Not much time to do a proper game preview for this one, but fortunately you can find most everything you’ll need to know about the Red Raiders in the preview from the first meeting of these two teams. Texas won that game 95-83, fueled in large part by surprising offensive outbursts from Dogus Balbay and Justin Mason.

The big difference in this afternoon’s match-up is that Tech will once again have the services of Darko Cohaderavic and D’walyn Roberts, two frontcourt players who will completely change the complexion of the game. The Red Raiders were incredibly thin when these teams first played each other, and the high pace of the game made it easier for Texas to pull away late despite playing absolutely horrible defense. There’s very little chance that will be the case this afternoon.

Fans can probably also expect to see Tech work the ball inside a little more than they did in the first meeting. Coach Pat Knight likes to try to get Cohaderavic going early, not only to earn the easy points inside, but to open things up for his other slashing, athletic wings and guards. A lot of responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the Longhorn frontcourt to ensure that gameplan doesn’t come to fruition.

In addition, Texas also will likely not enjoy another breakout performance from Balbay or Mason. Neither has played at that level since that game, and both have had their minutes significantly cut. Fortunately, J’Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton have stepped up and performed admirably in their expanded roles. Texas will need solid offensive games out of that pair of freshmen in order to produce this afternoon.

Finally, it must also be noted that United Spirit Arena is a surprisingly tough place for visiting teams to win at. It’s not that there are loud, intimidating crowds here in Lubbock. And it’s not that Tech usually fields good teams that catch even better teams off guard. But for whatever reason, ranked teams often leave United Spirit with a loss, and for a Texas squad that has piled up quite a few of those L’s in recent weeks, it’s something to be concerned about.

It has been a long, interesting month for the Longhorns. On January 17th, Texas was ranked No. 1 in the nation and held a pristine 17-0 mark. Just a day later, the Horns would start a slide in which they lost five out of seven games and plummeted from the upper crust of college basketball. But on Saturday, Texas once again looked like the dominant team that fans watched the first two months of the season. In a 40-point beating of Nebraska, the Longhorns were highly efficient on both ends of the court, and the much-heralded freshmen finally all put it together in the same game.

Texas’ recent performance has made fans hesitant to get excited once again. While the Longhorns certainly looked unstoppable on Saturday, their skittish performances the previous four weeks have planted a seed of doubt in the minds of most. Tonight, the Longhorns will find out whether or not they have turned a corner. In facing a very tough Missouri team in a very intimidating road enviornment, Texas will likely find what their true identity is. Are they a scuttling group that is squandering immeasurable talent? Or are they a team that is finally going to hit their stride, just in time for March?

By the numbers

As fans of college basketball are well aware, Mike Anderson and the Tigers play an up-tempo, pressure style of hoops they have dubbed “The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball.” Anderson was once as assistant under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas, where the “40 Minutes of Hell” led to a national title, and Mike’s re-branding of the time-tested strategy actually led the Tigers to last year’s Elite Eight.

Missouri leads the Big 12 with 20.4 turnovers forced per game. The impact of that pressure defense is magnified by the fact that the Tigers only cough it up about thirteen times per game, so the differential gives the Tigers a bunch of extra possessions. In addition, 11.4 of the turnovers that Mizzou forces each game come in the form of steals, which is tops in the nation. Keeping the ball in play — rather than forcing TOs on passes out of bounds — gives the Tigers more points in transition.

That transition game is a big reason why the Tiger offense is ranked 42nd nationally in efficiency by stat guru Ken Pomeroy. Missouri’s gameplan can often feel like a tiny snowball building into an avalanche, as one turnover leads to an easy bucket, which lets them set up their full-court press, which forces another turnover and a layup, and they get to set up their defense…… You get the picture.

Tonight’s game is likely to be a full-on track meet. The Tigers average 72.1 possessions per game, which is the 20th-fastest tempo in the nation. (As you can see, the “Fastest 40” moniker is a bit of false advertising.) The Longhorns, meanwhile, average 74.5 possessions, which is 7th-fastest in the NCAAs. Unless Texas decides to make a conscious effort to slow the pace, this game will be played at break-neck speed.

When Missouri isn’t scoring their points off of transition, their half-court sets are very impressive. Good, strong cuts and quick ball movement earn the Tigers quite a few open looks, and strong dribble penetration leads to open three-point shots on the kick-outs. Missouri makes over 38% of their looks from long range, so Texas must make sure they don’t let the Tigers get too hot from behind the arc.

Meet the Tigers

After losing DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons to the NBA draft, Missouri needed to find a way to replace their 31 points and 13 rebounds per game. Fortunately for Coach Anderson, his lineup is filled with players who possess similar skills and body types. While no one has quite filled the frontcourt void left by these two stars, the Tigers are finding that their system and interchangeable personnel allows for quick reloading from year to year.

This year, Missouri’s senior leaders come in the form of J.T. Tiller and Zaire Taylor. Tiller was the Big 12’s top defensive player last season, and he’s picked up right where he left off. He has 32 steals so far this year, while only fouling out of one game. His offensive skillset is limited mostly to driving the lane for easy looks, so Tiller is fortunately one Tiger that Texas won’t have to watch on the perimeter.

Texas fans should remember Taylor quite well. Last year, he converted an old-fashioned three-point play in the final seconds to defeat the Longhorns, and hit a short jumper against Kansas to win in the Border War just a few days later. Nicknamed “Big Shot” for his heroics in those two games, Taylor is a pretty good outside shooter (39.7% behind the arc), and is averaging eight points per game.

The backcourt is where all the depth is for Missouri this year, but most of the Tiger guards are much taller than those of the Longhorns. The tallest of them all is 6’6″ Kim English, a sophomore guard who’s best known for sleeping in the gym. He’s leading the team in scoring with nearly 15 points per game, and much of it comes from long range. English has knocked down 53 triples on the year, and is shooting 37.6% from the perimeter.

Another long-range threat in the backcourt is sophomore Marcus Denmon. In his second season, he’s stepped into the spotlight, making more than 44% of his three-point attempts while scoring about eleven points per game. If there is one player that Texas absolutely cannot lose track of tonight, it’s Denmon.

While the Missouri lineup is littered with guys from 6’6″ to 6’8″ who are all quick, athletic, and have great wingpan, the most disruptive has to be Justin Safford. At 6’8″, his wingspan is much longer than it should be, and it makes him great at denial on entry passes and has helped him log 18 blocked shots this year. Safford didn’t see a lot of action down the stretch last season, but he’s averaging 21 minutes per game in his junior campaign and is consistently making solid contributions.

While Safford is long and defensively disruptive, the true shot blocker on the team is Keith Ramsey. He led the team in swats last year, and is second on the squad this year with 29 blocks. He’s not much of a scorer, but he is one of the only real frontcourt presences on a perimeter-oriented team. Ramsey will be relied on tonight to clean the glass and deny the Texas bigs down low.

The other frontcourt presence is sophomore Laurence Bowers. Hailing from Memphis, Bowers has been described by the coaches as the team’s most complete player, and in just his second season, he’s already starting to show why. He leads the team in blocked shots and rebounds, is third in scoring, and even has 27 steals. While Bowers is already making an impact in the Big 12, there’s no doubt that he is going to be an absolute star in the coming years.

Each of the seven players above is averaging more than 20 minutes a game, with none of them playing for more than 26.7 per contest. Anderson loves to constantly change his lineups, running essentially nine deep in an effort to wear down the opponents and keep his own players fresh enough to keep up the pressure. Texas is also a very deep team, but in recent weeks Rick Barnes has been working to pare down his core rotation. It will be interesting to see how Texas uses its personnel in response to Anderson’s substitution style.

The other two players who see significant minutes for the Tigers are freshman Michael Dixon and sophomore guard Miguel Paul. Dixon was Mr. Basketball for the state of Missouri as a high school senior last year, and he’s made a solid impression on the Big 12 so far as a freshman. He’s quick, smart with the basketball, and has a sound grasp of what Anderson’s defense requires from him. Paul is also a quick guard and a serviceable shooter, but doesn’t make that much of an impact on the stat sheet in his twelve minutes per game.

Keys to the game

While it may be painfully obvious already, the number one thing Texas must do tonight is control the basketball. Missouri’s pressure defense is even more effective in front of their rowdy crowd, so the Longhorns can’t afford to fuel the fire by wasting possessions and giving up easy fast break points. A lot of this will come down to the play of J’Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton, who have been two of the biggest turnover culprits in the past. As freshmen, they’ve only seen a handful of road arenas. Hopefully their experience at the electric Octagon of Doom was enough to prepare them for tonight.

Along the same lines, Texas must remain poised. At some point, Missouri will go on a run. With their style of play and the Texas penchant for scoring droughts, it’s practically a certainty. But the Longhorns must respond tonight when they get metaphorically punched in the mouth, or else they will find themselves with a deficit they will be unable to overcome.

In addition, Texas must efficiently use Dexter Pittman. In this type of game, he’s not going to be able to play for very long. But when he is on the court, he will undoubtedly be a tough match-up for the smaller Missouri lineup. If the Longhorns can get a nice chunk of points from Big Pitt, and maybe even pick up some fouls on the thin Tiger frontcourt, it could change the complexion of the game.

Finally, one brief reminder about the perimeter threat from the Tigers. Mizzou’s excellent three-point accuracy was mentioned throughout the player introductions, but Longhorn fans know all-too-well how Texas opponents tend to get ridiculously hot from long range. If Missouri shoots like the Sooners did in Norman or the Red Raiders did in Austin, there’s very little chance Texas leaves Columbia with a win.

The big picture

In terms of the conference standings, this game is huge. With just five games remaining after tonight’s contest, there is very little time to make up ground and practically no room for error. Kansas State, Texas A&M, Baylor, Missouri, and Texas have separated themselves from the pack and are all log-jammed from spots two through six in the standings.

If the Longhorns want a bye in the first round of the conference tournament, they have to win the remaining head-to-head meetings against the Aggies, Bears, and Tigers. Lose tonight, and it’s very likely the Horns will be playing the Big 12’s 11- or 12-seed on the second Wednesday in March.

When a team has lost five of its last seven games, any win is a big win. When a team has lost five of seven and then wins by forty points, that’s flat-out monumental. While Texas’ 91-51 win did come against the league’s cellar dwellers, this afternoon’s performance was so different from what fans have seen from the Longhorns the last three weeks that it can’t help but to inspire some hope.

Naysayers will latch on to Nebraska’s record and paint this as nothing but an anomaly from a Texas team that is on life support. But what is lost amidst the 1-9 conference record and the absolute mudholing that took place at the Frank Erwin Center is the fact that this Nebraska team is very, very stingy on defense.

The Cornhuskers led the Big 12 in field goal percentage coming into this game, while their defensive efficiency of 0.936 points per possession was 66th in the nation. By our rough math, Texas posted an efficiency mark of more than 1.2 points per possession against that typically-stout Husker defense. An offensive explosion like that could mean that maybe — just maybe — after nearly four months of tinkering with the lineup, Rick Barnes has finally found something that works.

What looked good

The story of the game was the promotion of J’Covan Brown to the starting lineup, and the difference was quickly apparent. With a slashing guard in the lineup who actually possesses the ability to finish at the rim, the Longhorns were able to make the Husker defense react and leave other men open. This resulted in an excessive number of open looks, and Texas shot more than 61% from the field in the first half, including 7-of-11 from behind the arc.

As Barnes continued toying with new lineup combinations, Dexter Pittman and Dogus Balbay saw their playing time decrease. Shockingly enough, the Longhorn offense looked even better for it. Texas’ half-court sets suddenly featured excellent spacing, while having Jordan Hamilton and Gary Johnson on the court for longer stretches meant that defenses had to defend tall, quality shooters even further from the paint.

Hamilton’s play was the most impressive, when you consider where he’s come from. Sure, Avery Bradley lit up the scoreboard with an insane 6-of-6 start from behind the arc. But it was Hamilton who had clearly made adjustments to his game, as he tried very hard to avoid the mistakes that had hampered his play in previous weeks. Jordan was passing up the types of contested shots he willingly threw up against the likes of Oklahoma and Kansas, instead opting to work the ball inside. Lo and behold, when the Texas post players drew defensive help, Hamilton was left with open looks — and he often made them count.

Jordan’s final line was a staggering 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal. After going 3-of-21 in his last two games with just one assist to four turnovers, Hamilton’s performance against Nebraska was the definition of a 180. He certainly still needs to work on his defense and was still getting an earful from Coach Barnes in the second half, but if that is the kind of night Hamilton can have on a regular basis, it will be tough to beat the Longhorns in the future.

At the point, Brown continued to show his own growth. While he still favors the flashy pass to the safe one — sometimes to his own detriment — Brown now seems to recognize where the ball needs to go and isn’t always in shoot-first mode. His ridiculous alley-oop to Bradley late in the first half will likely be on every set of Texas highlights the rest of the year, but he made an equally impressive no-look feed into the post in the second half that left Nebraska frozen. Brown’s defense was much better tonight, and he posted a 2-to-1 assist-to-TO ratio in his 30 minutes on the court.

The play of the experienced frontcourt might have been overshadowed by the fantastic performances from the freshman trio, but it was definitely worth noting. Johnson and Damion James quietly posted identical 13-point, 9-rebound lines, but perhaps more importantly combined to shoot 8-of-10 from the line. For Texas to be successful, James and Johnson have to play well both in the midrange and in the paint, which means that they must make it count when they are fouled inside. It’s been well-documented how Damion’s free-throw woes have cost Texas in the past, but the importance of him converting from the stripe cannot be overstated.

What needed work

While the win was dominating and the offense impressive, there were still some things that were disappointing for the Longhorns. Perhaps most troubling was another weak performance from Pittman. The big man played just 16 minutes this afternoon, and his offensive woes against the constant double-teams continued. Defensively, Dexter still played very, very well, stifling the Nebraska bigs and logging an authoritative block. But considering the Texas offense looked much more fluid without him taking up space inside, it may be time to think about the role Big Dex serves in the Texas gameplan. Perhaps the Longhorns are best served by utilizing Pittman in short stretches, where he serves to ramp up the physicality and defensively own the paint.

In addition, Jai Lucas did not show much in his twenty minutes on the court. It should be noted that Jai didn’t do anything particularly poorly, and in fact made quite a few hustle plays that are worth mentioning. His scramble for a loose ball led to the Brown-Bradley alley oop, and he pulled down a pair of boards amidst much taller traffic.

Unfortunately, Jai gives up so much height that it’s nearly impossible for him to get off a shot, which makes him as much of an offensive liability as Balbay and Justin Mason. The difference is that those two players bring a defensive intensity to the court which earns them solid minutes, while Lucas’ vertical shortcomings make him a liability on defense, too. It’s not that Lucas is really doing anything wrong when he’s on the floor, but there’s no question that there are other players who can provide more if given some of Jai’s minutes.

Looking ahead

Seeing Texas play a free and open style of basketball was exciting and certainly came as a breath of fresh air after the last few weeks. But looking ahead to the next opponent, this up-tempo style might be a tad worrisome. The Missouri Tigers live for high-speed basketball where they can force mistakes and score easy buckets, so if Texas elects to continue this style of play, they will have to be very, very careful to maintain ball control.

Meanwhile, the picture in the muddled Big 12 became a little clearer on Saturday afternoon. At the beginning of the day, there were just two games separating second place from eighth place. Thanks to losses by Texas Tech and Oklahoma, the group vying for those first-round byes became a little bit smaller. Now, K-State and A&M are tied for second at 7-3, while Baylor, Missouri, and Texas are just a game behind. While a win on Wednesday night will not be easy, knocking off the Tigers would be a huge boost as Texas works towards one of the top four seeds in the conference tournament.

After losing five of their last seven games, the Longhorns are faced with what is certainly a must-win. With four road games left in the final seven games, Texas must win every home game on the schedule to ensure they have a shot to earn of the league’s four first-round byes in the conference tournament. Fortunately for the Horns, this afternoon’s game is one that they certainly should win, against a team that is young, shorthanded, and much less talented.

Doc Sadler’s Cornhuskers have been dealing with injuries to their top players all season long. Before the year even began, Nebraska lost Christopher Niemann, a 6’11” sophomore who would have been the team’s starting center. With the loss of the team’s big man, explosive guard Toney McCray decided to try to play through an elbow injury when doctors suggested he would need surgery. After just three games, McCray realized he couldn’t play through the pain and packed it in for the year. With two of the team’s presumed starters out of the mix, Sadler has had to rely on a bunch of freshmen and JuCo transfers to get through the season.

Junior guard Lance Jeter is one of those transfers, a stocky point guard built in the mold of Byron Eaton. He played football at Cincinatti before transferring to Lincoln, and it shows in the way he can barrel through defenders. Jeter isn’t a very fast guard and he tends to dribble the air out of the ball, but without him on the floor, the Nebraska offense often looks lost. The Longhorns should easily be able to keep Jeter in front of them on defense, but should keep an eye on him beyond the arc, where he’s hitting 39% of his looks.

When Jeter isn’t manning the point, the duties typically fall to Sek Henry. Unfortunately, Henry is a defensive specialist and not a quality floor general. Pressure on Henry beyond the perimeter will often stifle the Husker offense before it can even get going. On the other side of the ball, though, the Longhorn guards are going to be frustrated by Sek all afternoon long.

Ryan Anderson is arguably an even better defender than Henry, logging nearly two steals per game. On a team with a slow pace of play, that stat speaks volumes. For the last three years, Anderson has had to play out of position thanks to a lack of post depth on the Nebraska roster. This year, the Huskers have more bodies down low, so Anderson is able to work more from the wing and attack off the dribble. Thanks to his previous experience playing down low, Anderson is able to put it in the hoop in a variety of ways, and is the team’s leading scorer.

Just behind Anderson in the scoring ranks is Jorge Brian Diaz, a redshirt freshman from Puerto Rico who has really developed nicely over the course of the year. He still makes some boneheaded mistakes and misses some point blank looks, but he seems to be adjusting to the physical post play in the Big 12. In addition to banging around down low, Diaz also has a pretty good turnaround jumper that can certainly frustrate his defender.

Also eating up minutes in the frontcourt is German-born Christian Standhardinger. Like Dogus Balbay, Standhardinger played on a foreign team with professionals, and was forced to sit out the first half of the year as a result. Since joining the roster for conference play, Standhardinger has played at a high level of intensity. He’s a scrappy player who is always hustling, and is reminiscent of OU’s Eduardo Najera in both playing style and hair style.

The third big man in the mix for Doc Sadler is freshman Brandon Ubel. At 6’10”, the Huskers are expecting big things out of the Overland Park native, but so far he has yet to impress. Ubel misses a lot of easy looks in the paint and gets pushed around pretty easily by opposing bigs. With some experience and muscle, he’s going to make an impact in future seasons, but for now he’s mostly quiet in his 16 minutes per game.

With Ubel spending more time on the bench, Quincy Hankins-Cole has recently seen more PT as a frontcourt reserve. He’s another junior-college transfer, so he gives Sadler more experience and more polished play than the freshmen sometimes do. Hankins-Cole isn’t a flashy player or a superstar-in-waiting, but he provides quality minutes down low and will earn a few points and rebounds every game.

Brandon Richardson is the team’s third-leading scorer, and has made quite a jump from his freshman year to his sophomore one. Richardson is a favorite of Coach Sadler thanks to his hard-nosed play and hustle, but he’s also a pretty good shooter and is nearly automatic from the line. He’s not going to score a ton of points, but where he’ll be noticed this afternoon is on the defensive end, as he will likely make life miserable for the Texas guards.

The biggest impact off the bench often comes from guard Eshaunte Jones, nicknamed “The Bear.” He’s hitting more than 44% of his looks behind the arc, where he’s taken 79 attempts on the year. If Nebraska manages to play their style of basketball this afternoon, Jones could be the difference an upset win or another road loss.

Keys to the game

If the Longhorns are going to win this one easily, they must dictate the speed of the game. The Cornhuskers are one of the 50 slowest teams in the country, and they try to win basketball games by limiting possessions and keeping it close with suffocating defense. If Texas can increase the number of possessions, it will magnify the difference in skill between these two offenses, and the Horns should cruise to a victory. If Nebraska manages to slow things down and keep the score in the 50- or 60-point range, it could be another close one for Texas.

As Mark Rosner reported last night, J’Covan Brown will be in the starting lineup. At the end of the Kansas game, fans saw Brown attack the rim and force the issue. They also saw him make a few turnovers down the stretch that helped scuttle a late comeback try. The Longhorns must have J’Covan play smart basketball against a very well-coached defensive team. If he is making mistakes that give Nebraska extra possessions, it plays right into their game plan.

Finally, it’s important that Dexter Pittman breaks out. This isn’t necessarily a key to the game, as Texas can still probably beat Nebraska without a big game from Big Pitt. But it’s clear that he has lost some confidence on the offensive end, and he will certainly be needed down the stretch in conference play. If Pittman can have a quality game against the Huskers, perhaps it will give him a much-needed boost for the final weeks of the season.

The rosters for the McDonald’s All-American game were released this afternoon, and once again a future Longhorn snagged the prestigious honor. 2010 commit Tristan Thompson was named to the West squad, along with his Findlay Prep teammate Cory Joseph. Thompson and Joseph are closely following the footsteps of Texas freshman Avery Bradley, who also attended Findlay, was a McDonald’s All-American, and won the All-American Jam Session.

If Texas lands Joseph — who is also considering Villanova, UNLV, UConn, and Minnesota — it will be the first time since 2006 that the Longhorns have secured commitments from two All-Americans in the same class. That year, Texas brought both D.J. Augustin and Kevin Durant to the Forty Acres.

Duncanville’s Perry Jones, a Baylor commit, will represent the East, along with point guard Josh Selby, who is still considering Kansas. When all is said and done, the Jayhawks could actually land two McD’s All-Americans, as forward Doron Lamb still has KU in the mix.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPN, and is set to tip at 8 P.M. ET on March 31st.