With non-conference play wrapping up, Texas hoped to get another solid road win to pair with their victory earlier in the year at Purdue. Instead, the Longhorns endured a long afternoon against Providence, with the Friars cruising to a 70-48 victory behind a poor offensive performance from the Longhorns. The loss drops the Longhorns record to 9-2 on the season, and the offensive question marks continue to linger with conference play quickly approaching.
Outside of solid performances from Courtney Ramey (12 points and 7 rebounds) and Jericho Sims (7 points and 13 rebounds), it was a rough game for Texas. The Longhorns failed to have a single-player shoot over 50% from the field and shot 31.7% as a team. Texas had an even tougher time from 3-point range, where they finished the game 3 for 21 (14.3%). The 48 point output is the lowest for the Longhorns this season, and Shaka Smart will be forced to try to continue to find answers offensively after inconsistent performances have plagued his team to start the season. Andrew Jones, who has provided a spark off the bench for much of the season, shot 2 for 8 from the field and finished the game with only 7 points. Texas as a team only had 11 points from their bench.
Providence entered Saturday’s matchup coming off a 32-point loss against Florida, but the Friars bounced back in a big way. Alpha Diallo recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while also contributing 5 assists. The Friars took a 43-28 lead into halftime and never looked back, responding every time Texas appeared to be crawling back into the game.
The Longhorns will return to action on December 30th at the Frank Erwin Center when they host High Point in the final non-conference game before Big 12 play.
