Texas

FEb 25th Article on Most Inconsistent Teams

Texas Longhorns
The Longhorns are not found on the chart because they are actually one of the more consistent teams among those in their class, with a variation of 12.9. They are also ranked much higher in BPI (25th) than RPI (54th) or the polls (did not receive a vote in either one) and are on the NCAA tournament bubble according to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi.

It seems counterintuitive for Texas to be considered a consistent team when it is a mediocre 17-11, including a subpar 7-8 in the Big 12. However, a consistent team that is playing a difficult schedule — Texas has played the fourth-most difficult schedule overall — can have a mediocre record, getting consistently close to the really good teams without actually winning. In contrast, Murray State is a consistent team (variation of 13.3) that is playing an easy schedule, so it is sitting at 23-1.

The Longhorns are 0-6 against teams ranked at least 10 spots better — losing four of those by five points or fewer — 3-2 against teams within 10 spots of them, and 14-3 against teams ranked 10 or more spots below them (no losses outside the top 100). Overall, 14 of their 17 wins have come by double digits, while only three of their 11 losses have come by more than two possessions.

Rick Barnes’ team has beaten lesser competition soundly, played teams of similar caliber evenly and competed with but lost to every opponent with a significantly better rating. This leads to the lack of a signature win on the résumé, but it is a mark of a team that can consistently beat No. 9 or No. 10 seeds. Texas is in that unusual position of being a second-tier team, one that looks as if it can win a game in the tournament but not be inconsistent enough to be a Cinderella. Whether the tournament committee likes that kind of team come Selection Sunday remains to be seen.

Feb 25 Bilas: Texas just could not get stops against Oklahoma State and allowed Keiton Page to score 40 points and get to the free throw line 20 times. Texas is another team that looks great on paper, but your eyes tell you different. On the road and at neutral sites, Texas plays young. But wins against K-State, Iowa State and Temple will be enough to get Texas into the NCAA field.

Article on surprises and disappointments this year (surprises)

Major Surprises

1. Notre Dame — A team projected to finish in the bottom half of the Big East is now poised to earn a No. 2 seed in the tournament. But the road will be tough for the Fighting Irish to a top spot in the Big Dance with games against Villanova, whom they’ve not played yet, and at Connecticut, a team they beat by only three at home earlier. Regardless, Notre Dame should be “dancing” come March, especially if they finish high in the conference tournament.

2. Vanderbilt — Also a team projected to finish near the bottom of the SEC is now in place for a potential No. 5 seed. But with conference powers Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida left on the schedule, the Commodores’ stock could drop a little, although not enough to knock them out of the tournament. And a good showing in the SEC tournament wouldn’t hurt.

3. St. John’s — Steve Lavin’s return to the bench has been a successful one, to say the least. The Red Storm were predicted to finish behind Notre Dame in the Big East, but are now projected as a No. 6 seed in the Tournament. With only Villanova as the remaining challenge on the schedule, St. John’s could take some momentum into the Big East Tournament and earn an even higher seed.

4. St. Mary’s — Projected to finish just behind Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference, but be passed over for tournament consideration, the Gaels are now looking at a possible No. 7 seed. St. Mary’s can sew up the conference title with a win over the Zags this week and then look to have a head of steam going into the conference tournament. If they win both the regular season and tourney titles, they could oust Gonzaga from March Madness.

5. UNLV — Predicted to finish fourth in the Mountain West, the Runnin’ Rebels have gone from Tournament hopefuls to a potential seventh seed. All that’s left for the Rebs on the schedule are bubble team New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah. Then it’s on to the MWC tournament where they’ll try to wreak some havoc against two other surprising teams from the conference.

Mild Surprises

1. San Diego State — Projected to win the MWC but only be a No. 7 tournament seed at the beginning of the year, now a potential No. 1 seed. However, they’ll have a tough road to No. 1 the rest of the way with BYU, Wyoming (not so tough), and Colorado State to end the regular season. If they can win out they’ll probably earn a top seed somewhere, even if they don’t win the Mountain West tournament.

2. Texas — Also projected to be a No. 7 seed preseason and in position to be a No. 1. They also have a seemingly difficult schedule with Colorado, Kansas State, and Baylor left, but two of those teams have been big disappointments this year. Barring a major disaster, the Longhorns will be a top seed somewhere, and maybe even No. 1 overall.

3. BYU — Predicted to finish just behind San Diego State in the MWC and earn a No. 8 seed into the tournament, the Cougars have played well enough to be a possible No. 2 in March. But they’re schedule the rest of the way is also tough, with the aforementioned matchup with the Aztecs, plus games against Colorado State and New Mexico. The conference tournament should be the tell-all of just how high BYU can go in the March Madness seeding.

4. UConn — Projected to finish eighth in the Big East and be just a No. 12 seed into the tournament, the Huskies are looking at a possible No. 3 seed. While they sit in the middle of the pack in the conference standings, an upset win over Notre Dame and a good finish in the conference tournament could solidify UConn as a legitimate No. 3.

5. Old Dominion — Predicted to finish second in the Colonial, but miss the tournament, the Monarchs are now a possible No. 8 seed and potentially one of three teams to earn a tournament berth. It will be the conference tournament that will decide where they ultimately end up in the March bracket.

The best of the rest — George Mason, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Louisville

Kansas loss to Texas

The longest home winning streak in Kansas’ vaunted history came to an end on a doubly sad day for the Jayhawks.

J’Covan Brown scored 23 points and keyed a second-half run that erased a 15-point deficit, enabling No. 10 Texas to grab a 74-63 victory on Saturday over the second-ranked Jayhawks and snap their 69-game home streak.

“It just puts everything in perspective,” said coach Bill Self.

Robinson asked to remain with the team, and with him coming off the bench, an emotional Kansas scored the game’s first 10 points and led by as many as 15 in the early going. But Texas (16-3, 4-0 Big 12) outscored the Jayhawks 36-13 while turning a 12-point halftime deficit into a 59-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Cory Joseph.

“I think in more times like that—I could be wrong—I think you see teams get off to an emotional good start on things like that,” said Self. “We played well, too. But certainly it was emotional. I felt like we didn’t have much gas in the tank the second half. But a lot of it’s because of Texas’ play, too.”

“They came in on fire,” said Jordan Hamilton, who had 17 points for the Longhorns. “Then we came out in the second half and we played hard and coach (Rick Barnes) always said we are going to win this game.”

Tristan Thompson had 10 points and five blocks in a bruising game that included two technical fouls against both teams. The Longhorns held Kansas, which came in with a Big 12-best shooting percentage of 52.4, to 36 percent. In the second half, Kansas hit a paltry 8 of 30 shots.

“Texas totally controlled the last 30 minutes of the game,” said Self. “The second half they were terrific. Of course, we helped them be terrific.”

Tyrel Reed had 17 points and Marcus Morris 16 for Kansas.

Brown’s second 3-pointer in a 13-2 run finally wiped out the big deficit and gave the Longhorns their first lead, 45-44, with 10:39 to go.

Kansas tied it with Markieff Morris’ free throw, then Thompson and Brown scored for a 49-45 Texas lead.

Tyshawn Taylor’s runner in the lane brought Kansas to 49-47 before Brown made two free throws and Joseph drilled a momentum-turning 3-pointer, giving the Longhorns a 54-47 lead at the 7:32 mark.

The Jayhawks were unable to get a good look against Texas’ pressure defense for almost the entire second half. When they did, they usually missed. They committed five turnovers while missing eight of their first 10 shots in the second half as Texas slowly chipped away at a 35-23 halftime deficit.

As Texas inched closer, Hamilton dropped in two free throws, making him 6 for 6 from the line, Kansas’ Mario Little turned it over and Gary Johnson moved in for another easy Texas bucket that got the Longhorns to within five at 42-37.

“I thought they did a great job in the first half and we did a terrible job,” said Hamilton. “Then we came out in the second half and played hard.”

Texas over Missouri

Even when their shots aren’t falling, these Longhorns are hard to beat.

No. 7 Texas (18-3, 6-0 Big 12) shot 55 percent from the field and made only 11 of 26 free throws in the second half but held on to defeat Missouri 71-58 Saturday night at the Erwin Center.

The 11th-ranked Tigers (17-4, 3-3) weren’t any better, shooting 33.9 percent from the field for the game. It was the lowest point total of the season for the conference’s top-scoring offense. “I think they’re one of the hottest teams in the country and tonight I think they showed why,” Missouri head coach Mike Anderson said about Texas.

Texas’ Jordan Hamilton led all scorers with 18 points. Gary Johnson finished with 15, surpassing the 1,000-point career benchmark at Texas when he hit a jumper with 5:41 to play in the first half.

But it was Texas’ defense that kept it in the game. The Longhorns once more held an opponent to its lowest point total of the season, after limiting Oklahoma State to 46 on Wednesday and Oklahoma to the same amount on Jan. 15. “We’re a good defensive team. That’s pretty much it,” said Texas forward Gary Johnson. “I think good defense beats good offense on any given night.” They got one block, from Tristan Thompson, and seven steals, creating eight points off turnovers and six more on fast breaks. The Longhorns also outrebounded their opponents 41-31.

The Tigers’ second-best rebounder, Laurence Bowers, left the game after suffering what appeared to be a head injury ten minutes into the contest. “That is probably seven less rebounds and 11 or 12 less points,” said Missouri’s Kim English. “He was definitely missed.”

Texas opened with a 10-0 run that had “the fastest 40 minutes in basketball” looking slow. Trying to live up to its self-proclaimed motto, Missouri ran a full-court trap most of the night, but the Longhorns were usually able to beat it with ball movement. The Tigers ended up with just two fast-break points. “They were averaging 23 points off turnovers coming in, so it also places a premium on taking care of the ball,” said Texas head coach Rick Barnes. The Longhorns built a 38-27 lead heading into halftime.

For how fast Texas started the game, poor shooting and turnovers allowed Missouri to shrink the deficit back within single digits in the second half. “It may have been the toughest game we’ve been through all year,” Barnes said. “When you have an 11 or 12 point lead against Missouri, it is not enough because they can be so explosive with their offense.” A 3-pointer from Missouri’s Michael Dixon cut the difference to seven with 10:40 left in the game. But J’Covan Brown and Cory Joseph both hit jumpers to put Texas up by 11 and the Tigers never threatened the lead again. The Longhorns pulled away to reach 6-0 in Big 12 play for the first time in program history. “We made a couple runs at ‘em but we just couldn’t quite get over the hump,” Anderson said. “We didn’t play some of our best basketball.” In addition to limiting Missouri’s scoring, the Texas defense held the Tigers to their lowest field-goal percentage, 3-pointer field-goal percentage (0.22) and assists (6) of the season. It took over five minutes for Missouri to score in the first half. “It was a really good win for us against a team that doesn’t quit,” Barnes said

Texas over Texas A and M article

Moments after No. 3 Texas wrapped up its 69-49 victory over No. 16 Texas A&M on Monday night, Aggies coach Mark Turgeon delivered a message to winning coach Rick Barnes. “I told Rick if they keep improving and stay healthy they can win a national championship,” Turgeon said. “I haven’t said that about many teams. I said that about Kansas the year they won it. I’ve been doing this 24 years and I haven’t seen many teams as good as Texas.” Jordan Hamilton scored 20 points to help the Longhorns to their first victory in College Station since 2004.

Texas never trailed and built a 25-point lead by halftime thanks to hot shooting and their trademark stifling defense. The Aggies outscored the Longhorns by five points in the second half, but the dominant first half kept Texas (19-3, 7-0) undefeated in the Big 12. Texas outscored the Aggies 14-4 on fast breaks and Texas A&M seemed to have trouble keeping up with the Longhorns’ pace of play. “We want to run,” Barnes said. “We want to get out in transition. We wanted to have that mindset, to push it.” Texas harassed the Aggies into their worst shooting performance of the season at just under 31 percent and their 17 field goals were one off their season low.The Longhorns are still looking for more on defense despite the strong performance. “We can still get better,” guard Dogus Balbay said. “We still make mistakes. We’ve got to eliminate those. We can always get better on defense.”

The Aggies (17-4, 4-3) have lost three of four in a skid that began when Texas beat them 81-60 in Austin less than two weeks ago to snap a 13-game winning streak. Turgeon is worried about his team after an effort he called embarrassing. He believes his players got too high on themselves during their winning streak. “I’ve got to get my team back,” he said. “I don’t like the way we’re playing. I think we just got really caught up in ourselves and became a little bit uncoachable. I’ve felt this coming for a while and I just hope I can fix it by Saturday.” B.J. Holmes had 19 points for Texas A&M. He bruised his right knee late in the game and had to sit out, but Turgeon isn’t sure if the injury will keep him out on Saturday against Baylor.

The Longhorns haven’t lost since dropping an 82-81 overtime decision to Connecticut on Jan. 8 and are 7-0 in league play for the first time since 1977-78.  The Longhorns have held each of their Big 12 opponents to 63 points or fewer and two of the last three haven’t reached 50. Khris Middleton, who entered the game leading the Aggies in scoring at almost 16 points a game, was held scoreless on 0-of-9 shooting with Hamilton guarding him. ““One thing we’ve tried to do all year was take away the other team’s leading scorer,” Barnes said. “When you do that you’re going to have to have a team effort.”

Texas was up by 20 points before they reeled off six straight points, capped by a 3-pointer by Hamilton, to extend the lead to 43-17 with 3 minutes left in the half. They led 45-20 at halftime. The Longhorns led by six points early in the first half before using a 24-6 run to build a 34-12 lead with just under 6 minutes remaining in the first half. The Aggies couldn’t get anything going in that span and had six turnovers and missed 10 shots.

Texas AM: Senior Nathan Walkup, junior David Loubeau and sophomore Khris Middleton are solid forwards on the offensive glass, and as a team, Texas A&M ranks 11th in the country (38.5) in offensive rebounding percentage. If the Aggies are clicking, those three are scoring in bunches underneath or getting to the charity stripe. The trio combines to take 50 percent of the team’s field goal attempts, and each draws at least four fouls per 40 minutes. Yet that feast-or-famine mentality on the inside has often backfired. Three of the top six teams in the Big 12 in blocks percentage are Missouri, Texas and Baylor. A&M needed 11 points in overtime from Middleton to defeat the Tigers, who out-rejected the Aggies 6-0; the Longhorns beat them twice by a combined 41 points, tallying a total of 16 blocks; and Baylor swatted 12 shots in two upset victories. But the Aggies are so dependent on their post-up and around-the-basket opportunities that an opponent with a better-than-average down-low D is tough to overcome. If A&M’s bigs fail to capitalize inside, the Aggies are forced to rely on their 33.8 percent 3-point percentage and underperforming guards. In their second loss to the Bears on Saturday, B.J. Holmes, Dash Harris and Naji Hibbert were a combined 22 percent (2-of-9) from deep and the Aggies shot 53.3 percent (8-of-15) at the free throw line. That loss also showed how poor the Aggies’ posts defend, allowing Perry Jones, Quincy Acy and Anthony Jones to combine for 34 points and 18 boards in a 58-51 loss. In fact, at least one opposing post (usually two) has scored in double figures in all six of A&M’s losses, and absolutely no team in the major conferences blocks shots with less frequency — Maryland Baltimore County even has a higher percentage.

Texas

Game Note: vs Pitt.. Saw them actually play two games and this team is far far better than last year. All the athletes of last year but with chemistry and a team mentality. I do think their guards are a litttttle light with a freshman who is good, the Euro who literally will NOT shoot but plays great defense, and a solid guard in Brown. What they do have is several real athletes in the 6’7+ range who can drive, shoot, and create their own shot like Hamilton and Tristan Thompson. I think this could end up as one of their best teams. Also, Balbay.. the Euro guard.. plays great defense and really presses the onther teams guards.

Vs Michigan State: Their length wrecked the Spartans.  The Spartans could not hit an outside shot which they had, so they took it at them into the lane that was NOT a good idea. Texas is athletic, long, and can jump. Michigan State shots were heavily contested in the lane. Texas can also score from anywhere. Their freshman combo of Hamilton and Thomson is VERY impressive. “The Longhorns were too athletic and aggressive on both ends of the court for the turnover-prone and poor-shooting Spartans” …” Summers said. “We just couldn’t get a basket or key stop. They were pretty athletic at every position” … “In the second half, we played harder on the defensive end and our defense led to offense,” Hamilton said.  Texas held the Spartans to 29 percent shooting and scored 19 points off their 16 turnovers. “I think this is the most talented team we’ve played so far,” said Izzo

Vs UNC: They got wrecked in the second half of this game in the paint. UNC didnt make a 3 until late in the second half because they didnt NEED to. They continuously got it inside.. with little resistance.. and they scored at will. Unlike the MState game, UNC had the stallions to pound it inside and did very successfully. Texas hung in there with the scoring of Hamilton. He is really solid. They do have some scoring options when necessary but the size of UNC threw off their forwards ability to drive and score. LAst thing… UNC attacked them in transition and on half court sets very successfully. I was not impressed with their tenacity to get back or play aggressive D.

Notes from Last years tournament: Missed two free throws and then had WForest hit game winner. “Gary Johnson then missed two free throws for Texas, giving Smith one more chance. ”They’re disappointed,” Texas coach Rick Barnes said. “I told them, ‘You’ve got to remember this feeling.’ The seniors, they’ve been here and they’ve done some good things, but it can end real quickly…. Brown, a freshman, scored all 20 of his points after halftime. Jordan Hamilton, another Texas freshman, scored 16 of his 19 in the first half. We started off good, playing as a team and moving the ball,” Brown said. “We just got away from it.” The Longhorns began Thursday’s game shooting 3 of 17 from the field and fell behind by double digits. That was when Hamilton went to work. He made four 3-pointers, a tip-in and a pair of free throws to help his team go into halftime ahead 38-37.

Vs Ok St: The Longhorns then deployed the same stiff defense that has provided them a perfect start to conference play. Texas held its first four Big 12 opponents to 55.2 points per game. The Longhorns did even better while limiting the Cowboys (14-6, 2-4) to their lowest scoring output of the season on 32 percent s hooting.Balbay scored all 10 of his points before halftime and helped Texas hold Keiton Page, OSU’s second-leading scorer, without a point for the first time since the Longhorns visited Gallagher-Iba Arena last season.

Vs Missouri: Texas had another stellar defensive effort, holding the highest-scoring team in the Big 12 to its lowest point total of the season. Texas is holding Big 12 opponents to 54 points per game. “Good defense beats good offense on any given night,” Texas senior forward Gary Johnson said. “That’s what we do.” Like the five teams before them in Texas’ run, the Tigers came away impressed by the Longhorns’ bruising play near the baskets. “There’s no secret how they play,” Missouri guard Kim English said. “They are a physical team. They pressure the ball. Big, strong guys.” Hamilton, Johnson and freshman Tristan Thompson dominated the paint on both ends of the court. Johnson had 15 points and nine rebounds and Thompson had 13 rebounds.

Gottleib: Texas’ defense is filthy. Oklahoma State’s Keiton Page was held scoreless Wednesday in Gallagher-Iba Arena for the second straight year. The Horns lead the Big 12 in nearly every defensive category and are emphasizing to their players to not leave the floor until the offensive player does, and even then it is not necessary. Texas is beating opponents in the conference by 19.6 points per game and is the first team to beat MSU, KU and UNC on the road in the same year since the Fab Five. Oh, by the way, they beat OSU in front of the biggest crowd of the Travis Ford era Wednesday.

Vegas Note: Up 16 at half!!! 

The Longhorns (21-3) are off to a 9-0 start in league play for the first time since doing it in the Southwest Conference 33 years ago. All nine of the wins have been by double figures, the first time Texas has been so dominant to start conference play since the 1921-22 season.

“There is a reason they are undefeated. They’ve gone in a lot of people’s gyms and the game’s been over pretty quick,” Sooners coach Jeff Capel said. “They are playing with incredible swagger right now, that Texas team is. They punched us in the mouth early and we could never really recover.”

We matched Texas’ physicality and its intensity. [Editor's note: Baylor lost to Texas 69-60 on Feb. 12 but held the Longhorns to their only single-digit conference win so far this season.] But we started out the first half badly, and that’s been our problem lately. We usually wait until the second half to put up a fight. If we would have given the Longhorns a full 40 minutes, there’s no telling what the outcome of that game would have been. They’re a great team, real physical. They run their plays. We matched their physicality, manned up on the inside and tried to get stops on the outside.

You wouldn’t expect them to be, but they’re just as physical as last season when they had Dexter Pittman and Damion James. They have a deep rotation in the frontcourt, bringing a lot of big bodies off the bench. There’s not a lot you can do to replace the naturally physicality of a guy like Pittman, but they haven’t lost it.

On offense, Dogus Balbay is attacking more this season. In a way, you can compare him to Rajon Rondo his first couple of seasons. They’d sag off him because he couldn’t shoot, but then he started to create. Balbay is doing a better job with that this season. They’re obviously not the same players, but as far as people backing up off them and trying to force them to shoot, those guys still get into the lane to make plays or use the big men. That’s hard to guard.

The Longhorns (21-3) are off to a 9-0 start in league play for the first time since doing it in the Southwest Conference 33 years ago. All nine of the wins have been by double figures, the first time Texas has been so dominant to start conference play since the 1921-22 season.

“There is a reason they are undefeated. They’ve gone in a lot of people’s gyms and the game’s been over pretty quick,” Sooners coach Jeff Capel said. “They are playing with incredible swagger right now, that Texas team is. They punched us in the mouth early and we could never really recover.”

Quinten Acey Write Up – We matched Texas’ physicality and its intensity. [Editor's note: Baylor lost to Texas 69-60 on Feb. 12 but held the Longhorns to their only single-digit conference win so far this season.] But we started out the first half badly, and that’s been our problem lately. We usually wait until the second half to put up a fight. If we would have given the Longhorns a full 40 minutes, there’s no telling what the outcome of that game would have been. They’re a great team, real physical. They run their plays. We matched their physicality, manned up on the inside and tried to get stops on the outside. You wouldn’t expect them to be, but they’re just as physical as last season when they had Dexter Pittman and Damion James. They have a deep rotation in the frontcourt, bringing a lot of big bodies off the bench. There’s not a lot you can do to replace the naturally physicality of a guy like Pittman, but they haven’t lost it. On offense, Dogus Balbay is attacking more this season. In a way, you can compare him to Rajon Rondo his first couple of seasons. They’d sag off him because he couldn’t shoot, but then he started to create. Balbay is doing a better job with that this season. They’re obviously not the same players, but as far as people backing up off them and trying to force them to

ESPN: “I would have cared 10 years ago,” he said of critics questioning his 19-18 N.C.A.A. tournament record. “This is not the most important thing in my life. It’s what I do, but it’s not the most important thing in my life.”

Terrible FT Shooting team