Texas drops heartbreaker to Missouri 67-66

The Texas Longhorns lost another close game to a ranked team last night.  Michael Dixon led the Tigers with 21 points on 9-10 shooting, including the eventual game winning layup that put Mizzou up 1 with 31 seconds left.  Texas had a chance to win the game on the final possession, but came up just short.  Coming out of the timeout with the ball and 27 seconds left on the clock, Texas got the ball to its big shot maker J’Covan Brown.  There was only one problem, Missouri came out in a zone and it looked like they caught the Longhorns by surprise.  Brown then threw a cross court pass to Myck Kabongo, who was wide open by the Texas sideline.  Instead of calling a timeout to set up another play, Rick Barnes allowed his team to figure it out on the court as he has been doing all season long.  And the result was the same it has been all season long.  Kabongo drove to the basket, and shot a floater that fell just short. Rick Barnes and his staff ran onto the court screaming for a foul, but none was called.  Replays and pictures show that Myck Kabongo was fouled by Matt Pressey on his shot attempt to win the game.   The Big 12 Coordinator of Officials for Men’s Basketball, Mr. Curtis Shaw even agreed that Kabongo was fouled on the shot attempt.  In reality, all that doesn’t matter because no foul was called and it counts as another loss for Texas.  A close loss, but it’s still a loss.

Ever since the game ended, Longhorn fans have been looking for places to assign blame.  Some blame Kabongo for taking the last shot, some say it was Rick Barnes’ fault for not calling a timeout, a few have said official Gerry Pollard should not have been allowed to officiate the game being a former Missouri police officer.  The fact of the matter is that the players lost this game.  All of them collectively.  They shot 2-12(17%) from 3 point range and only made 67% of their free throws.  In my post leading up to the game I said that Texas would need to make shots to win the game.  They did not.  You aren’t going to beat many teams shooting 17% from 3 and 67% from the free throw line, let alone the #4 team in the country.

Rick Barnes:

Blame was being assigned every where by Barnes after the loss last night.  He was right to be upset that no foul was called, but griping about it in the post game press conference didn’t change a thing.  He also said J’Covan Brown was supposed to cut down the lane, and it appeared that the lane was open for Brown to cut.  But that was not the play that was called.  The bottom line is that Texas had another timeout, Barnes should’ve called the timeout to get the exact play he wanted.  It wasn’t like it was just a shot to beat the shot clock, it was a shot to win the game.  A shot that could’ve given his team the resume strengthening win it so badly needs.  The win it still searching for with less than a month left in the season.

What Lies Ahead for Texas:

A date with last place Texas Tech on Saturday in Austin.  The Longhorns badly need this win.  A loss here, and Texas fans should start worrying about whether or not their team will even make the NIT

Keys to Success for Texas:

– Make shots: This point in the season would be as good as any for Texas to start shooting the ball well again.

– Stay confident, stick together: Fans should panic, but the players shouldn’t.  They control their destiny.  They have shown they can play with anybody in the Big 12.  They need to stay together, stay focused and keep playing hard.  The wins will come.

– Don’t overlook Tech: They’re in last place, but Texas is in 2nd to last place right now.  The Longhorns should come out looking to put Tech away early.

– Regain confidence: This is a great game for Texas to regain some of its confidence and swagger.  No doubt losing close games is taking a toll on them.  They need to win this game and win big for them to start believing they can win again.

Game Recap:

J’Covan Brown led Texas with 20 points

Julien Lewis added 12 points