Texas point guard Marcus Carr is getting into a groove

Marcus Carr is off to a red-hot start to conference play.

Expectations were high for Marcus Carr before the season began.

He was a first-team All-Big Ten player from a year ago and one of ESPN’s highest-rated transfers of the offseason. Carr came to Texas with hopes of ending his college career strong, setting himself up for his professional career.

Carr joined a group of seven transfers and four returning players on a Texas team that many analysts believe will be a national championship contender.

The 2022 season did not get off to a hot start for Carr. Texas has struggled to find an identity and a constant rotation in Chris Beard’s first season in Austin. Carr struggled as a result of this.

The start of Big 12 conference play has felt like a fresh start for Texas and Carr. The Longhorns look like a different team as Carr has been given more control of the offense.

In Texas’ two Big 12 victories over West Virginia and Kansas State, Carr is averaging 19.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. More than doubling his nine points per game from the nonconference slate.

Texas will be a force to be reckoned with if they continue to get big-time performances from Carr the rest of the season. The Horns are 12-2 and seem to be hitting their stride.

Big 12 basketball power rankings heading into conference play

Where does each Big 12 team rank ahead of conference play?

The Big 12 is arguably the best conference in college basketball top to bottom.

The conference has five teams ranked inside the AP Poll’s Top 25 rankings with two others barely missing the cut.

The Big 12 and the Pac-12 are the only two conferences with three top-10 teams. No. 1 Baylor looks fantastic again after winning their first national title a year ago. No. 6 Kansas reloaded well in the offseason and No. 8 Iowa State has been one of the bigger surprises of the season.

No. 17 Texas and No. 25 Texas Tech round out the rest of the Big 12 schools in the top 25. Texas Tech took down No. 14 Tennessee in overtime earlier in the season to jump into the rankings and has not lost since.

Oklahoma and West Virginia are on the outside looking in but have looked very good at times this season.

With conference play starting up this week, here is a look at our updated Big 12 basketball power rankings:

Texas among schools with multiple 2022 Pro Bowlers

A look at which schools produced the most Pro Bowlers.

The 2022 Pro Bowl rosters for both the NFC and AFC were announced by the NFL earlier in the week.

Texas saw Devin Duvernay, Justin Tucker and Quandre Diggs voted on to the rosters by fans around the world.

Fox College Football’s Twitter account tweeted out a list of schools with multiple pro bowlers.

Ohio State lead the pack with six pro bowlers followed by Oklahoma with five of their own.

Texas came in tied for fifth on the list with their three former Longhorns voted as pro bowlers.

Texas Tech was the only Big 12 team outside of Texas or Oklahoma to make the cut. The Big Ten had four schools with more than one Pro Bowl starter.

The 2022 Pro Bowl will take play on Feb. 6 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. One week prior to the Super Bowl.

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WATCH: Texas F Dylan Disu posterizes two defenders

Dylan Disu with the SportsCenter Top-10!

While struggling to get any offense going early in Texas’ matchup against Alabama State, Texas forward Dylan Disu took it upon himself to get the Horns back into the game.

Disu took a Marcus Carr pass and charged in from beyond the arc to throw down a dunk over two Alabama State defenders, igniting the energy on Longhorns bench.

Disu is playing just his third game of the season after recovering from a knee injury he suffered at Vanderbilt a season ago. The forward averaged 15 points and 9.8 rebounds per game last year in the SEC.

Chris Beard believes Disu is a future NBA player who can help Texas break out of their offensive struggles.

Disu currently leads the Texas team with eight points as they try to erase an early deficit.

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Three potential candidates for Texas’ WR coach

A list of wide receiver coaches Texas should target.

News broke on Sunday that Texas wide receivers coach Andre Coleman would not be retained for the 2022 season.

Steve Sarkisian will undoubtedly target a coach with a proven track record in both development and recruiting. Texas had 15 wide receivers only the roster last season but failed to get much production outside of two or three guys.

Despite signing the No. 5 class in the country during the early signing period, Texas still has some holes at wide receiver.

Recruiting at the wide receiver position has been an issue for the Longhorns over the past couple of years. Texas only landed one receiver in the 2022 class while missing out on elite talents like Evan Stewart and CJ Williams.

Whoever Sarkisian hires will need to look to the transfer portal to add talent and depth to the room.

Take a look at a few candidates to replace Coleman as the wide receivers coach.

No. 17 Texas takes down Stanford 60-53 in Las Vegas

No. 17 Texas charges past Stanford behind big days from Jones and Allen.

It is better to win ugly than to lose pretty and that is exactly what Texas did on Sunday against the Stanford Cardinal.

For the first 17 minutes of the game, the Longhorns and Cardinal showed very little separation. Texas then put their foot on the gas to close out the half up 34-27.

The Horns kept that momentum and came out of halftime firing. Texas took advantage of a few turnovers to go on a 13-0 run, taking a commanding lead into the 10-minute mark.

Stanford clawed back into the game as Texas went on a six-minute scoring drought.

Texas held on to win 60-53 despite the late surge from Stanford.

The story of the game was the turnovers. Texas played aggressively on defense and it showed as they forced 22 Standford turnovers. While the Texas guards did not light it up in the box score, they did a good job of playing clean basketball and limiting turnovers of their own.

Key stats:

  • G Andrew Jones: 13 points, four rebounds
  • F Timmy Allen: 11 points, five rebounds and three steals
  • F Dylan Disu: 11 points, four rebounds
  • Team: 22 forced turnovers

Texas will have two more games before entering Big 12 conference play against West Virginia on New Years Day.

LOOK: Four-star DE Omari Abor sports Texas gloves for his state title game

Duncanville star spotted in Texas gear at the state championship game.

Texas target Omari Abor was spotted in Texas gloves flashing the “hook’em horns” ahead of Duncanville’s state championship game.

Abor is uncommitted and plans to sign during the February signing period. The Duncanville product has interest in Texas, Ohio State, LSU, Texas A&M and Alabama.

247Sports has Abor ranked as the No. 4 defensive end prospect in the nation and No. 9 overall player in the state of Texas. 247Sports recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks compared Abor to Denver Broncos star pass rusher, Bradley Chubb.

With only one official visit left, it will be important for Steve Sarkisian and Bo Davis to get Abor on campus before signing day.

Texas has already signed a very solid defensive line class, adding Abor to the mix with J’Modd Tapp, Justice Finkley among other signees would make up one of the best classes in the country.

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Predicting how the Texas defense will look in 2022 after NSD1

Way-too-early prediction on how the Texas defense will look next season.

The Texas defense quite frankly had one of the worst seasons in program history in 2021.

Stopping the run felt like an impossible task for Pete Kwiatkowski’s unit. The Horns constantly got gashed on the ground by almost every opponent on their schedule. Texas allowed 100-yard rushers in nine out of 12 games on the season.

As bad as the run defense was for Texas, the pass rush was not much better. Texas finished in the bottom half in the Big 12 in both sacks and quarterback pressures.

The Texas staff heavily targeted the front seven in the 2022 recruiting class. Out of the 26 players Texas signed during the early signing period, nine of which play in the front seven.

Justice Finkley and J’Modd Tapp are two edge rushers who may see the field early next season.

The biggest move Texas made on signing day was flipping cornerback Terrance Brooks from Ohio State. Brooks and safety BJ Allen will help replace the loss of Josh Thompson and BJ Foster in the secondary.

Here is an early prediction of how the Texas defense will look in 2022.

Editor’s note: This list will not contain any unsigned players or transfers

Texas lands three-star ATH Savion Red over SMU

One of the more underrated recruits in the state.

The recruiting momentum continues as Texas lands commitment No. 4 on the day with do-it-all athlete Savion Red.

Texas is hoping that they found a diamond in the rough in the Grand Prairie product. 247Sports has Red rated as a three-star recruit and the No. 205 prospect in the state of Texas.

It remains to be seen what position Red will play at the next level. During his high school career, Red showed the ability to play quarterback, running back, wide receiver and even some linebacker.

Between Red’s 5-foot-10, 210-pound frame and Texas wanting to take a second running back this class, starting Red as a running back/slot wide receiver would be a good fit.

 

 

In magical senior season at Grand Prairie, Red lead the Gophers to their first playoff win and appearance in over 32 years. He totaled over 2,200 yards and 28 touchdowns while playing both quarterback and wide receiver.

Check out this clip of Red laying the boom on a defender:

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Texas Basketball: F Dylan Disu has been medically cleared to play

Very encouraging injury news for Texas basketball.

No. 17 Texas was as active as anyone in the transfer portal during Chris Beard’s first offseason as the head coach.

One of the seven transfers that the Longhorns brought in was former Vanderbilt forward Dylan Disu.

Disu has missed the first eight games of the season up to this point while nursing a knee injury he suffered in February of last year.

The Longhorns and Disu received good news on Tuesday as the forward has been medically cleared to return to play ahead of Texas’ matchup with Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Disu could provide a spark to Chris Beard’s squad before conference play. Last season at Vanderbilt, he averaged 15 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in his 17 starts before the injury.

Expect Beard to keep Disu on a minutes restriction as Texas eases him into the frontcourt rotation alongside Timmy Allen, Tre Mitchell and Christian Bishop.

Texas will look to bounce back on Tuesday night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Longhorn Network.

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