The Texas Longhorns built off their win against No. 16 West Virginia, dominating the TCU Horned Frogs, 66-48, on Monday night in Fort Worth. The Horns established themselves as the superior team in the game’s first five minutes, and kept their focus throughout the game. With an early lead on the road, this would have been an easy game for Texas to falter, but Rick Barnes’ club left no doubts about which team was more talented.
The Good‘”
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[*]Isaiah Taylor and Cameron Ridley combined for 19 point in the first half. The early lead set the tone and was crucial to the team’s success throughout the game.
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[*]Javan Felix had 15 points off the bench on 11 FG attempts. Felix is one of the only players on the team that actively looks to take shots. Since everyone knows he’ going to shoot the ball, you hope for nights like this when he does.
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[*]Myles Turner scored in double digits off the bench. 11 points…ho hum.
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[*]My predictions are back! I predicted a 65-46 victory for the Longhorns. Oh yeah, I am money now.
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The Bad‘”
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[*]The lack of adjustment by Texas in the early part of the second half where TCU was able to easily penetrate the middle of the Texas zone. TCU got too many easy looks and took advantage to the tune of an 8-2 run.
[*]Isaiah Taylor and Cameron Ridley only scored 4 points in the second half.
[*]Whoever scored that last TCU layup at the buzzer. Not cool man, Not cool. You ruined my nearly-perfect score prediction.
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The Ugly‘”
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[*]Trent Johnson taking Kyan Anderson out of the game. I guess that would be in the “Good” category for Texas but it robbed us college basketball fans of a “What if” Anderson was in the game.
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Epilogue
In any sport, if you shut down the best player on a certain team, you will win 95% of the time, and the Longhorns shut down the best player on the court for the Horned Frogs. Obviously, Trent Johnson helped in that regard but only two points for the star senior is never going to win games for TCU. Couple that with only 3 points for Juwan Staten (WVU’s leading scorer) last Saturday and the Longhorns are doing what they are supposde to do – play smothering defense.
The Longhorns have an interesting schedule during the current two week stretch – they play Saturday-Monday games both weeks. Doing so is good practice for the tournament.
WVU and TCU were good examples of tournament opponents in the first 2 rounds, but like the second weekend of the tournament, things are about to get tougher. Kansas and Iowa State effectively simulate going to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight.
How Texas performs in these two games will be crucial to set the tone for the rest of the Big 12 season. If they win both, they are 5-2 in the league and are likely in first place. If they lose both, it will knock them out of the race for the Big 12 title. Buckle up Texas fans, you’re going to learn a lot over the next week.
