On Saturday, the Texas Longhorn basketball team traveled to Manhattan, KS, the Little Apple, to play Kansas State. The Longhorns survived the road trip and narrowly beat the Wildcats 61-57, despite not having any field goals in the game’s final eight minutes.
With two winnable home games next on the schedule, this was an important victory if Rick Barnes has aspirations of getting this team back to .500 in conference play. Texas and Kansas State both had a pair of players miss the game, and the Horns took advantage of Marcus Foster’s absence.
Looking more closely at the game…
The Good‘”
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[*]Isaiah Taylor had 23 points and was the catalyst for Texas offensively.
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[*]Connor Lammert played a really good game and asserted himself on the floor. Effort and production like he showed today would make Lammert a viable starter.
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[*]The Longhorns went nearly 11 minutes into the game and did not turn the ball over. After Wednesday night’s turnover-plagued loss to Oklahoma State, that was a key to this game.
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The Bad‘”
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[*]After not turning the ball over in the first 11 minutes, Texas resumed old habits and was careless with the basketball. This team must do a better job of valuing possessions.
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[*]The Horns’ 3-point defense – The Wildcats shot 50% from beyond the arc and Texas continually left Tre Harris open.
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The Ugly‘”
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[*]The Longhorns played aggressively enough to make steady trips to the free throw line…but they were terrible from the charity stripe, only shooting 62%.
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[*]Isaiah Taylor missed crucial free throws with 27 seconds remaining in the game. Those misses easily could have sunk the Longhorns. If Taylor is going to be the go-to guy for this team offensively, he must make those shots.
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Epilogue
This was a crucial win for the Longhorns. Not only did it stop the bleeding, but it sets up a potential 3-game winning streak – Texas hosts Texas Tech and TCU at the Drum next week. If the Longhorns win those games, the team has a chance to get that early season swagger back.
Saturday’s victory had plenty of ugly moments, but winning on the road in the Big 12 is never going to be easy. Perhaps the best sign of the afternoon is that the Longhorns never looked rattled, stayed in the game, and denied letting the Wildcats pull away. Given this team’s trajectory, that is a big deal.
