a miscue.

Mississippi State took full advantage of these mistakes, scoring 20 points off of turnovers. Although that didn’t make a difference in this game, a late turnover and fast-break dunk led to overtime and a loss against USC. Texas did a good job forcing quite a few Mississippi State turnovers, which mitigated their own mistakes. But against tougher competition, those errors are going to result in losses.

Many of those mistakes came on transition opportunities where the Longhorns waited too long to make decisions and didn’t keep spacing coming down the court. Players often got themselves just a few feet from the rim before trying to make a decision, sometimes already airborne. Passes were thrown behind teammates, they were thrown when teammates weren’t expecting them, and multiple opportunities were wasted. This Texas team is very athletic and will need to score often in transition this season, but the youngsters clearly need to get some more reps in order to improve their decision-making skills on the break.

Demarcus Holland saw a major increase in minutes against USC and Mississippi State, but struggled when tasked when running the offense. He did knock down a nice pull-up jumper against the Bulldogs, but typically was far too loose with his dribble when trying to slice down the lane. Holland will learn how to adjust his pace as he plays more minutes, but right now he seems to only attack at one speed.

Defensively, you can see that he buys into the system and is constantly thinking, aware of where he is in relation to the ball and his teammates. However, in one-on-one situations, Holland played too tightly on guards that he could not keep in front of him. USC’s Jio Fontan was able to easy shake Holland and get to the rim on two occasions, while Ibeh had to bail out Holland with a block on one play against Mississippi State. If Holland can’t rapidly improve his lateral quickness, he needs to recognize his own limitations and scale back the pressure just a bit.

Ioannis Papapetrou also played quite a few minutes at the point, giving Javan Felix a nice breather in the team’s third game in three days. Mississippi State did a very poor job turning away Papapetrou’s drives down the lane, giving up some easy finishes at the rack. However, the offense lacked off-the-ball motion when he was at the point, so the second unit will need to avoid ball-watching when he’s running the show.

If Myck Kabongo is reinstated soon, this will likely not matter much this season. On the other hand, if he’s deemed ineligible and Papapetrou becomes the backup point by default, the second unit cannot be a one-man show.

Up next: vs. Sam Houston State; 7 P.M., Tuesday

After losing their first two games in the EA Sports Maui Invitational, the Texas Longhorns look for a little redemption in this morning’s seventh-place game against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are down to only eight players, six of which are on scholarship, and have lost their first two games in Lahaina by a combined 73 points. If there’s any team in this field that the Longhorns can try to cure their ills against, this would be the one.

Keys to the game

1) Push the pace – The Bulldogs are coming off two up-tempo games against North Carolina and Marquette, in which they averaged 73 possessions per contest. Even with overtime needed for yesterday’s game against USC, the Longhorns played just 62 possessions. Add in the fact that the Bulldogs have used a core rotation of seven players for these two games, and there’s no question that fatigue could be a factor. If the Longhorns push the tempo and use the entire bench, they should be able to take advantage of that exhaustion as the game wears on.

2) Dominate the offensive glass – The Longhorns struggled to reclaim their missed shots in the last two games, and that resulted in tons of empty possessions. Texas managed to win just 28.2% of their offensive rebounding opportunities against an undersized Chaminade team, and only grabbed 20% of their chances against the formidable USC frontcourt. Mississippi State’s depleted roster has just three players at 6’7″ or taller — Roquez Johnson (No. 25), 6’7″; Wendell Lewis (No. 5), 6’9″; and Gavin Ware (No. 20), 6’9″. The Longhorns must take advantage of Mississippi State’s lack of frontcourt depth and reclaim missed shots to earn second-chance points.

3) Pester Thomas on the perimeter – Freshman guard Fred Thomas (No. 1) has not been shy about launching the long ball in Maui, taking 18 attempts in the team’s first two games. Although he struggled to a 1-for-10 mark against North Carolina on Monday, Thomas knocked down 50% of his looks yesterday against Marquette. The Longhorns need to stick with the freshman on the perimeter and make sure that his inevitable barrage of three-point attempts come with a hand in his face.