Texas returns to form

FINAL SCORE: Texas 77 – West Virginia 50

1^st Half: Texas 37 – West Virginia 23‘”

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[*]Connor Lammert is starting – take that as a sign of the week he had in practice.

 

[*]The Mountaineers do an excellent job of making the extra pass on offense. Their shots aren’t falling, but WVU is getting good looks.

 

[*]In the first 7:00 of play, Texas is playing with more energy and hustle than they have in the first 2 weeks of 2015.

 

[*]Blocks, points in the paint, alley oops…this is a completely different team than the one that was blown out by OU.

 

[*]Texas maintained their lead with Isaiah Taylor on the bench (2 early fouls) for most of the half.

 

[*]The 3-guard lineup has been effective for the Horns. With extra speed on the floor, Texas is having more success feeding the post.

 

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2^nd Half: Texas 40 – West Virginia 27‘”

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[*]The Horns open up the first 5 minutes of the half with six quick fouls and three turnovers. Texas is not nearly as crisp, but is maintain their lead.

 

[*]Nice adjustment by Rick Barnes to go back to a 3-guard lineup after the 5-minute timeout. The offense has been night & day better with an extra guard on the floor today.

 

[*]This half feels like Texas is doing their best to allow WVU to make this game close. The Mountaineers are not taking advantage of the invitation.

 

[*]Dribble penetration has opened up the floor for the Texas offense. Cam Ridley converted easy buckets all evening off passes from teammates dribbling in from the perimeter.

 

[*]During an 11-minute stretch, the Mountaineers missed 14 consecutive shots.

 

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Top takeaway

After lackluster play since the Kentucky game, Texas looked like the team from November. A hard week of practice and frequent questions of the team’s heart clearly motivated the Horns tonight. Whether they build off this win is now the question.

The stat story‘”

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[*]11 Mountaineer players had at least 1 foul by halftime.

 

[*]Juwan Staten was 0-3 shooting in the first half. His first made field goal came with 1:00 left in the game (1-7 for the game).

 

[*]Texas shot 92% from the free throw line in the 2^nd half and finished 31-37 (84%) for the game. Jonathan Holmes’ 11 made free throws is a career-best mark.

 

[*]Despite comfortable win, Texas did not shoot three pointers well – 4/15 (26.7%).

 

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Looking ahead

Texas travels to Fort Worth to play TCU on Monday night, and then has 4 days to prepare for Kansas. The Jayhawks come to Austin for a Saturday afternoon tilt.