Lovell’s Thoughts Following a Road Loss in Morgantown

Texas went to Morgantown Saturday and suffered their worst loss of the season. The Mountaineers entered the game 5-10 including December losses to below average Mid-Major teams UMass and Radford.

West Virginia will be one of the worst teams Texas plays the rest of the season which is part of the reason why the loss is quite concerning. Texas is sitting at 1-2 in Big 12 play after likely the easiest stretch they will have in conference play.

 The schedule gets tougher this week, playing UCF at home on Wednesday and Baylor at home on Saturday. UCF is coming off an upset win last week over Kansas before a loss to BYU at home. Baylor is posed to likely be the best team Texas has played since Marquette in December. Scott Drew’s team this season is not one of the best he has put on the court, but they will still present a great challenge for the Longhorns. The Bears are coming off a loss Tuesday to Kansas State in OT and will be looking for a bounce-back win.

Let’s dive into what Rodney Terry and the Longhorns need to do to turn this season around before it’s too late.

Kadin Shedrick Needs to Get Healthy

Forward Kadin Shedrick missed the victory against Cincinnati last week due to a back injury but returned against West Virginia. He clearly wasn’t healthy as he played just four minutes in the loss. Shedrick came in off the bench but after exiting the game the first time he had a back pad placed around his lower back and did not return.

Much like Dylan Disu, Shedrick is extremely important to the success of the Longhorns this year. If Shedrick is out for an extended period of time, that will be a significant blow to Rodney Terry’s bunch. Terry and the training staff need to sit Shedrick down and make sure he heals properly and doesn’t rush back. If he rushes back and aggravates the injury further and is out for the long-term that is much worse than missing a couple of games in January.

Tyrese Hunter Can’t Play Just 21 Minutes

In the loss to West Virginia Hunter played just 21 minutes which simply can’t happen. Part of the reasoning is that reserve guard Chendall Weaver played 18 minutes which is more than his typical 10-15 minutes. That is not a good enough reason to not have Hunter out there for 30+ minutes. If nothing else, Hunter’s presence takes some pressure off of Max Abmas.

Hunter has been largely up and down this year but cutting his minutes isn’t the answer. During his time in Austin Hunter has certainly had moments which reminded people of the star potential he showed at Iowa State as a freshman. Good teams will take away Abmas or at the least make things very difficult on him. When that happens Hunter has to take advantage and be an offensive hub.

Move Brock Cunningham to the Bench

Brock Cunningham is great in his role and has been for years in Austin. This year he is being asked to play a role that isn’t suited for him. Cunningham has been playing over 30 minutes a game compared to 15-20 minutes a game last year. Part of that is due to injuries and need, but moving Brock to the bench would help this team. He is a great energy role player who plays good defense and can knock down the three. Cunningham has never played as many minutes a game as he has this year and therefore is using his energy properly without being gassed has been a challenge. You can see that in his play.

Not every player is best used by playing more minutes, some are best in that 20 minute role. In a smaller role Brock can be as energetic as he wants while not having to worry about distributing his energy incorrectly. By benching Brock, Chendall Weaver can start which will help the team as well. Weaver can be a third ball handler and someone who can create his own shot, which is a problem for some on the team. It allows the Longhorns to play faster as well, which plays to their strengths.