The Good
– Demarcus Holland got 12 points, Isaiah Taylor got 11 points. That’s good production from your starting guards.
– Myles Turner was deadly from 3 point range.
The Bad
– Jonathan Holmes was very active on defense with 4 blocks but the Horns’ senior leader finished with no points and shot 0-9 from the field.
– The post players were not very active offensively. Outside of Myles Turner, the Texas big men had 9 points, and shot 3-17 from the field.
The Ugly
– 53% from 3 point range. That was better than their overall FG percentage of 47%.
– To win, the Longhorns needed to shut down Phil Forte or LeBryan Nash. They accomplished neither goal – Forte and Nash each scored 20 points.
Epilogue:
It’s not easy to win on the road, so I will give Rick Barnes a little credit in that they did not get blown out and were in the game for the most part. The Longhorns were just not clutch when they needed to be.
I don’t feel sorry for Barnes or the team, because results are results…no matter how hard you work in practice or on the court, 1-2 in the Big 12 is still 1-2. This is definitely not where the Longhorns or their fans planned to be in mid-January.
The Longhorns get a 7-day break this week, and then host the West Virginia Mountaineers next Saturday. WVU is a winnable game for the Longhorns and they need a big lift badly.
Life is not easy in the Big 12 but you play the cards you are dealt. Bottom line – Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns are not playing to their potential.