When we threw together our plans to travel to the Ferrell Center for tonight’s Baylor/Texas A&M clash, the thought was that we’d get to see not just another great installment in this rivalry, but a game that just so happened to have post-season implications for both teams. And until the last few minutes of the second half, we were treated to exactly that. The Bears and Aggies were nip and tuck down the stretch, headed for another thrilling finish. But in a matter of moments, an insane series of events stole the spotlight from the game on the court.

With just under two minutes left, Baylor’s Tweety Carter ran full-speed into a pick by A&M’s Joseph Jones. As anyone familiar with the size of these two players could guess, the ensuing collision was best described as hitting a brick wall. Carter crumpled to the court, the Aggies scored an easy lay-up, and the lead was pushed to eight points. The Baylor fans were restless, booing relentlessly as trainers tended to the fallen player. Words were exchanged between the two huddles, various players and coaches were held back from brawling, and a Nerf basketball was thrown on to the court.

Earlier in the half, the P.A. announcer had warned fans that objects thrown onto the court would result in a technical foul against the Bears. So as Curtis Jerrells quickly scooped up the ball, all eyes in the Ferrell Center turned to Section 121 to find the culprit. Immediately fingers were pointed at two young Aggie fans, and a random man pushing 50-odd years rushed up the stairs to scream in their faces. Another Aggie ran down from his seat two rows above, got in the face of the old man, and the shouting match was on. The crowd was on edge and it honestly felt like a riot was about to break out. Security escorted the two accused Aggies out of the arena, although I’m convinced it was more for their own safety than any proven guilt.

The angry Baylor fans voiced their disapproval with the original chant shown in this video, despite the fact that any sensible Aggie supporter could just happily point to the scoreboard.

After more fouls and desperation threes from the Bears, time seemed to finally be winding down to the merciful conclusion of the game. But after Donald Sloan stole the ball near mid-court, he decided to play Harlem Globetrotter and throw it off the backboard to himself for a dunk with 1.8 seconds left. Ignoring the fact that his team was already up 12 with seconds to go, Sloan’s And-1 Mixtape highlight quickly brought the wrath of the Baptists. Dr. Pepper bottles sailed from the stands, more Nerf balls were sent airborne, and the court at the Ferrell Center became the new town landfill. The Aggies hustled off the floor to avoid the debris while Baylor Coach Scott Drew grabbed the mic &emdash; not to chastise the fans for their behavior, but to thank them for their great support all year. Remember Baylor fans, good sports recycle.

One can only hope that somehow these two teams meet up again in Kansas City next weekend. While the bad blood won’t get quite as nasty in a neutral site environment, this thing is turning into a down-and-dirty rivalry along the lines of the Duke-Virginia Tech fued. (Or is it just Greg Paulus vs. Deron Washington?) Even if things don’t come to a head next weekend, this is the kind of game that fans of both schools will mutter about eight years from now when explaining why they hate the other fans. This was truly the kind of night that bitter rivalries are all about.

Just checking in for a few minutes after work, as we’ll soon be hitting the road for a special late-season roadie. Texas A&M visits the Ferrell Center tonight to face Baylor in a game with huge bubble implications, and Longhorn Road Trip will be there.

At the moment, both teams seem to be safe for the NCAAs, but a slip tonight could mean that the Aggies head to Kansas City as losers of six out of seven. With every upset in a mid-major tournament stealing a bid from the bubble, Mark Turgeon’s team can’t afford that trend.

For Baylor, a win would solidify their résumé and practically ensure a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament. It is also Senior Night for the Bears, which means that Aaron Bruce and Mark Shepherd will be playing their last game in the Golden Nipple. Take all of these storylines, mix in the hated Aggies as the opponents, and Waco should be absolutely rocking tonight.

A few notes on the Nebraska win will be headed your way late tonight or sometime tomorrow, along with a report on the trip to Waco.

Mark Rosner of the Austin American-Statesman posted in his blog this afternoon that Texas has landed 2010 forward Tristan Thompson. The sophomore is ranked fifth in his class by Rivals.com and is currently playing his ball at St. Benedict’s Prep Academy in New Jersey, the same school that produced J.R. Smith. Rosner reports that the Toronto native was a huge Durant fan and that assistant Rodney Terry was key in the signing.

One other item of note from Rosner is that J’Covan Brown, Wesley Witherspoon, and ’09 target Renardo Sidney will be in town on Sunday to visit. It’s unfortunate that Witherspoon and Sidney will see a game when the students are away on Spring Break, but I know that the facilities and staff here in Austin will more than make up for it.

Texas returns home after a surprising loss in Lubbock, hoping to maintain their hold on the Big 12 Championship and a 1-seed in the conference tournament next weekend. Standing in their way are the suddenly resurgent Nebraska Cornhuskers, winners of three of their last four, including a road upset of Texas A&M just a little over a week ago. With the early tip time and likely meager crowd, the Longhorns will have to be careful against a Nebraska team that can surprise anyone on any given night.

By the numbers

Nebraska’s game is built upon their excellent defense, which is ranked 20th in the country in efficiency. Over their last ten games, the Cornhuskers have allowed only two teams to notch an eFG% of greater than 50%. Doc Sadler’s team will try to limit the number of possessions and rely upon their stingy D to keep the score low enough that they can snatch a victory.

While Nebraska turns the ball over only about thirteen times a game, that number can be a bit misleading because of their pace of play. That slow-down brand of basketball that the Cornhuskers utilize means that their adjusted tempo is 302nd in the country out of 341 Division I teams. If Texas can not only pressure the ball, but also force the tempo against the stubborn Huskers, they can easily cruise in this one.

The starting five

Nebraska is completely built around the game of big man Aleks Maric. The 6’11” Aussie leads the team in scoring and averages a double-double with a line of 16/10. Not only can he showcase a myriad of post moves, but Maric is an excellent passer who draws the double team and has an eye for the interior dish or the back-door cut. Coach Sadler also likes to run high screens with Aleks, drawing out the bigger post defenders and opening up the inside lanes for their slashing guards. Texas will have a tough time matching up with the big man, but should be able to shut down the rest of the anemic Nebraska offense.

Point guard Cookie Miller is the other key player for Nebraska, although an injury suffered at Texas A&M on February 23rd has kept him out of the last two games. There’s no word yet on whether or not he will return to the floor this evening, much less the starting line-up. If he does play, Texas will be facing a guard who is quick on the dribble-drive and is a deft passer. He’s still turning over the ball more than you’d like for a point guard, but as he gains experience over the years he will likely develop into a hell of a threat. Miller is also a short guard, so he does not give the Longhorns a poor match-up defensively if he’s on the floor.

A candidate for the Big 12 All-Newcomer team is JuCo transfer Steve Harley. He’s another tiny guard who checks in at 5’11”, and he can shoot it from anywhere on the floor. But despite his tiny size, he’s not afraid to take it inside and try to earn his points amongst the trees.

Ryan Anderson is a 6’4″ guard who can hang out on the perimeter in the 4-out, 1-in look that Sadler employs. But on defense, he’s often mismatched with much taller players at the 3 or the 4. The Longhorns don’t go big often enough for this to be a huge factor in today’s game, but he will give up a few inches against Damion James and could find himself in a huge mismatch if he’s ever up against Connor Atchley, Clint Chapman, or Alexis Wangmene.

At 6-foot, 5-inches, Ade Dagunduro plays like a man much longer than he actually is. The “guard” also has to deal with the match-up issues that Anderson faces, but he is a solid defender and rebounder who can often hold his own against the taller players. Dagunduro also has a nice mid-range jumper, has shown range out to 18 feet, and can take it to the rack if the defense press him.

Off the bench

Sek Henry may start this game in place of Miller, but has often been a key sixth man for Coach Sadler this year. He has been tasked with running the point while Cookie has been injured, but it isn’t a natural role for him. He’s much more of a slashing guard, although his scoring punch hasn’t really been seen until the last few games. He’s good for five to seven points, but shouldn’t be a huge problem for the Horns today.

Sophomore guard Jay-R Strowbridge is playing about eighteen minutes a game and reminds me of a poor man’s A.J. Abrams. He’s undersized, has a quick release, and has been hitting threes at about a 38% clip so far this year. If he somehow gets hot tonight, it could make things interesting.

With the 4-out, 1-in look, Nebraska has oftentimes struggled on the offensive glass this year. The recent play of sophomore Chris Balham is helping with that problem, as he’s earned double-digit minutes in seven conference games after hardly playing throughout the non-conf slate. In those seven games, Balham is averaging 3.5 boards per contest, which would surprisingly put him fourth on the team.

What to look for

While Nebraska could feasibly win this game today, this is a program that is building for the future. Coach Sadler has redshirted five players, including a little-used sophomore, and will only be losing Maric to graduation this summer. If Texas takes care of business, this should be a one-sided affair.

1) Control the glass – The Longhorns can’t afford to let Nebraska suddenly become a solid rebounding club. The Cornhuskers are not a very good offensive team, so limiting them to one-and-done possessions should keep Nebraska from scoring enough to hang with Texas.

2) Limit Maric’s touches – It’s difficult to keep the big man from touching the ball considering the entire NU offense runs through him. But if Texas can keep him from catching the ball in the low blocks, things will be much easier tonight. Of course, they could also get him in early foul trouble like Oklahoma State did…

3) Play up to potential – This seems like a silly key point, but the fact of the matter is that Texas played one of its worst games of the year on Saturday. If the Longhorns play the way that they should, tonight’s game should not ever be in doubt. But play poor defense again or turn it over like they have in the last two, and things could get dicey.

We’re just hours from the last Big Monday of the year, which means that conference tournaments are right around the corner. Cornell already punched their NCAA ticket in the tournament-less Ivy League, while the Big South, Ohio Valley, and Horizon all kick off their conference knockouts tomorrow.

The road loss to Tech didn’t hurt the Horns too much, as Texas slid four spots to #9 in both rankings. North Carolina was the benefactor of Tennessee’s loss in Nashville, with the Heels taking over first in both polls. Kansas was the only other Big 12 team to be ranked (5th by the AP and 6th by the coaches), while Baylor received votes in both polls and A&M earned three points in the AP despite losing four of their last five.

The loss also knocked Texas to a 2-seed in Lunardi’s latest projection, although it put the Horns back in Houston for the second weekend. Kansas also earned a 2-seed in this projection, with Kansas State (8), Baylor (9), Oklahoma (9), and Texas A&M (10) also making the field.