Confident Efficient

‘Confident’ and ‘Efficient’ were not two words associated with the Texas basketball team during the regular season. With complete disregard for that notion, the Longhorns exhibited both characteristics in dominating fashion in a win over Texas Tech, 65-53, in the 2015 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday night. The win secures a quarterfinal game against Iowa State, and, according to most ‘bracketologists’, a berth in the upcoming NCAA Championship tournament.

The Horns started the game in a solid rhythm and looked confident early. With so much at stake, it would have been understandable if the team would have been uptight early.

Realistically, only three Texas turnovers and some hot shooting from the Red Raiders kept it close. What felt like a double digit lead was only a 4 or 5 point margin for most of the half.

Much of the Horns’ offensive success in the first half should be attributed to Isaiah Taylor – the Longhorns’ point guard had four assists and zero turnovers. When combined with Kendal Yancy’s three assist to no turnover ratio, Texas got outstanding guard play throughout the opening stanza.

With the guards using dribble penetration and distributing the ball effectively, seven different Texas players scored in the half. A true indication of the team’s efficiency, Connor Lammert, one of the two players that did not score, led the team with six rebounds in the game’s opening 20 minutes.

Staked to only a four point lead at the half, the Longhorns quickly put the game out of reach by opening the second half, dominating the Red Raiders on the glass. A flurry of second chance points quickly led to a +12 rebound margin at the16:00 mark.

Solid play from the Horns’ guards continued over the next 10 minutes, as Texas extended the lead to 20 points. With about 7:00 remaining in the game, the Longhorns had 9 assists on 13 made field goals.

Devaughtah Williams, who hit 8 of 9 three point attempts in Texas Tech’s last game, was held to 2 of 10 shooting and five points overall. Toddrick Gotcher led Tech with 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting.

Another positive sign for Texas is how easily they were able to withstand a dismal night of shooting from three point range. The Longhorns were only 4 of 19 (21.1%) from beyond the arc, but were efficient enough in other areas to not have it affect their offensive output.

Up next for Texas is a third game against the Iowa State Cyclones, a team that beat them twice during the regular season. On Wednesday, the Longhorns looked like a playground bully, sauntering up and down the court with a glint in their eye that bespoke a confidence that, no matter what their record said about them, they knew all along how good they can be.

Playing that way against the conference’s second best team will be more difficult than it was against the Red Raiders. Texas and Iowa State are scheduled to tip off at 6PM Central.

Post-game Press Conferences

Rick Barnes: “I really thought that Isaiah [Taylor] was really, really good tonight, maybe as good as he’s been all year.”

Rick Barnes: “We want…consistency‑wise, we want to know what we’re going to get. In terms of posting up, making yourself big, that, we want to get that and I do think Cam is more confident now and why he hasn’t been, I’m not quite sure, I wish I knew how to answer that.”

Isaiah Taylor: “I think this team still hasn’t reached its potential yet.”

Cameron Ridley: “That’s the way we should play, inside‑out and I did a good job of making myself a presence in inside, and the guards delivered the ball. And I just worked as hard as I could to get the position I could.”