FINAL SCORE: Texas 71 – California 55
1st Half: Texas 31 – California 21
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[*]Texas came out in the first 5 minutes of the game, attacking the rim, and playing aggressively through the post. It felt like a team effort with their starting PG out.
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[*]A steal and outlet pass by Lammert resulted in an easy bucket that put Texas up by 10.
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[*]With a 14-4 lead, the Horns got lazy (or overconfident) on offense and quit doing the things that made them successful in the first 5:00.
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[*]California is out of sorts on offense and the Longhorns are dominating the defensive glass. Any lead would be safe with this style, let alone the 8-10 point lead Texas has. Connor Lammert is seemingly in position to grab every rebound.
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[*]Myles Turner hasn’t taken great shots within the offense, but the youngster looks more confident and relaxed tonight.
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[*]With Taylor out, Javan Felix will get a lot more time. In the first half, Barnes isn’t subbing for him hardly at all. In fact, the overall substitution pattern tonight has been slower than the first three games.
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2nd Half Texas 40 – California 34
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[*]With 7 swats, Texas was already above their season average at the 16:00 minute mark in the second half.
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[*]Cal cut the Horns’ lead to 6 early in the half, but Texas responded by picking up the intensity on both ends and opened the lead back to double digits.
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[*]Cam Ridley and Myles Turner are settling for fade-aways (Ridley) and jumpers (Turner). The entire offense flows better when both are more aggressive.
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[*]Jonathan Holmes already has a double-double at the 11:00 minute mark (15 points, 10 rebounds).
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[*]For the second consecutive night, a Texas player took a hard foul and hit the deck. Last night Isaiah Taylor hurt his left wrist – against Cal it was Holmes. With Taylor already out, Texas fans had an uneasy moment when the team’s senior leader went down hard.
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Top takeaway
When Texas plays with focus and patience on offense, they look unstoppable. At this point in the season, the team is going through 5-6 minute stretches with solid offensive play, then 5-6 minutes without having any rhythm at all. The frightening part for opposing teams is that the Horns are talented and deep enough to win most of their games even when they don’t play sound offensively.
The stat story‘”
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[*]Cal shot 24% in first half and Texas was +9 in rebounds. Even though the Horns were only 1-7 from 3-point range for the half, that’s a combination that will please Rick Barnes. The Bears finished at 31% for the game.
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[*]Jonathan Holmes finished with 21 points (6-11 shooting) and 11 rebounds – and, although impressive, his line doesn’t do his impact on the game justice. For the second consecutive night, Holmes was the spark that fueled his team. He is an easy choice for tournament MVP.
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[*]Texas hit 31 of 37 free throws.
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Looking ahead
The Longhorns have a layup at home next Tuesday against Saint Francis before traveling to Storrs, CT to play the Connecticut Huskies a week from Sunday. UConn is undefeated and playing for the championship in the Puerto Rico Tipoff.
