Oh so close! (Texas loses to OU, 71-69 by Chris Flanagan)

[HornSports Staff]

submitted on Today, 11:49 PM in Texas Longhorns Basketball By Chris Flanagan
 
The Good

• 13 blocks - a UT record. That's impressive.
• Kendal Yancy had a huge game. If he provides this type of production for the rest of the season, Texas will be a much better team moving forward.
• Myles Turner is being more physical. That needs to be his game.

The Bad

• Too many fouls committed by the Longhorns and conversely they did not draw enough fouls. In crunch time, the Longhorns were still only in a 1-and-1 situation.
• I know Jonathan Holmes is good at hitting 3's at the buzzer, but the team needed that offense throughout the game too. It wasn't there on Tuesday night.
• The worst time to miss a free throw is right at the end of the game. Kendal Yancy tried to undo a solid outing in one ill-timed miss.

The Ugly

After Myles Turner hit the 2nd free throw to go up 64-58 with 3:36 to go, an upset for the Longhorns looked probable. However, the entire team faltered at the end. A recap of the 13-5 run that doomed Texas:

1. The Texas defense eft Buddy Hield wide open for 3.
2. Javan Felix was careless with the ball.
3. TaShawn Thomas gets a open look, and Myles Turner commits a needless foul. Thomas makes the three point play.
4. Kendal Yancy missed a 3 pointer.
5. Jonathan Holmes blocked Thomas' shot but the Sooners got the ball back and Jordan Woodard drove to the basket and made a circus shot.
6. Jonathan Holmes took a quick 3 and missed.
7. Texas left Spangler wide open and he made an easy layup.

The rest, as they say, is history.



Epilogue

Give Texas credit, they played very well tonight. However, a loss is a loss is a loss. Texas' inability to close games has doomed the Longhorns all season long. The Longhorns beat up on the teams below them in the standings but their inconsistencies against teams above them in the standings is going to kill them when it comes to Selection Sunday.

Next up, the Longhorns host the Cyclones at home on Saturday. If the Longhorns play as well as they did in Norman, I believe they can win the game because the Cyclones are not a good road team. The Cyclones have lost all 4 of their Big 12 road games this season. At this point, every game is a must win for the Horns and Saturday's game is no different. 

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I fear our tourney chances are slipping away.

 

[Juan]

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[Juan]

I fear our tourney chances are slipping away.

RPI still 32 even after the loss

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/sort/RPI

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[utisdabomb12]

RPI still 32 even after the loss

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rpi/_/sort/RPI

Yep. It's going to be almost impossible for Texas to not make the tournament, unless they have a monumental collapse. Like I said, 2-4 probably gets the job done down the stretch. 1-5 with a couple wins in the Big 12 tourney might even do it. 

A good indicator of the bubble is to add the KenPom and ESPN RPI. 75-85 is usually where the bubble is at. Texas is 18 in the Kenpom and 32 in the ESPN RPI. In other words, we are still at 50 with a good bit of cushion. 

That's what makes the Big 12 so advantageous. Losses on the road don't really mean much. Wins on the road are big time RPI boosters. Losses at home can hurt but aren't that bad based on the teams in the Big 12. Wins at home are good RPI boosters because of the competition. There really aren't bad losses in the Big 12 (excluding Tech). 

 

[dillohorn]

The season isn't getting any prettier.

 

[Juan]

Yep. It's going to be almost impossible for Texas to not make the tournament, unless they have a monumental collapse. Like I said, 2-4 probably gets the job done down the stretch. 1-5 with a couple wins in the Big 12 tourney might even do it. 

,,,,,,,

And, like Penders suggests above, 10/11 is better than 8/9 and opposite UK  in the round of 32

10/11 are in the 2/3 half of the bracket

Chalk has 10 playing 2, and 11 playing 3 (if you win first game) -- its your best shot of 8-11 seeds

 

[utisdabomb12]

Penders is a jackass, but he's right about Texas potentially making a run (that's more a reference to any team in the tournament). 

IMO the NCAA committee needs to do something that gives higher seeds a bigger advantage, like home court. Heck, a 7 and 8 seed played in the championship game last year. The truth of the matter is there isn't a huge disparity between 1 and 12 seeds nowadays. The regular season has almost become worthless to an extent.

Penders is also right about it being better to be a 10/11 over 8/9 seed. If Texas goes 3-3 though over this stretch I still think they probably get a 9 seed.

 

[Juan]

As an 11-seed, we may have a reasonable shot against the 6 then 3 seed in this field on a neutral court

Depends on the matchups and if we can find  some momentum

Honestly, the odds are against it (and us) but this is our best shot

 

[Juan]

Not trying to piss you off with more Penders, but this string is related to yesterdays too-brief HS discussion about the difference between Penders-teams and Barnes-teams

One of the bigger ones to me was Penders' players had some swagger (sorry! let's call it confidence or attitude instead) while Barnes' guys play scared (afraid of coach-wrath more than the opponent)

It's almost like Penders read this board, then tweeted about it --

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[Worster1]

Gosh, this was another disappointing loss than could, woulda, shoulda been a win.  There were bright spots but poor ball handling by Felix just killed us at key times in this game.  A 6 point lead with 3.5 min. left and it was squandered like other games this season.  IMHO this team does not seem to know how to focus and close the game out with a lead, like tonight I sense they may take their foot off the gas toward the end.

 

[utisdabomb12]

As an 11-seed, we may have a reasonable shot against the 6 then 3 seed in this field on a neutral court

Depends on the matchups and if we can find  some momentum

Honestly, the odds are against it (and us) but this is our best shot

Any 11 seed has a reasonable shot against the 6 and 3 seed. That's college basketball nowadays, there's not much disparity between teams. While it's good for the tournament, it makes the regular season kind of worthless to a degree. "Just make the tournament" really is a mantra that has truth in college basketball. 

That's why I'm a proponent of what college baseball does. Give home court  until the final 4. The NCAA needs to start rewarding the higher seeds more IMO. It's exciting to see upsets in the tournament, but if 7 and 8 seeds keep winning the ship the regular season becomes meaningless. 

 

[utisdabomb12]

Not trying to piss you off with more Penders, but this string is related to yesterdays too-brief HS discussion about the difference between Penders-teams and Barnes-teams

One of the bigger ones to me was Penders' players had some swagger (sorry! let's call it confidence or attitude instead) while Barnes' guys play scared (afraid of coach-wrath more than the opponent)

It's almost like Penders read this board, then tweeted about it --

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011


Penders was a good coach. Much like Barnes he just wasn't elite. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. I'm more inclined in believing that Barnes' style of play is conducive to winning titles. At the end of the day, I think our struggles are more indicative of personnel then style of play. Granted, that falls on Barnes to find the right players.  

The problem with Holmes is he isn't a perimeter player. He's a gritty type player that outworks players down low. We need to put him back on the low block. More Turner and Holmes down low, and less Ridley. More Felix/Yancy on the perimeter and less Holmes on the perimeter. Holmes best game in awhile was against WV when he got into a few altercations with other players. That's who Holmes is. You have to put him down low and let him get "dirty", that's the type of player he is. 

 

[Juan]

Any 11 seed has a reasonable shot against the 6 and 3 seed. That's college basketball nowadays, there's not much disparity between teams. While it's good for the tournament, it makes the regular season kind of worthless to a degree. "Just make the tournament" really is a mantra that has truth in college basketball. 

...............

Texas fans in Austin dont need any more reasons not to go to games

Last year was pretty wild - a 7 vs. an 8 in the Final?  Really?  Really

 

[Juan]

I dont know who this is, but he was making me laugh last night as we were going down

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[utisdabomb12]

Texas fans in Austin dont need any more reasons not to go to games

Last year was pretty wild - a 7 vs. an 8 in the Final?  Really?  Really

Basketball attendance is a problem throughout all of college basketball. The NCAA needs to figure out how to make regular season games more meaningful. 

Cut down the field or give home court advantage up to the elite 8 or final 4. They need to do something.

It won't surprise me if there's another 7 or 8 matchup again (granted I still think Kentucky is the favorite). Michigan State, Georgetown, Indiana, Ohio State type teams are all capable of winning it all. 

 

[Juan]

Basketball attendance is a problem throughout all of college basketball. The NCAA needs to figure out how to make regular season games more meaningful. ....

I would add more entertaining

The rules (and rules interpretation by the refs)  favor defense now

Lotsa boring games, lotsa bad offenses out there

A big part of the charm of college ball is that its fun, or supposed to be

Outside of UK, there are only a handful of other teams i enjoy watching

Inside the B12, I think I actually like watching Iowa State play the most - hate me if you must for that

 

[utisdabomb12]

I would add more entertaining

The rules (and rules interpretation by the refs)  favor defense now

Lotsa boring games, lotsa bad offenses out there

Outside of UK, there are only a handful of other teams i enjoy watching

Inside the B12, I think I actually like watching Iowa State play the most - hate me if you must for that

Yep. 

They need to change the shot clock from 35 to around 24 seconds. 

They also need to add a defensive 3 seconds technical.

The new foul rule was intended to help offenses, but it's done far from that. All it's done is slowed down the pace of games. 

Nicole Auerbach is a good follow on Twitter for this. She's pretty adamant on these changes and wrote a good article a month ago about the issue. This year is slowest pace ever in college basketball, and like you said it's pretty boring. 

 

[utisdabomb12]

I would be happy if they just implement a 3 seconds in the lane defensive technical rule. Zone defense will eventually kill college basketball. I understand why Barnes runs zone though, the rules kind of dictate that you have to run it to some extent.