As Big 12 play heads into its final day, there is absolutely nothing that is settled. Outside of four seeds — No. 1 Kansas, No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Iowa State, and No. 12 Nebraska — everything is up for grabs on the last day of the regular season. For the Longhorns, there still remains the possibility of the No. 4 seed and the first-round bye that goes with it. Of course, a loss this afternoon means that Texas is locked into the 6-seed and will open the tournament with Iowa State late on Wednesday night.

If Texas does happen to beat Baylor this afternoon, things get a little more interesting. If the Longhorns win and the Aggies lose to the Sooners in a game that is currently underway, Texas would ascend to the No. 4 seed, with Baylor and A&M following up in 5th and 6th. If Texas wins, but the Aggies also win, the Longhorns clinch the No. 5 seed and Baylor takes No. 6.

Of course, none of that matters if the Longhorns lose today, so the team must build on their strong showing in Monday night’s win over Oklahoma. Unfortunately, Baylor and their imposing frontcourt provide a very big challenge for the Longhorns to overcome in pursuit of that goal. If you’re not familiar with the Bears or their style of play, you’ll want to check out our brief preview from the first time these two teams met.

Despite horrid free throw shooting, Texas was within milliseconds of a victory over the Bears in that game. But after Ekpe Udoh airballed the game-winning three-point attempt, an Anthony Jones putback with 0.3 seconds on the clock sent the game into overtime. Baylor pulled ahead in the extra five minutes, and escaped with a three-point win as Avery Bradley‘s game-tying attempt clanged off the iron at the buzzer.

Check back Sunday evening for post-game reaction, or follow us on Twitter for in-game updates from the Ferrell Center.

With the final regular season game just a few hours away, let’s dive right into our notes from Monday night’s win over Oklahoma…

1) The Longhorns did not fold down the stretch – For a Texas team that has often found itself trailing by large margins during the last two months, it was refreshing to see the Horns respond despite OU’s hot start. The Longhorns were down by thirteen points just eight minutes into the game, thanks in large part to Oklahoma’s 7-of-11 three-point shooting in the first half. But Texas did not fold, and slowly chipped away at the lead. When the Sooners came out strong again in the second half, the Longhorn deficit climbed to eleven once again. But something changed in the team at that point, like their competitive switch had finally been flipped to “on.”

The Texas players really fed off of the crowd down the stretch, with Jordan Hamilton imploring the fans to get louder when OU was forced to take timeouts. J’Covan Brown even taunted the Sooner players by flashing his biceps after he sunk a floater in the lane. While it’s incredibly satisfying to see the team finally wake up and show some fire, the concern is that it seemed like the players needed the crowd energy to do so. The rest of the games this season will be on the road or at “neutral” sites, so the Longhorns have to be able to show that same level of effort and determination when the crowd is not on their side. Chances are very, very good that the fans of the old Big 8 will be rooting against Texas next week in Kansas City, particularly those fans in blue or purple.

2) Backcourt roles were more defined – For the first time in ages, each member of the Texas backcourt seemed to contribute exactly what was required of them. Justin Mason made the start and provided solid defense, along with a few strong, slashing moves to the bucket. Jai Lucas was also in the starting lineup, and although he ultimately only played seven minutes, his offensive contribution came the way it needed to. Lucas drained a three in the first half on a simple kickout. He is only a catch-and-shoot guy, so having him play off the ball allowed him to make a small, but useful contribution to the offense, as opposed to forcing him into the point guard role where he is ineffective.

While Avery Bradley had a rough night from the floor, he once again provided solid defense once Texas started rotating and helping. J’Covan Brown was the big story in the backcourt, though, playing 33 minutes off the bench. He showed leadership and poise down the stretch, and his willingness to attack the rim led to 15 points on the night, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. If Brown can give that kind of performance the rest of the way, the blow from the loss of Dogus Balbay will be much, much softer.

3) Free throws are improving – For the second-consecutive game, the Longhorns made at least 80% of their attempts from the charity stripe. For much of the season, the team’s average has hovered in the low-to-mid 60% range, so this drastic change is certainly worth noting. While the 6-of-6 line from Brown is not a shocker, seeing Damion James go 8-of-12 and Dexter Pittman sink all four of his attempts is certainly reassuring. Statistically, the two players should be expected to miss more shots this afternoon, as their percentages naturally regress to the mean. But what if they’ve actually been practicing and improving over the last week or so? Then perhaps the physical inside play could finally pay off in the post-season, as the Texas big men actually make the free throws they work so hard to earn.

4) Texas has two offensive identities – Not only did the Longhorns show two different offensive styles on Monday night, but they both actually worked. It was reminiscent of the early part of the season, when Gary Johnson famously said that Texas could “beat you any way you want it.” When the Longhorns can play different styles of basketball with equal success, it makes it incredibly hard for opponents to gameplan and defend. Of course, this is just one game against a team that has struggled all season long. But if this newfound offensive duality can continue this afternoon and into the postseason, there is reason for optimism.

The two offensive looks from Texas differ when it comes to the post presence. In the first look — the traditional one we’ve seen all season — the Longhorns are built around Pittman. The team focuses on getting the ball inside, where the big man is expected to either make a quick move to the basket, or kick it back out to rinse and repeat.

Early in the season, defenses sagged off of Mason and Balbay to create more pressure inside on the big man and deny those entry passes. On Monday night, having a backcourt involving Bradley and Brown meant that the OU defense couldn’t sell out to help inside. In addition, after a rusty start, Pittman finally began to make quick moves with the ball, so the defense didn’t have time to react. If these factors hold as the season winds down, the “big” lineup should be quite effective.

When Dex isn’t on the floor, the Longhorns go with the fiesty Gary Johnson down low. He’s five inches shorter than Pittman, and is versatile enough to mix in a midrange game. That added threat spreads out the floor and allows Brown and Mason to slash to the rim for easy points or to draw the foul and get to the line. Johnson’s ability to pull the defender away from the paint also makes it easier for James to get offensive boards and putbacks. And, of course, the pure hustle and determination that Gary brings to the floor leads to extra possessions and second chance points.

Again, it should be noted that all of this happened against a Oklahoma team that will likely finish in the bottom quarter of the league when today’s game are through. But for once, Texas fans had something to be excited about after Monday’s game. Now, we just must wait and see if those things carry over to a game against a very, very good Baylor team this afternoon.

Just a quick hit, as I’m boarding a flight at PDX in about 10 minutes so I can be back in Texas for the game with Baylor tomorrow. I apologize in advance for any egregious spelling errors in this hasty entry.

The trip to Eugene was a rousing success, and I should be posting the article about their student section, the Pit Crew, sometime during the “dead days” on Monday or Tuesday. I hope to have photos and videos ready by then, too, but I’d rather not set unattainable goals during this incredibly busy time of year.

I’m going to be taking advantage of the nearly four-hour flight to DFW so that I can finally get my thoughts down about the OU game. It’s not exactly timely at this point, but I feel there are some important points to make as we head into March Madness. This team has been wildly inconsistent for more than two months, but there were a lot of things in Monday’s game that could perhaps signal that this team is finally starting to figure things out. Better late than never, no?

For now, enjoy those early conference tourneys. We’ll be back late, late tonight with more.

We’re just hours away from the final home game for Texas seniors Damion James, Dexter Pittman, and Justin Mason. And although every senior night is a bittersweet experience, this year will be especially conflicting for me.

When I started this journey four years ago, it was just a crazy idea to follow the team around the country for one season and see how they grew. Now four years later, I still haven’t found a way to quit what has become an undeniable addiction. But after watching these three players compete 145 times, in far-flung locales such as Spokane and Greensboro, it feels like perhaps a chapter of my own life is coming to a close.

It’s all a bit heavy to get into when I should be writing a brief game preview that reacquaints you with the Oklahoma Sooners. I’m sure that in a few weeks, once the season is again at its end, I’ll sit down and pound out a few thousand words about all of the conflicting emotions that comes with this bizarre and monumental journey I chose to take. But for now, I’ll try to cram those feelings into just one sentence: I hope that the fans of Texas basketball, no matter how disappointed they feel, show up en masse at 7:45 tonight to give these players the respect and the ovation that they truly deserve.

But back to the actual basketball game……

If you missed the preview from the first match-up in Norman, you’ll want to check that out for more information on the Oklahoma players and style. And if you happened to miss the game itself, you can read the game wrap to learn about the disappointing fashion in which Texas lost.

Tonight, we’ll be keeping our eyes on a few things as the team heads into the final week of the regular season…

1) Can the Longhorns defend the perimeter? – The first time Texas played OU, 20 minutes of poor perimeter defense put the Horns in a hole they could never dig out of. To be fair, a huge reason why the Sooners fared so well from behind the arc was steady shooting from Tommy Mason-Griffin. Even when Texas did manage to get a hand in the face of the diminutive gunner, he still calmly buried the shot. If TMG has that kind of night again at the Erwin Center, the Horns will have a tough time avenging their previous loss. But if TMG is hitting those shots and the rest of the Sooners are again having a field day, Senior Night could be a total disaster.

2) What will J’Covan Brown provide? – The freshman guard is back in the lineup for tonight’s game after suffering a very scary injury on Saturday in College Station, but it’s reasonable to think his role will be very limited. Unfortunately, J’Covan did not look good in the 79 minutes of basketball prior to his injury, struggling against both Oklahoma State and the Aggies. Will the injury inspire Brown to be more competitive and produce at a higher level, or will it make him a more tentative player prone to mistakes? We likely won’t know the complete answers to these questions if he plays just a few minutes, but it’s definitely something we will pay very close attention to when he’s on the court.

3)Will the real Texas frontcourt please stand up? – Once it was Jordan Hamilton who was the most wildly inconsistent player on the Texas roster. Now, it’s an entire personnel group. Gary Johnson followed up huge games against Tech and Oklahoma State by getting pushed around and intimidated by the Aggie big men. After struggling for the better part of two months, Dexter Pittman showed some life against the smaller Cowboys and even had a few flashes of brilliance in the midst of a very disappointing A&M game. Damion James, meanwhile, had no rebounds in the entire first half against the Aggies. Are all of the Texas big men ever going to put it together at the same time for any significant stretch of the season? There’s very little time left for them to do so, but there also isn’t any better time to peak than in March…

Another look at the standings

Thanks to Oklahoma State’s shocking upset of Kansas on Saturday, the Longhorns now could potentially fall all the way to 7th in the final standings if the Cowboys post a better record than Texas in these final two games. The Pokes close with a road game at A&M and a home date with Nebraska. OSU should certainly earn at least one win, so the Longhorns must get a leg up with their own victory tonight.

But while the Horns are now tied with Oklahoma State, they are still just a game back of Baylor, Mizzou, and A&M, who are all tied for third in the league. So with two games left on the slate, Texas could finish as high as third or as low as seventh. That’s a heck of a lot of uncertainty. (And a hell of a headache when it comes to planning your travel to the conference tournament.)

Saturday’s season finale is a very tough road game against a sound Baylor team that stands between Texas and a first-round bye in the league tournament. A win tonight is absolutely critical if the Horns have any designs on one of those two remaining byes. A win would also guarantee that they finish above .500 in league play. A loss in this final home game, and our next preview will be talking about what the Longhorns have to do to stay out of 7th place.

The Texas-Texas A&M rivalry on the hardwood has been an easy one to predict for the last five-plus years. No matter what path each game took, or how many overtimes it took to reach the final result, the home team always prevailed. While the Longhorns have won the last eight times these two teams have played at the Frank Erwin Center, the Aggies defend their home court nearly as well. In the last five meetings at Reed Arena, A&M has been victorious each time.

A win today is even more important than just breaking a five-year road losing streak. It’s more important than holding the ever-popular “Scoreboard!” retort against your most hated in-state rival. Today’s game is a chance for the Longhorns to finally regain some momentum, a chance to win a third consecutive game for the first time since they started the year 17-0. And even more important than that, the winner of today’s game will have a leg up in what is a four-team battle for the two remaining byes in the conference tournament.

What to watch for

1) Can the Texas frontcourt keep it going? – For the first time since a game in early January against Arkansas, Dexter Pittman was incredibly productive against Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, scoring 16 points in 20 minutes to go with eight rebounds and three blocks. It wasn’t just Big Dex having a field day in the frontcourt, though. Damion James and Gary Johnson combined to shoot 8-for-13 from the field, score 26 points, and grab eleven boards.

It should be noted that the Cowboys are a very small team that was very thin in the frontcourt on Wednesday night, so the Texas big men will certainly face a much tougher task this afternoon. Bryan Davis held Pittman to just four points — all from the free-throw line — in 28 minutes of play. The addition of David Loubeau to the starting lineup gives the Aggies an even bigger presence in the frontcourt, so the battle in the paint this afternoon could be a deciding factor.

2) Will Texas attack Loubeau? – Giving Loubeau more minutes has not only made the Aggies more physical, it aids their sometimes-stagnant offense by adding a versatile big man into the mix. Loubeau can score from the midrange as well as inside, and his scoring threat will often pull opposing bigs out of the paint, opening the lane for the Aggie offense. The downside to Loubeau’s new starting gig is that his defense isn’t always that reliable against bigger, more physical Big 12 forwards and centers. If Texas can make it a point to attack the sophomore and try to draw fouls, it could negate A&M’s new, bigger lineup.

3) Can Texas dictate the tempo? – It’s no secret that the Longhorn offense bogs down in half-court sets, and it’s also not a secret that Mark Turgeon‘s Aggie defense can be downright nasty. If Texas allows this to become a half-court battle with a low score, it will certainly make it tougher to beat a well-coached A&M squad. It goes against convention to push the tempo and force the issue when playing in a tough road environment, but doing just that could give the Longhorns an offensive boost, while forcing an equally-anemic Aggie offense to score even more to secure the win.