Kansas Narrowly Edges Texas 69-66

The Kansas Jayhawks rolled into Austin with their confidence at an all-time high coming off a huge win against the Baylor Bears, while the Texas Longhorns were reeling coming off two straight road losses to top 25 teams.  Kansas took an early 22-7 lead and looked like they were going to put the Longhorns away early, but Texas would not quit.  The Longhorns battled back and cut the KU lead to 3, before the the Jayhawks closed the half on an 11-2 run to end the half.  The 2nd half started like the 1st, with Kansas threatening to run the Longhorns out of the gym.  But then Texas began to do something that they have done very little of this year.  They began to get stops.  Not just 1, but 2 and 3 at a time.  The Longhorns’ tenacious defense coupled with J’Covan Brown’s will to not let his team lose brought the Longhorns back.  Texas even took a 64-60 lead with less than 3 minutes remaining, and it looked as if the young Longhorns were going to get their 1st signature win of the season.  But just as it has done all season long, turnovers and bad decisions cost the Longhorns.  With the game tied at 64, Myck Kabongo dribbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds trying to set up a play.  And then, with Texas up 66-65, Alexi Wangmene made a mistake 5th year Seniors are just not supposed to make.  He got an offensive rebound with a little over a minute to play, and instead of kicking the ball out to run some more clock, he threw up a shot falling backwards.  He missed, and Texas would not score the rest of the game.  That play by Wangmene pretty much sums up the Longhorns’ season thus far.  Mental mistakes down the stretch have cost Texas dearly.  Rick Barnes needs to get it into their heads that they are beating themselves more than other teams are beating them.  13 straight UT teams have made it to the NCAA tournament, and if they want to be #14, they will have to play smarter.

What Lies Ahead for Texas:

Iowa State comes to Austin this Tuesday.  The Cyclones beat Texas in Ames earlier in the month, but that was a different Texas team.  I expect the Longhorns to come out prepared to play tomorrow.  Iowa State is tied with Baylor for 3rd in the Big 12, while Texas is in a 4 way tie for 5th place.

Keys to Success for Texas:

– Make shots: You would think that a team with the number of good shooters Texas has would be shooting better than 34% from the 3 point line.  For whatever reason, Texas’ guards have not shot the ball well so far this season.  Now would have as good a time as any for them to break out of their shooting slump.  Had they not shot 30% from the field against Kansas, they would have probably beaten the Jayhawks.

– Guard the 3 point line: Iowa State shot 10-21(48%) from behind the arc in their last matchup with Texas.  The Cyclones can shoot, so the Longhorns will have to close out well on shooters and contest every shot

– Get the ball inside to Chapman and Holmes: Chapman had his way against the Cyclones in the last matchup, and Holmes can take White off the dribble and get him in foul trouble.  Rick Barnes isn’t using Holmes properly offensively and Texas is suffering.  He has shown he is a good enough shooter to keep defenses honest.  Some pick and rolls with him and Brown would put a lot of pressure on that side of the floor and leave shooters like McClellan or Lewis wide open in the opposite corner.

– More playing time for Sterling Gibbs: There’s no way to justify Gibbs’ benching the Julien Lewis has been playing of late.  I’m all for giving kids opportunities to redeem themselves, but it seems like Gibbs isn’t getting the same opportunities when he makes mistakes.  He has played well when given minutes, we need him to be successful this year.

– Start fast: Maybe Rick Barnes should have them scrimmage for 10 minutes before the game because for whatever reason Texas does not play well from the opening tip.  They fell behind 22-7 on Saturday before finally deciding to play.  Running uphill is a lot harder than running on flat ground.  The Longhorns need to be able to fire themselves up for the tip.

– Play smart: Mental errors have doomed the Longhorns. We’ve been seeing it since J’Covan Brown eliminated himself from the NC State game with 8 minutes left, and it seems like Texas still has not learned its lesson.  Unforced turnovers, bad shots, losing assignments, not being prepared to play are all reasons why Texas is in jeopardy of missing the NCAA tournament for the 1st time in 14 years.

Game Notes:

– J’Covan Brown scored 24 points, handed out 7 assists and pulled down 6 rebounds

– Clint Chapman continued his strong play with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks

– Sheldon McClellan also continued his Robin act with 11 points and 5 rebounds