At 11-0 in the Big 12 and a full two games ahead of the Kansas Jayhawks in the league standings, the Texas Longhorns now have their eyes on bigger prizes ahead. The Longhorns are still firmly in the discussion for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and are jockeying for preferential placement in the nearby San Antonio regional.

To reach those goals, Texas has to win the games it is supposed to win on paper. They will likely be favored in each of their last five regular season games, but the three remaining road tests certainly provide the biggest danger of tripping up the streaking Longhorns. This afternoon, Texas will tackle the first of those road challenges as they face a Nebraska team that is looking desperately for marquee wins to pad their tournament résumé.

For the fans, there’s also an element of intrigue with Nebraska’s impending move to the Big 10. There was a fair share of political stumping going on during the off-season realignment, with the Huskers receiving a large chunk of the blame for fracturing the conference. Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osbourne scoffed at the notion, instead pointing his finger at the six teams, including Texas, who were considering a retaliatory move to the Pac 10. It’s fairly safe to say there is no love lost between the two schools.

By the numbers

Since arriving from UTEP, Doc Sadler has coached his Cornhuskers into a defensive machine. In terms of defensive efficiency, Nebraska’s 0.892 points allowed per possession is 14th in the nation. In conference play, that number has ballooned to 1.013 points every time down the floor, but the Huskers are still 2nd in the Big 12. The only team ahead of them, of course, is Texas and its nearly impenetrable defense.

Offensively, it’s a completely different story for Nebraska. They rank near the bottom of the conference in three of the four offensive factors, and are even near the bottom nationally in offensive rebounding and free-throw rate. Against Big 12 competition, the Cornhusker offense turns the ball over 20.2% of the time, grabs rebounds on just 28% of their missed shots, and posts a free-throw rate of only 34.7%.

The low offensive rebounding numbers are very interesting, because the Cornhusker defense does a great job cleaning the glass and limiting opponents to one-shot possessions. They are holding opponents to a 26.3% offensive-rebounding mark on the season, a number that is actually 5th in the entire country. If the Cornhuskers could translate that rebounding performance to even a slightly better output on their own end, they would be a much tougher team to beat.

Meet the Cornhuskers

Just like last season, the team Nebraska has on the floor is nothing like the one they anticipated having back in August. Oregon transfer Kamyron Brown was suspended 10 games for undisclosed reasons before ultimately being dismissed from the team. Big man Christopher Niemann has taken longer than expected coming back from his third surgery, and has played only a handful of minutes in conference play. And in January, German forward Christian Standhardinger — arguably the best player on the team — elected to transfer to La Salle.

Even with all of the departures and the slow pace that Nebraska employs, Coach Sadler still has a deep rotation that spreads the minutes out. The Cornhuskers typically play 10 different guys, with no players averaging more than 30 minutes a game. The roster isn’t full of stars, but it is full of interchangeable parts, something which works well in Sadler’s fundamentally-sound system.

The unquestioned leader of Nebraska is senior point guard Lance Jeter. Short and stocky, this former football player is truly a coach on the floor, and knows how to use his strength to finish inside. He’s currently leading the team with 11 points per game, but it’s his solid 2.4-to-1 assist-to-TO ratio that keeps the Nebraska offense churning. On the defensive end, he has really quick hands, and can swipe the ball at a moment’s notice. His steal percentage of 3.6% is 65th in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy.

The other main man for Nebraska is 6’11” Jorge Brian Diaz. With Standhardinger’s mid-season departure, Diaz is now the best post option that the Huskers have. They often run a four-out, one-in look rotating around the big man, which is part of the reason why they struggle so much on the offensive glass. Diaz is a quality scorer, who can knock down jumpers out to 17 feet, has a nice hook shot, and can easily post up against opposing bigs.

In the backcourt, former JuCo All-American Caleb Walker is making a quick impact. At 6’4″, he’s second on the team with 4.8 rebounds per game. He also brings athleticism and the ability to drive to the rim, along with an average three-point shot. The Huskers have been abysmal from behind the arc so far this season, so Walker’s 34.8% three-point mark is actually one of the best on the team.

Junior guard Brandon Richardon was the leading scorer to return from last year’s team, but this year has seen his output dip from 8.9 to 6.3 points per game. Richardson earns his minutes with hard-nosed defensive play and hustle, two attributes that are highly valued by Coach Sadler. Don’t look for the junior to light up the scoreboard this afternoon, but he will likely make his impact doing the little things.

Houston product Toney McCray is back on the court for Nebraska this season after elbow surgery caused him to miss all but three games last year. He’s the only true three-point threat for the Huskers, having knocked down more than 42% of his long-range attempts this year. He’s a catch-and-shoot guy with an incredibly quick release, so Texas must work hard to fight through the screens set for him. McCray is also athletic and can attack off the dribble, so having the bigs switch on those screens could provide some less-than-stellar results.

Off the bench, Nebraska has a pair of big men to compliment Diaz in Brandon Ubel and Andre Almeida. Ubel is a tall, skinny guy who brings some range to the four spot, but his lack of heft has made it tough for him to play solid defense inside. He’s constantly had his minutes limited by foul trouble this season, and will probably have issues against the likes of Tristan Thompson and Gary Johnson this afternoon.

Almeida has also struggled with foul trouble, but his is certainly not an issue of being undersized. After needing an appendectomy just before the season, the 6’11” Almeida reported to campus at a hefty 310 pounds. Even at Nebraska’s slower pace, he has a hard time keeping up for extended minutes, and he’s often fouling opponents when he gets out of position and can’t recover in time.

In the backcourt, Drake Beranek is providing about 18 minutes per game off the bench. A transfer from Division II Nebraska-Kearney, Beranek is a quality shooter who also plays fiesty defense. This year, he’s made 38.5% of his three-pointers, and he sank more than 42% in his previous season at the D-II level. Although the Huskers hardly ever get to the foul line, Beranek is nearly automatic when he does make it there. He was 82% at the line in D-II, and is 81.8% from the stripe so far this season.

Coach Sadler also has a pair of guards in Ray Gallegos and Eshaunte Jones who are chipping in 13 minutes each per game. Jones was a madman behind the arc last season, where he hit 43.5% of his attempts. This season, the book is out on Jones, and defenses have held him to just a 31.7% three-point mark.

Gallegos, meanwhile, is still learning the game as a sophomore. He has issues turning the ball over and has made just six of his 41 three-point attempts. If he can find his long-range shot, he’ll be a great role player for Nebraska. As it is right now, he’s simply a guy who can give the starting guards a quick breather.

Keys to the game

As they did against Oklahoma State on Wednesday night, the Longhorns need to attack the Huskers inside-out. This serves two purposes, as it can lead to a lot of fouls on a thin Nebraska frontcourt, and also opens up the perimeter for the Longhorn shooters. Kansas absolutely decimated Nebraska in the second half of their last meeting by employing this attack. The Huskers love to double down on the blocks, so if the Texas bigs are ready to make the quick pass back out, it should lead to a bevy of threes.

On defense, Texas will want to force Diaz off the blocks. He can certainly knock down the midrange jumper, and even has a salty turnaround in his aresenal. But, he’s much more difficult to defend if he’s catching the ball in or near the paint. In addition, Diaz is one of just two consistent offensive rebounders, so having him away from the blocks when the guards put up shots should make it even easier for Texas to dominate the defensive glass.

Finally, the Longhorns need to reclaim their own misses. The biggest part of Nebraska’s defensive success is their ability to clean the glass and force opponents into one-shot possessions. If Texas can take advantage of their greater talent inside, they can really cripple a typically-stout Husker defense.

“Our biggest concern is keeping our foot on the pedal,” senior Gary Johnson told reporters last night. “We haven’t been in a situation where we’ve been behind. We don’t want to start it now.”

The Longhorns didn’t start it on Wednesday night, as they lambasted Oklahoma State, 73-55, in the sixth-straight game that Texas led wire-to-wire. Although Oklahoma State controlled the tip, the Texas defense forced a miss from Markel Brown and the Longhorns took an early 2-0 lead just 31 seconds into the game. After the win, Texas’ impressive streak of never trailing has been extended to more than 264 minutes.

The 18-point victory also marked the 10th time in Texas’ 11 conference wins that the Horns have defeated their opponents by double-digits. With that 11th conference win coming by nine points over Baylor, Texas’ average margin of victory in their 11 conference games is 17.3 points.

The Longhorns also set a school record by winning their 11th consecutive Big 12 game, and remained in pursuit of the best conference start in school history. The 1962-63 Texas team ran out to a 13-0 mark in Southwest Conference play before losing their final league game of the season. If the Longhorns can get past Nebraska on the road on Saturday, they should have no problem tying that mark against Iowa State next Tuesday.

Finally, the win sealed a first-round bye for the Longhorns in next month’s Big 12 tournament. With Missouri hosting Baylor next Wednesday, one of those teams is guaranteed to finish with at least six conference losses. That leaves only Kansas, Texas A&M, and the winner of that Baylor/Mizzou tilt as teams that could potentially finish with a record equal to or better than 11-5. At this point, Texas would have to lose all of its remaining games to tie with an 11-5 team.

What looked good

Texas jumped out to an early lead by attacking the Cowboys inside. They racked up fouls on the OSU big men, and the added attention inside meant that the Longhorn shooters were being left wide open open the perimeter. The inside-out attack allowed Texas to go 5-for-11 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes, and the Longhorns took an 11-point lead to the locker room.

In the second half, Gary Johnson and Cory Joseph fueled a run that put Texas up by 21 points. Johnson knocked down a jumper, posted up for a 3-point play, and tipped in another bucket before Joseph added a three-pointer and a breakaway layup on his own steal.

Johnson was nearly flawless in the game, going 7-of-8 from the field. He finished the night with 17 points, and added 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the year. Joseph, meanwhile, finished with 11 points despite shooting just 30.7%. The rest of the starting five also found it easy to score, with Tristan Thompson and Jordan Hamilton combining for 29 points and 11 rebounds.

The easy win also allowed the starters to get some much-needed rest. Besides Joseph’s 30 minutes on the court, no other starter had to play more than 28 minutes. Jai Lucas and J’Covan Brown picked up much of the slack, combining for 44 minutes off the bench. In conference play, the two guards were averaging just 28 minutes per game. If Lucas can continue to eat up minutes off the bench as the regular season winds down, that added rest for the starters could be huge when the schedule becomes much more compact in March.

The Texas defense also continued to impress, holding the Cowboys to only 0.792 points per possession, well off their season average of 1.06 per trip. All season long, the Horns have utilized strong defensive rebounding to limit opponents to one-shot possessions. While Texas continued that trend against OSU, holding the Pokes to a 27.6% mark on the offensive glass, the most impressive stat was the 24.5% turnover rate Texas forced. The Longhorns are not a team that causes many miscues, but they made the Cowboys look utterly lost as they coughed it up 12 times in the first half.

Off the bench, Matt Hill had a good effort, grabbing five boards in his 18 minutes on the floor. He also added three points on a hook shot and a free throw. While neither Hill or Alexis Wangmene will be on any All-American teams any time soon, the Longhorns are benefiting from the fact that in nearly every game, they are getting a solid bench effort from one of their two backup big men.

What needed work

While Hill had a solid game off the bench, Alexis Wangmene unfortunately struggled. He had issues handling passes inside, was called for a travel, and picked up four fouls in just 11 minutes of play. Wangmene did have a nice block, though. Fortunately, his struggles in this one made very little difference in the outcome.

As always, free throws were a major issue for the Longhorns. As a team, they shot just 57.1% from the line, but once again a majority of the blame fell upon freshman Tristan Thompson. The big man went to the line 13 times and made just six of his attempts, while the rest of the team combined to go 10-of-15. At some point, Texas is going to be in a close game. Is there anyone that Rick Barnes can rely upon to make clutch free throws to ice it?

Next up: at Nebraska (17-8 overall, 5-6 Big 12)

With Kansas tripping up on the road against Kansas State on Monday night, an outright Big 12 title is possibly just weeks away for the Texas Longhorns. Only six opponents remain on the schedule for Texas, who can now lose one of those games and still lay sole claim to the conference crown. The quest for that championship continues tonight, as the Longhorns host a struggling Oklahoma State squad who would love nothing more than to spoil those dreams.

If you had to rank the remaining six games in order of difficulty, tonight’s would definitely qualify as one of the “easier” ones left. Oklahoma State is near the bottom of the league standings, is dealing with off-the-court drama, and already lost by double-digits to Texas on their own court last month. With tougher tests awaiting in the form of road trips to Baylor, Colorado, and Nebraska, plus a home date against a salty Kansas State squad, tonight’s game is one that the Longhorns simply cannot afford to overlook.

The first meeting

For twenty minutes, the first match-up between Oklahoma State and Texas was a battle. The Cowboys even led with just over four minutes to go in the first half, but fell victim to a 14-0 run by the Longhorns that put the visitors up for good. Texas employed its trademark stiff defense in Stillwater, shutting out sharpshooter Keiton Page while holding OSU to a season low in points and field-goal percentage.

Dogus Balbay had a big night, scoring 10 points to go with five boards, four assists, and a pair of steals. Jordan Hamilton paced the Horns with a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Tristan Thompson led the Texas scorers with fourteen. The freshman struggled early in the game, but scored 11 consecutive points during one second-half stretch.

Since then…

Since the last meeting, the Longhorns have never trailed in a game. A Balbay free throw tied the Longhorns and Cowboys at 25 each in the first game, and Texas has led or been even with every opponent in the 224 minutes of basketball since then. That’s an unbelievable stretch of more than five and a half games in which the Longhorns have dominated their opponents.

For the Cowboys, things have gone downhill since the loss in Stillwater. OSU has managed to split the four games they’ve played since facing Texas, but they suffered a huge blow last week when big man Darrell Williams was charged with four felonies, including three counts of rape. He has been suspended indefinitely by Coach Travis Ford, and is in a holding pattern at least until his next day in court, which isn’t until March 7th. Prior to the suspension, Williams was averaging 7.1 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Cowboys.

In their first game without the big man, Oklahoma State lost to Nebraska in Lincoln, 65-54. The Cowboys were forced to rely more on Matt Pilgrim and Roger Franklin, who combined for just four points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes on the floor. Marshall Moses tried to carry the team with his 18-point, six-rebound effort, but the Huskers were still able to dominate OSU on the boards and in the paint.

Meet the Cowboys

For an in-depth look at the entire Oklahoma State roster, please read our preview from the first game between these two teams.

Keys to the game

In Stillwater, the Longhorns had major issues with ball handling in the early going. Fortunately, many of those miscues were unforced errors, and not a result of Oklahoma State’s pressure. That means it should be easy for Texas to value the basketball against the Cowboys this time around. The Horns cruised to a 15-point win in Stillwater despite a rash of turnovers, so if they are able to erase those mistakes tonight, it should be an absolute beating.

Texas also will want to react quicker to double teams. The Longhorns had quite a few possessions against Oklahoma State in their first meeting where the Texas bigs failed to recognize an approaching double or triple-team on the blocks. If the Longhorns can make quick passes against that pressure tonight, they are going to find many more open looks and should cruise to an easy home win.

With Williams out of the lineup, Texas also needs to exploit their advantage on the glass. A big reason why the Longhorns rank No. 1 nationally in defensive efficiency is a strong presence on the boards that limits opponents to numerous one-shot possessions. Without Williams, it will be even harder for the Cowboys to earn offensive boards and second-chance points. If Texas dominates this facet of the game as easily as they should, this game could become very lopsided in a hurry.

Finally, the Longhorns need to keep OSU out of the paint early. In the first match-up, the Cowboys didn’t attack inside and didn’t earn trips to the line, instead relying on mid-range and outside jumpers, many of them contested. Look for OSU to make adjustments and make a concerted effort to score early with Moses and Pilgrim inside. If Texas can once again establish dominance by making stops on the first few possessions, it’s likely the Pokes will take the path of least resistance and try to beat the Horns with jumpers.

TEAM W L LAST WEEK THIS WEEK Texas 10 0 def. OU, 68-52; def. Baylor, 69-60 Wed. vs. OSU; Sat. at Neb. Kansas 9 1 def. Mizzou, 103-86; def. ISU, 89-66 Mon. at KSU; Sat. vs. CU Texas A&M 6 4 def. CU, 73-70; def. Tech, 70-67 Wed. vs. ISU; Sat. at OSU Baylor 6 5 def. Neb, 74-70; lost to Texas, 69-60 Sat. vs. TTU Missouri 5 5 lost to KU, 103-86; def. OU, 84-61 Tue. vs. TTU; Sat. at ISU Colorado 5 6 lost to A&M, 73-70; def. KSU, 58-56 Sat. at KU Oklahoma 4 6 lost to UT, 68-52; lost to Mizzou, 84-61 Wed. vs. Neb.; Sat at KSU Oklahoma State 4 6 lost to Neb., 65-54 Wed at UT; Sat vs. A&M Kansas State 4 6 lost to CU, 58-56 Mon vs. KU; Sat vs. OU Nebraska 4 6 lost to Baylor, 74-70; def. OSU, 65-54 Wed. at OU, Sat. vs. UT Texas Tech 3 7 lost to A&M, 70-67 Tue. at Mizzou; Sat. at BU Iowa State 1 9 lost to KU, 89-66 Wed. at A&M; Sat. vs. Mizzou

With only six games left for most conference teams, it appears that the battle for the byes has finally been whittled down to a reasonable number of contenders. After surviving twice on the road this week, the Aggies have solidified their position as the third-best team in the league, although the Baylor Bears stayed in the conversation with a home win over Nebraska on Wednesday. In the northern half of the conference, Missouri and Colorado also kept themselves in the mix by splitting their games last week.

The Buffaloes were 1.9 seconds away from knocking off A&M on Wednesday before they ultimately lost in overtime. Saturday night, they experienced the other end of the emotional spectrum, as K-State’s Rodney McGruder hit a potential game-winning three at the buzzer that was ruled late by just milliseconds. A win over A&M would have Colorado tied with Baylor for third in the league right now. Instead, they are mired in the middle of the standings and have all week to prepare for a daunting road date with Kansas. The Buffs hung tough with KU in Boulder earlier this year, but winning at Allen Fieldhouse is a completely different monster.

The wide gulf at the top of the standings means that the Longhorns will likely have their first-round bye in the conference tournament sealed by mid-week. Now five games ahead of fifth-place Missouri, Texas needs just one more win or a loss by the Tigers to clinch at least fourth place. Kansas, meanwhile, can clinch their bye by winning both of their games this week.

Kansas at Kansas State; Monday, 8 P.M. CT (ESPN)
The battle for Sunflower State supremacy has lost some of its luster this year as K-State has stumbled through a mediocre season. Following their buzzer-beater-that-wasn’t against Colorado, the Wildcats are now in desperate need of some wins, especially attention-grabbing ones. A home upset of the Jayhawks could certainly add some meat to a questionable NCAA tournament résumé, and perhaps keep Jacob Pullen from having to decide if he will actually play in the NIT.

Texas Tech at Missouri; Tuesday, 6 P.M. CT (ESPN2)
Tech managed to put a scare into A&M on Saturday, but shouldn’t provide much of a threat to Missouri in Columbia. The Tigers are a perfect 15-0 at home so far this year, including five conference wins that have come by an average of 19.2 points. For now, Missouri simply needs to take care of business to stay in the running for one of the league’s top five spots. They follow up this one with a game they should win at Iowa State, and then get the benefit of facing Baylor at the friendly confines of Mizzou Arena. Look for the Tigers to make a move in the standings during the next two weeks.

Wayland Baptist at Baylor; Tuesday, 7 P.M. CT (ESPN2)
This is a game made for November, not February. It’s hard to believe that ticket sales will even cover the cost of Ferrell Center staff and electricity.

Iowa State at Texas A&M; Wednesday, 7 P.M. CT (ESPN Full Court/ESPN3.com)
On paper, this is a game that the Aggies should win easily. Then again, the Aggies haven’t done anything easily in the last few weeks. After a 16-1 start to the season, Texas A&M lost four of five and seemed to be headed for meltdown. Somehow, they kept things on track by escaping with a pair of narrow road wins in Boulder and Lubbock. Now, facing the league’s worst team on their own court, the Aggies should have the chance to run their winning streak to three and remain in the upper tier of the Big 12. Unfortunately, even at this late juncture, we still have no idea what A&M team will actually show up.

Oklahoma State at Texas; Wednesday, 8 P.M. CT (ESPN2)
An in-depth look at the Texas/OU game can be found in LRT’s game preview, which will be posted on Wednesday.

Nebraska at Oklahoma; Wednesday, 8 P.M. CT (ESPNU)
This game has big implications in the bottom half of the league standings, but that’s about the only place this game will matter. Both teams are far from contending for the NCAA tournament, but they are both part of a four-way tie for seventh in the Big 12. The Sooners have been playing well above their talent level as of late, and they have the benefit of playing this one at home. The Huskers, meanwhile, simply can’t let another road win slip away in the final minutes like they did in Waco last week, especially with the Longhorns on their schedule for Saturday.

After the first twenty minutes of Saturday’s game, it looked like the Longhorns were well on their way to another double-digit rout of a conference opponent. Texas held Baylor to just 0.64 points per possession in the first half, well off their season mark of 1.095, while the Longhorns knocked down more than 53% of their shots. Texas built a lead as large as 19 points and headed to the locker room up by 16.

Things changed rather quickly. LaceDarius Dunn scored 22 points in the second half, while Texas endured a painful stretch of 6:18 without a field goal. The Longhorns also left points on the line, making just six of 11 free throw attempts during the field-goal drought, allowing Baylor to hang around until the final minutes. The Bears were able to trim the lead down to just three points with 2:06 to play, but Texas ultimately iced the game with six free throws down the stretch.

The victory moves the Longhorns to a perfect 10-0 in Big 12 play, still just one game ahead of a Jayhawk team that waxed Iowa State in Lawrence on Saturday. With only six games left to play, even the slightest slip-up by Texas will practically guarantee Kansas a share of the conference championship. There are few games left on the Jayhawks’ schedule that look like possible losses, so it is becoming increasingly likely that the Horns must run the table to secure an outright Big 12 title. Even though this victory ended Texas’ nine-game run of double-digit conference wins, at this point all that matters are the Ws.

What looked good

A big part of Texas’ stifling first-half defense was a dominant effort on the glass. The Longhorns allowed Baylor to reclaim just 22.2% of their misses in the first half, limiting them to only a handful of second-chance opportunities. That strong effort continued in the second half, as the Bears finished with a 23.8% mark on the offensive glass. If not for Dunn’s impressive second half, the Baylor offense still would have been on lockdown.

The overall defensive effort was incredibly impressive for the Longhorns, especially considering how outsized they were in the post. Even with Dunn going off in the second half, the Bears managed just 0.843 points per possession on the afternoon. The Bears had only been held below 0.900 PPP one other time all season, in a neutral-site loss to Gonzaga back in December.

On offense, Texas did a great job of attacking the Baylor zone in the first half. The team knocked down their open jumpers and made quick passes for easy looks inside. Texas’ zone offense was so good, the Bears actually switched to their hardly-used man-to-man defense in the second half and settled for a hack attack inside defensively.

Texas’ execution against the zone was a welcome sight after a few seasons in which the team has struggled mightily against even average zone defenses. Rather than settle for outside looks as they would have in past years, Texas put on a clinic on how to attack the zone, and it worked to the tune of 38 first-half points.

For the Longhorns, the MVP was freshman Tristan Thompson, who was a beast inside. He blocked three shots, scored 17 points, and grabbed 13 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive end. Unfortunately, he had his typical 50% performance at the line, knocking down just 7-of-14 on the afternoon.

Thompson’s impact was biggest in the final minutes of the game, as the Longhorns struggled to hold off Baylor. He knocked down a pair free throws to put Texas up five with 94 seconds left, then batted a Baylor lob pass out of bounds on the following possession, preventing an easy layup for the Bears.

What needed work

Part of what caused the Texas drought in the second half was poor shooting just feet from the rim. Time and again, layups and short jumpers rimmed out, allowing Baylor to slowly chip away at the Texas lead. It is easy to chalk these kinds of misses up to bad luck, but luck or not, the Longhorns simply have to convert when they are that close to the basket.

For the Horns, the 0.969 points they scored per possession was their lowest offensive output since the Michigan State game. While that’s not a terrible number, the strong first half for Texas buoyed that average, masking just how abysmal the second half was. During the final twenty minutes, the Longhorns managed just 0.795 points each time down the floor.

A big part of that offensive ineptitude was terrible free throw shooting. While that’s nothing new for this Texas team, their inability to hit the easy ones when they counted the most nearly allowed Baylor to come back for an improbable win. As previously mentioned, Thompson was the biggest offender with his 50% effort at the line, but the problem was team-wide. J’Covan Brown, normally one of the team’s steadiest free-throw shooters, hit just 4-of-7, including 2-of-4 after Baylor had been tagged with an intentional foul and technical foul.

If the Longhorns are truly the national title contender that many pundits think they are, we must bring up the cautionary tale of the 2008 Memphis Tigers. That team was just 61.4% from the line on the season, and their poor shooting down the stretch in the national championship game allowed Kansas to force overtime and ultimately win the title. One can’t help but think a similar fate is in store for Texas at some point in March if they cannot improve their 64.7% mark at the line.

On defense, the backcourt assignments were interesting. Shutdown artist Dogus Balbay was primarily assigned to A.J. Walton, while freshman Cory Joseph had the tough task of stopping Dunn. Despite the 26-point outburst by Baylor’s superstar, you can’t really knock Joseph for how he defended him. LaceDarius drilled multiple threes with Joseph just inches away from him, and he managed to sink quite a few layups and runners after making acrobatic finishes among the Texas bigs.

The defense on Dunn certainly isn’t something that “needed work.” After all, he scored just four points in the first half before his superhuman effort in the second stanza. But, unfortunately the dichotomy of our post-games doesn’t really allow for a better place for this note. You simply have to applaud Joseph for his effort and tip your hat to Dunn on an impressive performance.

Up next: vs. Oklahoma State (16-8 overall, 4-6 Big 12)