Jaylen Bond came to Austin by way of Philadelphia, PA. Once committed to play for Jamie Dixon and the Pittsburgh Panthers, Bond was a victim of the numbers game, forced out by the reclassification of Khem Birch to the class of 2011. With his scholarship taken by Birch, Bond had to leave his home state and ended up a late addition to the recruiting class for Rick Barnes.

On Friday, Pitt announced that Birch was leaving the program for personal reasons. Couple that news with Bond’s eight-point, 12-rebound performance against the Temple Owls, a salty team from his own hometown, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to call it Redemption Weekend for the quiet freshman forward. Add in the 12-point Longhorn victory, one that will be incredibly important come Selection Sunday, and you might be hard-pressed to find a happier person on the 40 Acres than Bond.

Things didn’t look so bright for the Longhorns in the early going on Saturday afternoon. The Owls were consistently finding easy buckets in the lane and capitalizing on their open looks from outside. Texas, meanwhile, was playing right into the hands of the Temple defense and settling for questionable shots. The Longhorns shot just 28.6% from the field during the first ten minutes of the game, allowing the Owls to build a lead as large as eight points.

The biggest edge Texas had in this game was a massive size advantage, as the Owls had only one big man available — 6’9″ Anthony Lee — and he sat most of the first half thanks to foul trouble. The Longhorns took advantage, outrebounding Temple 12-7 over the final nine minutes of the half as they clawed back to tie the game. Only an incredible three from Khalif Wyatt drilled in the face of a Texas defender gave Temple a three-point edge at the break.

In the second half, Texas finally attacked the Owls inside. The Longhorns piled up 26 points in the paint and outrebounded Temple by a whopping 30-8 margin during the final twenty minutes. Texas smothered the boards so well that the Owls were only able to reclaim 12.7% of their offensive rebounding opportunities, their worst mark since a loss to Kent State on November 21st, 2006.

A big part of the second half revival was the play of Myck Kabongo, who took charge and attacked the Owls with dribble penetration. All three of his assists came in the second half, including an excellent pass to Bond for a dunk that gave Texas a six-point lead 7:16 into the second half — their largest of the game at that point — and forced Temple to call timeout. Kabongo added three layups in the second half, finishing 50% from the field as he posted 18 points.

For the second-straight game, junior guard J’Covan Brown led the Longhorns with 23 points. Despite the team lead in points, Brown was one of Texas’ worst offenders when it came to bad decisions on Saturday. He was consistently pressing and forcing the issue against Temple, trying to score when the defense wasn’t going to allow it. That resulted in six turnovers and an ugly 10-for-21 shooting line, including a 2-of-9 mark from behind the arc. Even a few of Brown’s baskets came on terrible shots, as he dribbled himself into trouble and forced up off-balance looks that somehow went in.

Alexis Wangmene had an even tougher time, struggling to stop the Temple guards from the opening tip. He picked up three fouls and played just 12 minutes, with the bulk of his usual minutes going to fellow senior Clint Chapman. The Oregon native took full advantage, playing excellent interior defense in the second half while also leading the Longhorns with 13 rebounds. Chapman added a pair of blocks, and could have had even more than his seven points if he would not have had his standard handful of point-blank misses.

The other star in the frontcourt was Bond. His near double-double came as a result of tenacious work on the offensive glass, where he grabbed four boards and put each of them back in for a bucket. After going three straight games without an offensive rebound, Bond has grabbed 12 in his last two. At this point, his 12.7% mark on the offensive glass would rank in the Top 150 nationally, but he is currently eight total minutes shy of the cutoff to qualify.

The Longhorns also continued to do an excellent job planting their feet and drawing charges. They forced at least five Temple turnovers by earning the whistle on a charging foul, the second straight game in which they have done so. With many of the early-season games airing on the Longhorn Network, accurate charting of this trend is hard to come by. As the calendar rolls into conference play, this will be something worth keeping an eye on, and something we may chart for a future piece.

Up next: at North Carolina (9-2); Wednesday, 6 P.M. CT

Although Selection Sunday is still three months away, the Longhorns could be putting their tournament hopes on the line this afternoon. In the latest projection from ESPN’s resident bracketologist, Joe Lundardi, Texas was one of the first four teams out of the field, a result of a weak non-conference schedule that included a pair of losses against the only two quality teams on it.

Today, Texas kicks off the truly challenging part of its schedule, hosting Temple before heading to North Carolina and then opening conference play a week later. If the Longhorns are going to make the Big Dance this season, they will have to win their home games against other tournament teams like Temple.

By the Numbers

The Owls aren’t a flashy, exciting bunch, but they are well-coached and well-disciplined. In past seasons under Fran Dunphy, Temple has checked in as part of the bottom third in D-I hoops when it comes to tempo. This season, they’ve sped it up a little, but still only average 67 possessions per game, just off the national average of 67.3 possessions.

On offense, Temple is one of the most efficient teams in the land. They score 1.103 points per possession, the 25th-best mark in the country. The Owls do this by being patient and taking smart shots, which has led to a 52.5% effective field goal mark. That methodical approach also helps to protect the ball, as the Owls turn it over on less than 20% of their possessions.

Defensively, Temple likes to sit back in a man defense reminiscent of the pack-line defense. While there is less pressure on perimeter ballhandlers, the Owls certainly sag off on D, daring opponents to shoot. So far, it’s been very successful this season, with Temple opponents having an effective field goal percentage of 47.1%, below the national average. The Owls have been hurt by a late-November injury to big man Micheal Eric (No. 50), so in recent games, opponents have been able to find more success once they get the ball inside.

Meet the Owls

Without Eric and with senior Scootie Randall (No. 33) working his way back from a torn meniscus, the Temple rotation is very thin. They are essentially running a seven-man rotation, with only one player — 6’9″ redshirt freshman Anthony Lee (No. 3) — checking in over 6-feet, 6-inches.

Although the Owls have lost a lot of size without Eric, they still have a very tall, experienced backcourt. The steady ballhandler is 6’4″ Juan Fernandez (No. 4), a senior from Argentina who is averaging 12.5 points and 4.1 assists per game.

Fernandez uses his size to his advantage, often working smaller guards down the lane before hitting a running floater or a turnaround jumper off the blocks. He’s also just dangerous enough from the outside to keep defenses honest, knocking down 36% of his long-range attempts so far this season. Fernandez looks best from outside when catching the ball in rhythm and stepping into the shot, and he particularly likes to pop it from the right wing.

Joining Fernandez in the backcourt is the team’s leading scorer, senior Ramone Moore (No. 10). Moore is a slippery guard who can create his own shot on the dribble. He’s smooth with the ball cutting through traffic, but he seems most comfortable driving and curling to his left. Moore’s averaging more than 18 points per game and actually has more than four rebounds per game.

The third member of the guard troika is junior Khalif Wyatt (No. 1), the three-point marksman. Although he’s only made 35.5% of his shots behind the arc this season, he has range well past the NBA line and made more than 42% of his threes as a sophomore. He’s also an adept ballhandler, and can take over at the point when Fernandez needs a breather or is in foul trouble.

On the wing, junior Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (No. 32) is a great rebounder and shot blocker. He also added a mindrange jumper to the repertoire this offseason, and it’s keeping defenses more honest. While Hollis-Jefferson isn’t always knocking that shot down from the opening tip, he’s more than willing to take it.

With Eric out of the lineup, redshirt freshman Lee has been thrust into the starting five. He sat out last season with a herniated disk in his back, but had a great summer and is averaging nearly seven boards per game to go with five points. He’s not yet a post-up player, but he’s athletic and very active inside, so he cleans up the garbage and makes those all-important hustle plays.

Off the bench, sophomore guard Aaron Brown (No. 22) is playing roughly 14 minutes per game after starting the last nine games of his freshman campaign due to Randall’s injury issues. He has been the team’s most-consistent outside shooter so far, knocking down nearly 46% of his threes. On a team that can often go cold from outside, that kind of success rate truly stands out.

The final healthy member of the Temple rotation is 6’3″ T.J. DiLeo (No. 11). While he doesn’t stuff the stat sheet, DiLeo is a very scrappy player on defense, and is often found on the floor in the scramble for loose balls. He’s actually very quick with the dribble, but typically passes it off when he approaches the lane. On the season, DiLeo has attempted only 17 shots despite appearing in every game and averaging nearly 20 minutes.

Keys to the Game

1) Knock down shots – This would seem to be a fairly simple instruction, one that would be key to winning just about any basketball game. Make your shots, win the game. But against Temple, it’s even more important that Texas drill the looks they are given. The Owls are going to sit back on defense and force the Longhorns to take jumpers. If Texas can’t even do that, Temple has no reason to adjust their D. But if the Longhorns can prove they will hit jump shots, the Owls have to play a little tighter, the Texas guards can do more on dribble penetration, and the entire offense opens up.

2) Do work on the glass – Without Eric in the lineup, the Owls are similar in size to many of the low-major teams that Texas has faced in recent weeks. Texas can overcome that staunch Temple defense by grabbing offense boards and giving themselves easier second-chance looks inside, while they can stifle that smart, patient Temple offense by dominating on the defensive glass as well. Against a team that skews towards the slower pace of play, the handful of extra shots created or prevented by rebounding can be the difference in the game.

3) Score in transition – The best way to beat a sound defense is to never let it set up in the half court. While Texas doesn’t need to try to turn this into a track meet, the Horns do need to be looking up after Temple misses and trying to score easy points. Even in situations where the fast break isn’t there, pushing the tempo could allow things to open up in the secondary break, especially with the three-point shooters that the Longhorns have on the roster.

The Longhorns wrapped up the easy part of their schedule in impressive fashion, running away with a 53-point victory over Nicholls State in front of 4,435 at the Erwin Center last night. Texas started slowly, as has become the norm this season, leading the Colonels by just 10 with 5:23 left in the first half. That was as close as Nicholls State would get, as the Longhorns finished the game on a torrid run, limiting their opponents to just 13 points the rest of the way.

It’s easy to look at the numbers and get far too excited about the results. While there were certainly quite a few things to make Texas fans giddy, they can’t forget just how bad Nicholls State is this season. As we pointed out in yesterday’s game preview, the Colonels came into the matchup as the 21st-worst team in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings.

What looked good

Even against an opponent as overmatched as Nicholls State, the defensive performance by Texas was noteworthy. The Longhorns held their opponents without a field goal for a stretch of 15:37 that started late in the first half, allowing just five free throws during that time frame.

While Texas was able to find success by making the Nicholls State shooters take long jumpers, they also eliminated possessions by forcing turnovers and dominated the defensive glass, keeping the Colonels from extending possessions after missed shots. Nicholls State was 0-for-18 from the field during the drought, were forced into nine turnovers, and grabbed just five offensive boards.

The turnovers weren’t limited to that lengthy period of stifling defense, either. Texas was consistently jumping the passing lane and starting fast breaks. On the night, the team caused 20 Nicholls State miscues, earning a turnover rate of 28.8%. The only other team to force more mistakes by the Colonels was Louisiana State, who did it in the season opener. Texas also took advantage of all of the errors, scoring 25 points off of the turnovers.

One way the Longhorns got the ball back was by drawing charges. By my count, there were at least five times that Texas players drew the offensive foul, and there certainly could have been more. This has been a noticeable trend this season, with J’Covan Brown and Alexis Wangmene being particularly fond of planting their feet and earning the whistle. It’s a dangerous game to be playing with such a short bench and the constant risk that the referees will call a blocking foul, but so far the Longhorns seem to have mastered the skill.

When not taking charges, J’Covan simply took charge, scoring 11 of team’s first 17 points. He added three assists and four rebounds on the night, and kept a few other rebounding opportunities alive for his teammates by racing in from the perimeter and tipping the ball away from a Colonel. Brown finished with 23 points, his fifth game of at least 20 points this year. Only two of those 20-plus scoring nights have come in the last seven games, though. The Longhorns have proven to be well-balanced, but they will need Brown to perform like this more consistently as the schedule gets tougher.

Freshman Myck Kabongo is also trending upward as the team heads into the end of the non-conference slate. He only took two shots all night — both three-pointers — but was constantly able to set up his teammates with excellent court vision and an array of passes. He posted an excellent eight assists against just one turnover, with half of those assists setting up three-pointers for his teammates. He even added one for the highlight reel, tossing an alley-oop to Clint Chapman on a fast break in the second half.

The Longhorns also had their first double-double of the year, and it came from the bench. Jaylen Bond had a career night, scoring 18 points while grabbing 12 boards. He was practically unstoppable inside, as he scored 12 of his points right after ripped down offensive rebounds.

Tempo-free stats allow us to look at Bond’s numbers on a level playing field against those who play more minutes, and the stats are staggering. His offensive rebounding mark was 31%, which surprisingly was only his second-best performance of the year. Against Sam Houston State, Bond snagged almost 39% of his opportunities. Unfortunately, there have also been six different games where the freshman failed to secure even a single offensive board. With Wangmene and Chapman still rebounding inconsistently, it would be huge for the Longhorns if Bond could find some consistency of his own and become a reliable presence on the glass as conference play begins.

Finally, the play of Sterling Gibbs must be noted, as the freshman guard was perfect from the field, drilling all five of his shots en route to 14 points. In East Rutherford, Gibbs looked frightened and lacked confidence against even the slightest pressure. Last night, his quick catch-and-shoot rhythm was flawless, and he showed confidence in attacking the defense. Gibbs has shown this level of poise in the last two games, and he’s seen a spike in his minutes as a result. If he can keep this up against real competition, his role this season is going to be much larger than most people imagined.

What needed work

While the Texas defense was absolutely dominant for the last half of the game, the team still had its struggles coming out of the gate. Nicholls State was able to get to the paint far too easily, oftentimes without the aid of a ballscreen for the driving player. Alexis Wangmene had a particularly rough night, finding himself out of position far too often, and that difficulty kept him on the bench for much of the night. Fortunately, the Longhorns made adjustments and kept the Colonels in front of them, forcing long jump shots for much of the second half.

Clint Chapman also had his own struggles in this game, missing a ton of short, point-blank shots. He was 2-for-7 from the field, with one of those makes coming on the alley-oop from Kabongo. While Chapman missed a lot of easy looks, he at least made up for it on the defensive end, setting a career high with five blocked shots in just 22 minutes.

Up next: vs. Temple (6-2); Saturday, 1:30 P.M. CT

The Longhorns wrap up the cupcake portion of their non-conference schedule tonight, hosting the Nicholls State Colonels in what amounts to a glorified exhibition at the Frank Erwin Center. Tempo-free stat maven Ken Pomeroy has the Colonels ranked as the 21st-worst team in the country, even after they picked up their second Division I victory last night against Louisiana-Monroe.

The Longhorns have made vast improvements on the defensive side of the ball since their two losses in East Rutherford, holding their last five opponents to an effective field goal mark of just 37.4%. Of course, it should be noted that those five opponents currently have a combined record of just 20-23, with 10 of their wins coming against teams not in Division I. No matter how good Texas looks tonight against Nicholls State, fans must temper expectations, as the first true test of the team’s progress will come against Temple on Saturday.

By the numbers

Having lost leading scorer Anatoly Bose to graduation and the National Basketball League of his native Australia, the Colonels are working with four freshman, two transfers, and just one senior. Understandably, the Colonels were picked to finish dead last in the East Division of the Southland Conference by the league’s coaches.

As predicted, the on-court product has been quite sub-par so far this year. Nicholls State is averaging a per-possession point differential of -0.187, a discouraging number that is fueled by a terrible defense. The Colonels are the sixth-worst defense in the country according to Pomeroy, giving up 1.125 points per possession, thanks in large part to the 55% effective field goal percentage they are allowing opponents.

As it was on Saturday night against Texas State, tonight’s match-up on the glass is perfect for the Longhorns. Nicholls State is one of the ten worst offensive rebounding teams in the country, while Texas has struggled to stop opponents in that department for much of the season. Recently, the Longhorns have shown improvement, but again it is important to remember our earlier point regarding the level of competition over the last few games. Against this small, poor-rebounding team, the Longhorns should put up some video-game type numbers.

It is also worth noting that the Colonels have had some issues with ball control during their first nine games. The team’s turnover mark is a troubling 22.9%, a number that puts them in the bottom third of D-I teams. While Rick Barnes has never built the Texas offense on turnovers and transition, it’s still likely that the Horns will enjoy some fast break points courtesy of Nicholls State errors.

Meet the Colonels

As we mentioned, Nicholls State is truly in the midst of a rebuilding year. With Bose gone, 6’5″ senior Fred Hunter was supposed to carry the scoring load. Unfortunately, a knee injury from last year took longer than anticipated to heal, and Hunter elected to redshirt this season in the hopes of having a stronger senior campaign in 2012-13 with a more experienced squad.

The Colonels have a core rotation of nine players, but could go deeper down the bench against Texas, as they just played last night against Louisiana-Monroe. Injuries have forced Coach J.P. Piper to be very flexible with his lineups, meaning that eight different players have seen the starting five so far this season.

The lone senior is Ben Martin (No. 4), a guard who averaged less than five points per game last season. Like Hunter, Martin has been dealing with his own injuries, having been limited to just four games so far this season thanks to back problems. The guard hasn’t improved his scoring mark this season, averaging just four points per game, but has upped the shooting percentage. After knocking down less than 32% of his shots last year, Martin has made 45.5% of them in his four games.

The other key player to be hobbled by injuries this season is 6’2″ guard Dantrell Thomas (No. 1), who has been sidelined by a deep calf bruise. After missing two games due to the injury, Thomas made a surprise appearance off the bench last night, scoring nine points in the final minutes to carry the team to victory. During the preseason, Coach Piper hoped that Thomas would be the one to make up for Bose’s departing points, but so far he is averaging just over eight per game.

The player who has carried the team so far is 6’5″ freshman Trevon Lewis (No. 23). Averaging more than 14 points per game, Lewis made a splash in his collegiate debut, leading the team with 19 points against LSU in the season opener. The freshman is also grabbing more than five boards per game, making him the leading rebounder on a team that has no players over 6’7″. Lewis is an athletic guy who has the ability to defend all positions, but will find that a difficult task against a much bigger Texas lineup tonight.

Joining Lewis on the wing is 6’6″ sophomore Chris Talkington (No. 11), who is second on the team in scoring with a 12.7 average. He’s been the team’s best three-point shooter so far, knocking down 43.8% of his 48 attempts. Lest fans think Talkington is simply a long-range specialist, he’s also been attacking the rim to the tune of a 46.4% mark inside the arc, while earning 30 trips to the line.

The other three-point threat for Nicholls State is 6’7″ freshman Lachland Prest (No. 2), one of three Australians on the team roster. Prest is one of the two tallest players on the Colonel roster, but his 41.9% success rate behind the arc is key to stretching out defenses. For Coach Piper’s five-out, motion-based offense, having bigs with a good jumper is critical.

That type of offense doesn’t really call for a true point guard, but 6’2″ freshman Shane Rillieux (No. 21) is one of two guards who essentially fill that role. His 20 assists are second on the team, but the freshman has also coughed it up 21 times so far this season. He’s a good perimeter defender that is also rebounding very well in his freshman campaign, as he’s currently second on the team with 4.4 boards per game.

The other guard facilitating the offense is sophomore Bryan Hammond (No. 3), who has a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. His 8.6 points per game are third on the team, despite being relegated to the sixth-man role after Martin’s return.

Another player giving quality minutes off the bench is Sam McBeath (No. 15), the other “big man” for the Colonels at 6-feet, 7-inches. The Australian product is much more experienced than his fellow freshmen, as he’s currently 21 years old and has spent the last two years trying to gain NCAA eligibility. McBeath is averaging 7.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in his seven appearances.

The final player in the rotation is Jeremy Smith (No. 34), a 6’3″ sophomore guard who actually took a redshirt season after his freshman year. He plays considerably less minutes than the eight men ahead of him in the rotation, as he sees the court for just over 14 minutes per game. Smith has made an appearance in every contest, though, and averages nearly five points in his limited role.

Keys to the blowout

There’s absolutely no reason why the Longhorns should lose tonight, so for this game we have made a slight name change to this section of the preview.

1) Control the defensive glass – With nobody over 6’7″ on the opposing bench, the Longhorns should have no problems rebounding the basketball tonight. The Nicholls State offense is already rather pedestrian, so limiting the Colonels to one-shot possessions by grabbing the defensive boards will absolutely cripple their scoring chances.

2) Play sound team defense – The motion-based offense that Nicholls State uses will make it necessary for the Longhorns to communicate very well on D. If the Longhorns don’t, there will be quite a few plays where they simply lose a man on defense and give up an easy layup or wide-open jumper. While Nicholls State is not a powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination, playing against this type of scheme will be a good experience for the young Longhorn defense.

3) Attack the paint – Recently Texas has found great success by setting up their big men in position to score, whether it’s from good entries in the high-low game or from good drive-and-dish work by Myck Kabongo and J’Covan Brown. The Longhorns have a huge size advantage in this game, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t consistently feed Alexis Wangmene, Clint Chapman, and Jonathan Holmes and pad their stats.

It was a one-sided affair at the Erwin Center on Saturday night, as Texas used runs of 26-4 and 29-10 to blow open the game against Texas State and cruise to an 86-52 victory. The Longhorns set season highs with 50% shooting from behind the arc and a 56.3% mark from the field.

What looked good

The excellent shooting percentage was the result of the team executing especially well in the half-court. Texas found great success on pick-and-rolls, and also scored a nice chunk of points off of dribble penetration with kicks to the crashing bigs on the baseline. In the second half, great ball movement against a short-lived Texas State zone allowed the Longhorns to drill six three-pointers within four minutes of leaving the locker room.

Amidst all of the excellent looks and easy buckets, Julien Lewis had a career night. The freshman led the team in scoring with 19 points, making him the fifth different player to lead the team in the last five games. Lewis made four three-pointers and a pull-up jumper during the first six minutes of the second half to put the game definitively out of reach.

Although Sheldon McClellan didn’t follow up his breakout game against UT-Arlington with another scoring barrage against the Bobcats, he quietly chipped in 13 points to the winning effort. He had another excellent game rebounding from the wing, securing six boards, and added an excellent block from behind during a Texas State fast break. McClellan also earned a steal for Lewis by pressuring Texas State’s Vonn Jones to throw an errant pass. For his hard work, McClellan scored a layup on the ensuing break.

That type of team defense is what allowed Texas to build such an insurmountable lead. In the first half, the Longhorns absolutely stifled the Bobcats, limiting them to only three field goals and 13.6% shooting. Texas played solid help defense and frustrated Texas State into forcing challenged shots. The Bobcats had one stretch of more than 14 minutes in the first half without a field goal. Unfortunately, the Longhorn effort waned as the team’s lead ballooned to nearly 40 in the second half, or else we could be talking about this as one of the team’s all-time best defensive games.

Texas also had a great night on the glass, as was to be expected against a much smaller Texas State team. The Longhorns posted their second-best defensive rebounding number of the season, securing 72% of the Bobcat misses. Combined with the excellent team D, that dominant work on the defensive glass completely shut down Texas State. While Texas will not see many teams this small as they move into conference play, hopefully this outing will crystallize the importance of defensive rebounding for the youngsters.

It was also great to see confident, aggressive play inside from Wangmene. In the past, he was often bobbling passes or rebounds, but over the last few weeks, he’s doing a much better job controlling the feeds and going to the rack. As Wangmene said in the post-game presser, “Either I would get fouled, or I would make the basket.” He also did really good work on the glass and could have challenged for a double-double if not limited to just 20 minutes in the blowout. The senior finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Over the last three games, Wangmene is averaging 9.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in 24.3 minutes. The most telling stat, though, is his 78.6% shooting percentage over that stretch. The guards are finding him in good spots to set up easy looks, and the big man is finishing. While the Longhorns could use even more rebounding from Wangmene, what he is providing right now on offense is exactly what Texas needs from him.

Freshman Sterling Gibbs also played very aggressively coming off of the bench. Listed generously at just 6’1″, Gibbs had issues against taller, active defenders earlier this season. Against Texas State, he put the ball on the floor and attacked the paint, earning eight free throws as a result. He knocked down seven of them, setting a career-high in the process with nine points.

What needed work

Texas still looked flustered against any type of pressure in the backcourt, but Clint Chapman was especially discombobulated. This has been a recurring problem for the big man, and it’s something that will have to be addressed before Big 12 teams start gameplanning for it. Although Chapman can hold the ball high to avoid a steal, he consistently has difficulty finding an outlet against pressure and looks panicked as a five-count approaches.

It was also disappointing to see the Texas defense give up a lot of easy looks in the second half. While that lack of focus can clearly be attributed to the huge lead, it still can make you wonder if the team will maintain the attention needed to play all-out, suffocating defense for 40 minutes. For the Longhorns to be successful in Big 12 play, there’s no doubt that they will have to play sound team defense from tip-off to the final buzzer.

It’s also worth noting that while Texas was consistently executing in their half-court sets, the Horns were also forcing things at times. The team ended up with 16 turnovers, which equates to a miscue on more than 24% of their possessions. Most of those came from guards trying to thread the needle on the pick-and-roll when the passing lanes were closing. Brown and Myck Kabongo combined for six turnovers on the game, many of them coming this way. The Longhorns have to make sure that they are only taking what the defense gives them and not trying to push the envelope too much.

Up next: vs. Nicholls State (2-6); Tuesday, 7 P.M. CT