After last year’s disappointing collapse and ignominious exit in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Texas fans were understandably skittish about embracing this year’s team. Even after a torrid 11-0 start to conference play, Longhorn Nation was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. It finally did, in the form of three losses in the team’s last five conference games and a slide to second in the conference standings.

Selection Sunday stung the spurned Longhorn fans even more. Texas dropped from a No. 2 or a No. 3 seed to a No. 4 seed, and drew a terribly tough match-up in an Oakland team that was probably under-seeded with its placement on the 13 line. Despite the tough draw, the Longhorns took a step towards erasing the demons of their past, hanging on to an 85-81 win against a feisty Oakland club on Friday afternoon.

While the win is just one small step in a much larger goal, it came as a relief to those Longhorn fans still skeptical after last year. Arizona will provide yet another tough test on Sunday in the NCAA Third Round, but at least for one day, Texas fans can finally breathe a little easier.

What looked good

The Longhorns did an excellent job forcing Oakland to settle for three-pointers. The Grizzlies averaged just 35% of their shots from behind the arc coming into the game, but took 39% of their attempts from long range on Friday. Texas was able to contest most of those looks, locking down sharpshooter Travis Bader and limiting him to a 2-for-11 performance from long range. Coming into the game, the freshman was drilling nearly 46% of his three-point attempts.

Star senior guard Reggie Hamilton found it just as tough to score from outside. He was just 2-of-9 against the Texas defense, and both of those threes came on stepback shots with a Longhorn defender just inches away from him. Texas couldn’t do anything better to defend those shots, and you simply have to tip your cap to Hamilton for sticking those looks.

Inside, Texas freshman Tristan Thompson did a fantastic job against Oakland’s Keith Benson. Thompson broke the school record for blocks in an NCAA game by swatting seven Oakland attempts, and four of those blocks came against Benson.

Oakland’s big man is a guaranteed NBA player, and might even be a lottery pick in the next NBA draft. Despite that intimidating match-up, Thompson set the tone early by taking it at Benson and forced Oakland to change their defensive approach to protect their star from foul trouble. Tristan finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points to go with 10 boards.

Jordan Hamilton also posted a double-double for Texas by scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He drove the lane consistently against Oakland, eschewing his usual flurry of three-point attempts. Hamilton took only three shots from behind the arc, the fewest attempts he’s had in a game since the team’s win against Kansas in Lawrence on January 22nd.

Against Oakland, Jordan made eight of his 14 attempts from inside the arc, simply because he put the ball on the floor and attacked the seams in the defense. If Hamilton will continue to attack defenses as the Longhorns move forward in the tournament, it will make the offense look much more like the well-oiled machine we saw in January and not the painfully stagnant mess we watched in late February.

Gary Johnson also had a solid game for Texas, which was a relief after how the last few weeks had gone for the senior. Johnson was just 26.7% from the field in the team’s last five games, including a 21.7% mark at the Big 12 tournament which included three missed dunks. Against Oakland, he was 4-of-6 from the field — including a made dunk — and was able to consistently knock down his patented mid-range jumper.

Off the bench, J’Covan Brown provided another solid game. He led the team with 21 points, twelve of them coming at the free throw line, where he was perfect on the day. While he had a tough time scoring inside against the physical Oakland frontcourt, Brown was able to manufacture points for his team by getting to the line. J’Covan also added three assists and six boards, and had an incredible block on a closeout against Bader on a three-point attempt.

It’s also worth noting that the rest of the team did fairly well at the free throw line, too. Hamilton and Cory Joseph were both 3-of-4 at the line, with all of Joseph’s attempts coming in the final minute of the game. Thompson was just 3-of-6 at the stripe, but at this point, 50% from the big man is a minor victory. With his season average sitting at 48.6%, Longhorn fans are simply hoping Thompson can sink one out of every two.

What needed work

Texas had just 10 turnovers in 71 possessions, but when the Longhorns did make mistakes with the basketball, it led to runs for Oakland. With Texas up 12 late in the first half, three straight turnovers and a missed three allowed the Grizzlies to slice the lead to just five points.

At the end of the game, Texas again made some poor decisions with the ball. With just five minutes left, Texas led by 15, but had three turnovers down the stretch to aid a furious Oakland comeback bid. The most egregious mistake was when Gary Johnson tried to single-handedly break the Oakland press, dribbling it three-quarters of the court before having it stolen. Oakland drilled a three on the ensuing possession, and Texas’ lead had shrunk to five.

Games are going to be close for the rest of the season, so the Longhorns must make better decisions in the clutch. The ball simply has to be passed to the best shooters on the floor. Rick Barnes was furious with Hamilton for passing to a poor free-throw shooter in crunch time against Kansas in Lawrence, so you have to be concerned that this could be a deadly trend in March.

Finally, it should be noted that the Longhorns had some major issues shutting down the slashing attack of Oakland inside. While Texas did a great job contesting Oakland’s long-range shots, it was often far too easy for the Grizzlies to score inside. The Longhorns allowed 1.148 points per possession, which was just under Oakland’s season average coming into the game.

A big part of Oakland’s excellent offensive efficiency was the 38 points they scored in the paint. with Benson limited to 12 points from the field, most of those points in the paint came on layups from the slashing guards and wings. If the Longhorns are going to continue to advance in the tournament, they will have to make sure the defense shuts down driving lanes as well as it shuts down the perimeter.

Next up: vs. Arizona (28-7) in Tulsa, OK; 5:10 P.M. CT, Sunday

March has been a tough month for the Texas Longhorns in recent years. In the first half of the decade, Texas was one of the nation’s best performers in the NCAA tournament. From 2002 to 2006, the Longhorns made the Sweet 16 four different times, played in one Elite Eight, and even landed in the Final Four in 2003.

But since then, Texas has had difficulties advancing past the first weekend. Although the Longhorns advanced to the Elite Eight as a No. 2 seed in 2008, they lost in the second round in both 2007 and 2009, and were knocked out at the overtime buzzer in the first round by Wake Forest last season.

Throw in the epic collapse by last year’s Texas team, and there’s been a lot of national attention on Texas this March. Yahoo’s Jason King claimed that Rick Barnes is the coach with the most pressure in this NCAA tournament, and he may be right. But even more than historical trends and cute storylines, the true source of pressure comes in the form of a very tough opening match-up for the Longhorns.

Predicted by many to be a No. 2 seed in this year’s field, Texas inexplicably showed up on the 4-seed line when the brackets were revealed. As an added bonus, the Longhorns were paired with the Summit League champion Oakland, a very scary squad that could easily pull off the upset.

By the numbers

The Grizzlies are an up-tempo team that can score the ball in a hurry. Oakland averages 72.9 possessions per game, which is the 7th-fastest pace in D-I basketball and a full six possessions per game faster than the Longhorns.

Oakland has a team full of quick, athletic players that can score, and as a result, have a solid offensive efficiency mark of 1.159 points per possession. Their effective field goal percentage — a statistic that takes into account the greater value of a three-point shot — is third-best in the nation at 56.1%.

All of the Golden Grizzlies have excellent handles, and it allows them to run tons of curls from the perimeter following ball screens. They also move really well without the basketball, leading to tons of open looks at the rim when defenses lose their men on the backcuts. Add in one of the nation’s premier big men, and it’s easy to see why Oakland’s offensive numbers are so potent.

The Golden Grizzlies want to turn today’s game into a track meet because they simply cannot defend. They allow more than 1.03 adjusted points per possession, ranking them 200th in the country. Oakland doesn’t guard the perimeter, where opponents are shooting more than 36%, and the Grizzlies simply don’t force turnovers.

Meet the Golden Grizzlies

The player you’ve heard about all week is big man Keith Benson. At 6’11”, he’s much more athletic and sleek than other players his size. Benson leads Oakland with 18 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, and is guaranteed to be a first-round draft pick if the NBA doesn’t follow the same path as the NFL this summer.

Benson is tough to defend because he’s much more mobile than other big men. He can knock down the jump shot, even out to the three point line, where he is 9-for-22 on the season. Inside, his length makes it practically impossible to block his shot, and he has a solid left-handed hook.

Benson isn’t just the scoring machine inside for Oakland, though. He was the Summit League’s Defensive Player of the Year, and is leading his team with 3.6 blocked shots per game.

In the backcourt, Reggie Hamilton gets the Oakland offense going. A junior, Hamilton transferred from UMKC and has made an immediate impact for Coach Greg Kampe. He can drive the lane with either hand, and has such a quick first step that he can easily get to the rim or stick a quick pull-up jumper that leaves defenders stumbling backwards.

The speedy Hamilton is also the facilitator in the Oakland offense. When he’s dissecting defenses with his dribble-drive, the junior always has his head up, looking for passing lanes that open up as the defense reacts. As a result, Hamilton averages more than 5.3 assists per game.

Joining Hamilton in the backcourt is freshman sharpshooter Travis Bader. The 6’4″ Michigan product is averaging more than 10 points per game, in large part thanks to his ridiculous three-point shot. Bader has made 45.8% of his long-range attempts this season, and is second on the team with 201 attempts.

At the three, slasher Drew Valentine is averaging 7.9 points per game. He is a steady ball-handler who can finish through traffic thanks to his strength, and he is constantly active on the glass. Valentine averages 5.6 rebounds per game for Oakland.

Another excellent rebounder for the Grizzlies is senior forward Will Hudson. Even though Hudson is often at the free-throw line when Oakland runs their high-low game with Benson, he is still second on the team with 7.1 rebounds per game, and is 44th in the nation with an offensive rebounding mark of 14.1%.

Guard Larry Wright was the Summit League’s Sixth Man of the Year, averaging 9.8 points per game. He is yet another long-range weapon for Coach Kampe, drilling 35.8% of his attempts from behind the arc.

Another guard off the bench is tiny freshman Ryan Bass. He only averaged 9.5 minutes per game this season, but saw his average climb to 11.3 minutes in conference play. Like Hamilton, Bass is a speedster, but hasn’t been able to handle defensive pressure as well as the starter. When Hamilton needed a breather in the Summit League Championship, Oral Roberts broke out a full-court press against Bass and caused major issues.

The only other player to see significant minutes in Oakland’s eight-man core rotation is guard Ledrick Eackles. Like Bass, he averaged just over 11 minutes per game in Summit League play, and averaged nearly four points per game. The son of former NBA player Ladell Eackles, Ledrick has yet to make a huge impact on the Oakland program.

Keys to the game

As Texas fans saw all too clearly last Saturday, the number one thing the Longhorns must do is keep Tristan Thompson out of foul trouble. Benson is an exceptional post player that is going to give Thompson a real challenge in the paint. Texas needs Tristan’s scoring punch and offensive rebounding skills to keep the offense clicking, so he simply cannot afford to pick up cheap fouls guarding the 6’11” Benson.

On defense, Texas must stop Oakland’s transition game. The Golden Grizzlies score a ton of points on the fast break, but score even more on the secondary break. The Longhorns need to get down the court in a hurry and force Oakland into playing a half-court game.

The Grizzlies haven’t faced a defense as good as Texas’ since they played Ohio State back in December. In that one, the Buckeyes held Oakland to just 0.862 points per possession. If Texas can keep the Grizzlies from getting a lot of easy points on the fast break and secondary break, they can have the same kind of defensive success.

If Texas is able to do that, they then must also limit damage from the perimeter. While Benson is an outstanding player, he will not beat the Longhorns on his own. If Texas can shut down the transition game and prevent Oakland from knocking down threes, there is no way Oakland can win the game solely on Benson’s talent.

One of the biggest reasons that teams get upset in NCAA play is hot three-point shooting from low-seeded opponents. With five different Grizzlies posting three-point percentages of greater than 35%, Texas has to make sure it doesn’t fall prey to that this morning.

A day after falling to Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament final, the Texas Longhorns were awarded a 4 seed in the NCAA’s West Regional by the Selection Committee. The Horns will open tournament play against the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Friday at 11:15 A.M. in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If Texas wins its first game — now considered a part of the second round — the Longhorns will advance to face either Arizona or Memphis in a third round game on Sunday.

Texas will have its hands full preparing for Oakland this week. The Golden Grizzlies boast one of the most efficient offenses in the country, and utilize an up-tempo attack that gives them even more opportunities to pile up the points. Oakland is led by a bona fide star in big man Keith Benson, a 6’11” shot-blocking, rebounding machine that will undoubtedly be playing in the NBA next year. A full look at Texas’ second round match-up will be available in LRT’s game preview later this week.

The at-large selection was the 13th consecutive NCAA tournament bid for Texas, a streak that dates back to 1999. The 13-year run is tied for fourth-longest among active streaks with Gonzaga and Wisconsin, and puts the Horns behind only Kansas (22 consecutive appearances), Duke (16), and Michigan State (14).

While the bid was expected, the 4 seed came as a surprise to most national observers. Prior to the bracket being released, most projections had Texas firmly on the 3-seed line, with a few writers — such as CNNSI’s Andy Glockner — even slotting Texas as a 2 seed. Fellow SI scribe Luke Winn called Texas’ 4 seed “harsh” on Twitter, while sympathizing with the Longhorn bigs who would be tasked with containing Benson. ESPN’s Jay Bilas even took the time to disagree with Texas and Kentucky’s 4 seeds in between his numerous rants against the selection committee.

Elsewhere in the Big 12, Kansas secured a 1 seed in the Southwest Regional, and will also play their second and third round games at the BOK Center in Tulsa. Kansas State earned a 5 seed and will face the WAC Champion Utah State Aggies in Tucson on Thursday night. The Missouri Tigers, who were bounced in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament, were tabbed an 11 seed and will face Mick Cronin’s Cincinnati Bearcats on Thursday night in Washington, D.C.

Texas A&M was slotted as a 7 seed and will face Florida State, a team that will get a boost if Chris Singleton finally returns after fracturing his foot on February 12th. There was speculation that Singleton would return for the ACC tournament, but he did not play against Virginia Tech and the Seminoles were promptly sent packing in one of the most tense conference tournament endings in recent memory. With an extra week off, perhaps the 6’9″ forward will be ready to give it a go on Friday afternoon in Chicago.

The Big 12 collected just five bids in this year’s tournament, as Colorado was left on the wrong side of the bubble. Despite three wins over Kansas State and home wins against both Missouri and Texas, the Buffaloes’ atrocious non-conference schedule was the likely cause of their omission. Colorado’s non-conference strength of schedule was ranked 324th out of 345 Division I teams by Ken Pomeroy, with the Buffs suffering losses against the few quality opponents. Coach Tad Boyle and his team will have to bounce back quickly from the disappointment, however, as they are a 1 seed in the NIT and will host Texas Southern on Wednesday.

Nebraska and Oklahoma State also earned NIT bids, while Baylor will be sitting out the 2011 post-season. The Cornhuskers travel to Wichita State on Wednesday night, while on Tuesday Oklahoma State will host Harvard. The Crimson slid into the NIT after Princeton stunned them with a buzzer-beater to win a one-game playoff for the Ivy League title and an automatic NCAA berth.

No time for a full-fledged post-game, as we still have nine hours of interstate ahead of us and want to be somewhere at 5 P.M. where we can catch the Selection Show. The vast wasteland between OKC and Denton really makes that hard to do, so we’ll keep this brief.

We’ve known all season that frontcourt depth was going to be an issue, but last night was certainly an extreme example of it. Tristan Thompson played just 21 minutes thanks to foul trouble, while Gary Johnson was going through his fifth-straight rough game on the offensive end. Johnson was just 1-of-9 from the floor, giving him a 5-for-24 line during the Big 12 Tournament that included three missed dunks. In the team’s last five games, Gary is shooting just 26%.

Thompson’s foul trouble also underscored his importance to the offense even when he isn’t scoring. The team managed to grab just 25.9% of their offensive rebounding opportunities, well off their 37.9% season average. In the first half, the Longhorns only secured 20% of their offensive boards, limiting them to numerous one-and-done possessions while the Jayhawks were building a massive lead on the strength of a ridiculous 58% shooting mark. Texas was able to grab more offensive rebounds when the Morris twins were in second-half foul trouble, and Texas was able to chip away at the lead as a result.

In a tournament where one bad game can end your season, the Longhorns are going to have to hope for a draw with less physical frontcourts than the one the Jayhawks sport. Texas has competed in the past against similar teams, and even beat Kansas in Lawrence. But the chances are good that Thompson could run into the same foul trouble as he did yesterday, and then the Longhorns will likely be sunk.

Texas also made the mistake of making far too many light fouls inside. That wasn’t the difference in this game, as there was simply no beating Kansas on Saturday afternoon. But the Longhorns gave up so many and-one opportunities that it’s a troubling trend going forward. The last time Texas and Kansas played, Matt Hill did a great job making his fouls count and ensuring that the Jayhawks would have to earn both points at the line. Last night, the Longhorns not only allowed the buckets, but compounded the issue by piling up fouls and giving Kansas extra points from the charity stripe.

All the credit in the world has to go to Tyshawn Taylor. He broke down the defense off the dribble, time after time. When he wasn’t finishing at the rack, he was drawing enough defensive attention to get Thomas Robinson or the Brothers Morrii wide open dunks and layups. Taylor played his best game in ages, scoring 20 points while dishing out five dimes.

Kansas executed so well on Saturday afternoon, it’s hard to imagine a team that could have beat them. They broke down the Texas defense, moved the ball extremely well, and shut down the driving lanes on defense. If Penn State does the unthinkable this afternoon and knocks off Ohio State, there’s no question that the Jayhawks are your overall No. 1 seed in the NCAAs. After yesterday’s performance, they still have an argument even if Ohio State does win.

We’ll be checking in again via Twitter during the Selection Show. At this point, Texas is practically assured a first-weekend trip to Tulsa. They are likely a 2-seed, but there is still the chance they could slip down to the top of the 3-seed line. That wouldn’t be a result of losing to Kansas, but rather just upward trends from teams currently slotted behind the Longhorns.

The big question for LRT is where the Longhorns head for the second weekend. Texas is essentially locked out of San Antonio now that Kansas will likely be there, with Pitt in New Orleans. But with Newark being one of the four regional sites this season, we ask that for our sake, you keep all of your fingers crossed that Texas lands in Anaheim or New Orleans.

Before the newspaper ink was even dry on January 23rd, people were already taking about March 12th. Jayhawk fans, still stinging from a shocking home loss to Texas the night before, were eager for a rematch in the conference tournament.

That rematch seemed all but destined, as the teams continued their march through conference play, with the Longhorns sprinting out to an 11-0 start and the Jayhawks staying just a game behind them. Texas stumbled on the road in the final weeks of the season, opening the door for Kansas to claim a seventh-straight league title and raising questions about the Longhorns’ moxie.

A win in Waco to close out the regular season was a step in the right direction for Texas, and they built upon that with solid tournament victories over Oklahoma and A&M to set up the long-awaited championship re-match. Beating the Bears, Sooners, and Aggies definitely bolsters fan confidence, but this game with Kansas gives Texas a chance to prove that their earlier win was no fluke, and that this year’s team won’t be collapsing in March.

Then there’s the big picture. When the weekend started, Texas was fourth in line for the final two 1-seeds in the NCAA tournament. Pitt, Notre Dame, and Duke all had stronger résumés, and adding to those with victories in the conference tournament would only solidify their elite status. Longhorn wins over the mediocre middle of the league wouldn’t do much to help their profile, so a 2-seed was practically assured.

Then the Big East Tournament mixed things up. Pitt lost in its first game, falling victim to Kemba Walker and his heroics. Notre Dame looked impressive in thumping Cincinnati, but stumbled in overtime against Louisville last night. Throw in the toe troubles for Duke’s Nolan Smith, and suddenly Texas is back in the conversation.

Of course, that all becomes irrelevant if the Longhorns can’t top the Jayhawks for a second time.

Meet the Jayhawks

If you aren’t already familiar with the Kansas roster or style of play, we invite you to re-visit our in-depth game preview from the first meeting in Lawrence.

The first meeting

Kansas jumped out to an early lead in Lawrence, riding the hot hand of Tyrel Reed to a 12-2 lead at the first media timeout. The Longhorns had not even scored their first bucket until three minutes had elapsed, and it looked like another KU rout was in progress.

The Longhorn defense quickly stiffened, though, limiting dribble penetration from the Jayhawk guards and turning them into a one-dimensional team. Kansas settled for a simple high-low game with Thomas Robinson and Marcus and Markieff Morris constantly being fed inside. The three big men combined for 28 points, but did it at inefficient rate. Marcus was 6-of-17 from the field, while Markieff managed to sink just two of seven attempts.

Texas was able to keep the Jayhawks within striking distance, heading to the locker room trailing by just 12 points. Coach Rick Barnes then broke out his magic sharpshooter sauce, and gave a healthy dose to the entire team. The Longhorns shot an incredible 63.6% from the field in the second half — including 4-of-6 from behind the arc — and dropped 51 more points on Kansas.

With J’Covan Brown playing like a man possessed and Cory Joseph banking in three-pointers, it seemed like there was no way to stop Texas. But in the face of those long odds, Kansas displayed the poise of a champion down the stretch. Trailing by 12 with 3:45 to play, the Jayhawks sliced the lead to five with just over 90 seconds to go. Responding to the challenge, Gary Johnson drilled a clutch jumper from the baseline on the next possession to stop the rally and clinch the win for Texas.

Since then…

The Jayhawks had a close call in their next game at Colorado, but looked practically unstoppable after that. Kansas won nine of their next ten games, all by double digits, with six of those wins coming by more than 20 points. If not for an uncharacteristically poor game in Manhattan, the Jayhawks would have finished the conference season on a 12-game winning streak.

In Kansas City, though, the Jayhawks have once again looked human. Poor shooting against a packed-in Oklahoma State defense nearly led to a quarterfinal exit for Kansas. Against Colorado in last night’s semifinal, poor perimeter defense let the Buffaloes hang around in a game they had no business competing in.

Just like Texas, the Jayhawks have had some bi-polar tendencies. And just like the Longhorns, Kansas has won based on pure talent in some of their poorer performances this season. If both teams show up tonight, we are in store for a highly entertaining championship game. But if either team lets their bad habits peek through the armor, you can be sure that their opponents will take full advantage.

Keys to the game

Unlike our typical game previews, there’s no way to limit ourselves to three keys for this one. Against a team as talented, deep, and disciplined as Kansas, the Longhorns have a lot of things to worry about if they expect to leave Missouri with the tournament title.

Most importantly, Johnson and Thompson must avoid foul trouble. In their win over Colorado last night, Kansas immediately put the Buffalo big men in foul trouble, leading to a revolving door of ineffectiveness that let Markieff and Marcus combine for 40 points and 21 rebounds. Not only do the Longhorns need Gary and Tristan for their scoring punch, but also to contain the big, athletic Kansas frontcourt.

Unfortunately, the Jayhawks are a team that can score in a variety of ways, which is precisely what makes it so hard to beat them. They move the ball incredibly well, which often leads to open looks when opponents choose to double down on the Morris brothers in the post. Just like in Lawrence, Texas needs to play conservative defense and avoid the temptation to jump passing lanes or double down from the guard positions.

The Longhorns will also need Good Jordan and Good J’Covan to show up this evening. Both players poured on the points in the first game, combining for 40 points. Brown was 3-of-6 behind the arc and provided the spark for Texas’ second-half surge. Late in the season, both players struggled for the Longhorns, but have picked it up in the team’s first two tournament games. If they can avoid forcing things and continue to take smart shots, Texas has a chance to pull off the sweep.

In Lawrence, the Longhorns were able to limit the damage from the Brothers Morrii thanks to a solid effort from Hill. His lack of scoring was more than made up for by the fact that he used all five fouls, and most of his fouls were hard enough to avoid and-one situations. The Longhorns don’t need much from Hill and Alexis Wangmene, but they need adequate minutes from the post reserves. Avoiding defensive lapses against the Morris brothers and limiting turnovers on the offensive end are really the only things Texas needs from them.

Finally, Texas must fight through the crowd. The Sprint Center is essentially Allen Fieldhouse East, and today will be no exception. Although the roof isn’t touching the top row like at the Phog, there are 2,000 more seats in the Sprint Center, and 99% of them will be occupied by folks in blue and red.

While this Longhorn team seems to feed off of the energy of road crowds, there’s no doubt that Jayhawk Nation will be exceptionally loud as they look for revenge tonight. When Kansas makes their runs — and rest assured, they will have a few — Texas cannot let the energy in the building lead to more mistakes.