Tag: Texas basketball news

Texas Basketball: Jericho Sims, Kai Jones and Jase Febres to miss ISU game

The Texas Longhorns will be without Jericho Sims, Jase Febres and Kai Jones against the Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday.

Life for the Texas men’s basketball team has been rough going through the thick of their conference schedule. Life didn’t get any better as they prepare for their next matchup with the Iowa State Cyclones. The Longhorns will be looking for the season series sweep on Saturday, one of their lone bright spots on this season filled with disappointments.

The Longhorns will be without Kai Jones and Jase Febres for the Cyclones game and now it looks like Jericho Sims will be out for an undetermined amount of time. The latest news came as a bit of shock as he is dealing with a back injury that could possibly keep him sidelines for the rest of the season. That was a huge blow to the Longhorns basketball team that has had their own issues on the court.

Sims currently sits 8th among Big 12 rebounders with 8.2/game. The Longhorns will now need to find production with no other Texas player in the top 20 rebounders in the conference. This likely will mean more playing time for Royce Hamm Jr who is only averaging 9.4 minutes per game. He also averages 2.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. The Longhorns could also lean on more Kamaka Hepa to play some more minutes for Texas.

The Cyclones are dealing with injury issues of their own with Tyrese Haliburton done for the year with a fractured wrist. He was averaging 15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. The Longhorns travel to Ames, Iowa on Saturday for the final regular season matchup between these two schools.

 

Sloppy Play and Poor Shooting Derails Texas Longhorns 69-51

The Texas Longhorns couldn’t overcome 19 turnovers a shooting just 26% from the field as they fell to Iowa State 69-51.

The Texas Longhorns were looking for the sweep but unfortunately sloppy play and poor shooting doomed their attempt to wrap up the season series with Iowa State. The Cyclones duo of Ashley Joens and Kristin Scott were too much for Texas as they combined for 43 points. Outside of Charli Collier, the Longhorns didn’t have a consistent secondary scorer.

Early on for the Texas Longhorns it was very sloppy with six turnovers in the first quarter. Despite them matching their turnovers totals in their last matchup with the Cyclones in one quarter, the Longhorns kept the game close. Charli Collier with was big on the boards with five rebounds to go with her team-high six points in the opening quarter. Celeste Taylor was an absolute pest with three steals in the quarter.

The Longhorns struggled to score in the second quarter, at one point went on a five-minute scoring drought as the Cyclones went on a run. A 9-2 run by Iowa State increased their lead to 11 with 2:47 left in the half. Collier did her best to keep the Longhorns in the game. She finished the half with 13 points and six rebounds. Collier’s three-pointer at the buzzer closed out the quarter to get Texas within nine.

The Longhorns struggles continued into the third quarter, Texas couldn’t get on the board until Sug Sutton’s first basket with 4:09 left in the quarter. After threatening to grow the lead to 20, the Longhorns put some pressure on the Cyclones ball handlers. After being held scoreless in the first six minutes, Texas scored 10 points over the final four minutes.

Iowa State was able to build the lead back up due to the number of fouls committed by Texas. The conference’s second leading free throw team showed why they are so good at the charity stripe. Much like the end of the half, it ended with a Longhorn nailing a three to end the half. This time Joyner Holmes found Joanne Allen-Taylor in the corner as time expired. Texas still trailed 50-34.

In the final quarter, Ashley Joens was able to get a quick bucket for the Cyclones. They would go over four minutes between made field goals but the Longhorns were unable to take advantage with only five points in that stretch.  Despite the defense forcing a season-high in turnovers, there was nothing to show for it.

Collier finished the game with a double-double but she couldn’t carry the team to a win. Texas finished shooting just 26.9 percent from the field and 5-31 from behind the arc. Texas looks to get back on the winning track against Kansas on Saturday.

 

Former Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge Leads Spurs To End Skid

Former Texas Longhorns basketball player LaMarcus Aldridge has big fourth quarter to help end the Spurs losing streak.

Basketball in San Antonio hasn’t lived up to expectations as of late. The Spurs headed to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night on a five-game losing streak. Hoping to stop the bleeding prior to the NBA’s All-Star Break it was former Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge who rose to the challenge.

The Spurs got off to a hot start outscoring the Thunder 25-14 in the opening quarter. Aldridge scored six of his 25 points in the first, he finished with a team high 25 points against the Thunder. They were able to weather the storm during the middle two quarters where OKC was able to outscore the Spurs 63-54 to close the gap to just two points.

The Thunder were able to tie the game up at 79 early in the fourth quarter thanks to a Hamidou Diallo basket with 11:46 to go in the game. It was the closest they had been all game since early on the first quarter. Thanks to Aldridge and Dejounte Murray, the Spurs were able to shut the door on a comeback victory.

Aldridge scored 12 of his 25 in the fourth quarter to go along with his 14 rebounds. That marked LA’s 14th double-double on the season for the Spurs. Murray also matched Aldridge with 12 in the fourth to give the Spurs the 114-106 victory.

Texas women’s basketball: How to watch, listen and stream versus Iowa State

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team hosts Iowa State on Wednesday night. Here is how to watch, listen and stream the game.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball return to the court at the Frank Erwin Center Wednesday night to host the Iowa State Cyclones. These two teams met back on January 6th that finished in a 81-75 win for Texas. The Longhorns have won six of their last seven games with the only loss coming at the hands of the second-ranked Baylor Bears.

The Cyclones have also lost to the Bears recently and are 2-2 in their last four games. They come into this game on a two-game win streak after beating Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in back-to-back games. The Cyclones failed to defend homecourt in the last matchup with Texas and will be looking to return the favor.

Dating back to the beginning of the 2017-18 season, Texas has owned the series going 5-2. The Longhorns will need to find a way to slow down the Big 12’s top scorer Ashley Joens, who averages 21.3 points per game. Joens is also a top five rebounder at 10.5 (4th) per game.

Offense and Defense Rankings

  • Iowa State points per game: 74.7 (4th)
  • Iowa State points against per game: 66.1 (7th)
  • Texas points per game: 72.0 (5th)
  • Texas points against per game: 64.0 (5th)

Date: 2/12/2020

Time: 7:00 p.m. CST

Location: Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas

Watch: Longhorn’s Network

Listen: TexasSports.com/audio —Austin 104.9FM, 99.3FM, 98.5FM, 1260AM; Dallas 1080AM; El Paso 600AM; Houston 790AM; San Antonio 1200AM — Spanish: Austin 105.3FM; Dallas 990AM, 99.9FM

Stream: Watch ESPN

Texas Basketball: Three Takeaways From The Baylor Loss

The Texas Longhorns fell once again to the Baylor Bears, three reasons for their latest loss in their current three-game skid.

The Texas Longhorns men’s basketball team is amidst a three-game losing streak after dropping their last game to Baylor, completing a season sweep for the Bears. During the broadcast ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla mentioned the amount of talent that the Longhorns have secured over the Shaka Smart tenure.

No Go To Scorer

The main cause for the losses as of late is development under Smart. With 11 top 100 players signed to play basketball, the Longhorns have yet to display the fruits of their labor on the hardwood. Against the Bears, Texas struggled to score consistently enough to keep up with their defense against a number one team. Texas fell to 0-11 against top ranked teams in their history.

Against the Bears, Longhorns’ guard Matt Coleman III led all scorers along with Baylor’s MaCio Teague with 11 points. That falls below is 12.6 points per game during Big 12 play. While Coleman has been the best for the team, Texas lacks that go to option when the going gets tough.

Shooting

During Monday’s game the Longhorns made one more basket that Baylor but lost by seven to the nation’s top ranked team. Over the three-game skid the Longhorns have been especially poor from behind the line. Shooting just 20.3 percent from behind the arc on 64 attempts. The average 4.3 makes on 21.3 attempts per game.

Arguably their best three point shooter missing in Jase Febres didn’t help matters but they have really struggled from distance. Overall their shooting hasn’t been there either. The Longhorns need to get more quality shots on the offensive side. Or attempt to get to the free throw line.

Over the last three games Texas has shot just 34.6 percent from the field with 63 makes on 182 attempts. Against the Bears they shot the lowest of that stretch with 30.5 percent. Despite a strong defensive effort, it is increasingly difficult to beat anyone when you miss that many shots. Texas is dead last in the conference at 64.6 points per game.

Rebounding

Despite having a big man like Jericho Sims who snagged 14 rebounds against Baylor, Texas has really struggled on the glass. They average the least amount of offensive rebounds per game which would give them more opportunities to score. Which could help counteract their porous shooting performances.

In total rebounds, the Longhorns average just 32.9 rebounds per game while allowing 35.8 per game. Their rebounding margin (-2.92) per game is the worst of the conference. Texas needs to make a more concerted effort to dominate the glass if they expect to compete with the top teams in the conference despite a disadvantage in shooting on a nightly basis.

 

 

ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla Rips into Texas Athletics

Texas once again lost at home last night, this time to Baylor. During the game, ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla gave his opinion on Texas athletics.

Texas once again lost at home last night, this time to the top-ranked team in the country, Baylor. While the game itself was a disaster, something possibly overshadowed it from the ESPN broadcast.

Playing the latter part of the Big Monday doubleheader, Bob Wischusen and Fran Fraschilla were the play by play and color commentator. In the middle of the first half, Fraschilla had some comments on the state of Texas’ athletic program.

“Texas has been in the past about excellence, and let’s be honest. Most of their major sports are not very good right now,” said Fraschilla.

He got more specific and mentioned specific sports saying “7-5 in football doesn’t cut it. Women’s basketball is ok, baseball is horrible. That’s not Texas athletics.”

To some extent, Fraschilla is correct. The football season was not what was expected from the Longhorns this season, even if the Alamo Bowl victory over Utah carries momentum into the 2020 season. Getting to the Big 12 championship game and winning the Sugar Bowl in 2018 was nice, but as of now, that season has been a one-off from years of average to losing seasons.

When Fraschilla says women’s basketball is “ok,” there is room for debate because the Longhorns have made it to the NCAA tournament 10 out of the last 11 seasons. Not just losing in the first weekend either, they have made it to at least the Sweet 16 every single year since the 2015 tournament, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2016.

Yes, the two major sports for most Division I teams in football and men’s basketball are struggling for Texas right now. However, calling out the entire athletic program is unfair from Fraschilla. Here is a list of other Texas teams currently ranked inside the top 10 of their respective sport:

Track and Field

  • Men’s: 3rd
  • Women’s: 5th

Swimming

  • Men: 1st
  • Women’s: 10th

Golf

  • Men: 1st
  • Women’s Golf: 1st

Tennis

  • Men: 2nd
  • Women: 7th

Softball:

  • 6th

Women’s Volleyball:

  • 8th

Indoor Track

  • Men:4th
  • Women: 4th

Fraschilla was fair to criticize the major sports and they must improve for Athletic Director Chris Del Conte. Changes might be coming, especially to the men’s basketball program. As an athletic program though, the Longhorns are doing well, being ranked inside the top 10 in 12 different Olympic sports.

Once football and men’s basketball figure it out, it will only get better for Texas.

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Texas Loses Third Straight Game, Falls to No. 1 Baylor

Going into the game against BU, UT had lost back to back games. The Bears made it three in a row as they came into Austin and beat UT, 52-45.

Going into Monday night’s game against Baylor, the Longhorns had lost back to back games against Kansas and Texas Tech, nearly shutting the door on their NCAA Tournament hopes. The Bears completely shut that door closed, as they came into Austin and beat Texas, 52-45.

As usual, three-pointers are what killed the Longhorns’ chances of winning. Texas shot 3-17 from behind the arc, their second time shooting below 20% from three in two games. Both Courtney Ramey and Kamaka Heps were 0-4, struggling all night for the Longhorns.

Another common theme of the season has been the lack of free throws and it continued on Monday night. Texas was right on their season average, getting to the foul line 11 times. Making just over half of them with six, the Longhorns continue to struggle with free throws.

Andrew Jones and Matt Coleman were the only Texas players in double figures with 10 and 11 points respectively but shot a combined 8-24 from the field and 3-8 from the three-point line. The Longhorn offense struggled, killing their chances of an upset.

Baylor was not much better on offense than Texas, scoring their lowest amount of the entire season. The Bears were held to 34% shooting from the field and shot better from deep, making 37% of their threes. They remain unbeaten in Big 12 play, having a 1.5 game lead over Kansas in the Big 12.

Going forward for Texas, the opportunity to make the NCAA Tournament is more than likely over. They will have two chances to get big wins at home against West Virginia and on the road to Texas Tech but even then, it may not be enough.

All focus should be on the Big 12 tournament and how far the Longhorns can make it in Kansas City. With the mountain already a little too steep to climb up, it will be the last chance Shaka Smart has to prove himself as the head coach worthy of leading this program.

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Sug Sutton Named Among Candidates For Nancy Lieberman Award

Texas senior guard Sug Sutton has been named among the 10 candidates for the Nancy Lieberman Award given to the nation’s top point guard.

The Nancy Lieberman Award is given out to the nation’s top point guard in women’s college basketball. The award was introduced in 2000 and given to Sue Bird. Twice the award has been given to a Big 12 player with Andrea Riley of Oklahoma State in 2009-2010 season and Odyssey Sims for Baylor in 2013-14.

Texas Longhorns guard Sug Sutton has been named to the top 10 candidates for the Nancy Lieberman Award. Sutton is averaging 12.7 points per game with 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 5.4 assists. The senior was named to the All-Big 12 first team last season as well as the Big 12 All-Tournament team in 2019.

USA Today Sports Bracketology: Where Is Texas Basketball Ranked?

A tough season for the Texas Longhorns basketball might get worse down the stretch but do they have a shot at the tournament?

USA Today Sports writers Shelby Mast and Scott Gleeson have come out with their latest bracketology as they predict just who will get invited to the dance. March Madness is one of the most hectic and enjoyable sports moments of the college season but just how realistic is it that Texas could get an invite?

The Big 12 Schools

  • The number one seeds: Kansas, Baylor
  • 3rd seed: West Virginia
  • 7th seed: Texas Tech
  • 9th seed: Oklahoma
  • Considered for at-large bid: Texas Christian, Texas

The Big 12 Conference is predicted to have five slots for at large bids. For the Texas Longhorns to find a way into the tournament they would need to get ahead of both TCU and Oklahoma or win the Big 12 Tournament. According to the NET rankings which is a team-ranking metric used by the selection committee has Texas at 66. TCU comes in at 80 and Oklahoma is 49th. This ranking metric replaced the rating percentage index or RPI (Texas at 50) for criteria used by the selection committee.

The Longhorns aren’t necessarily eliminated from a potential spot in the dance but their chances to get in are very minor. A strong showing against Baylor, TCU, Oklahoma and Texas Tech in the coming weeks will be huge for the program and the future of head coach Shaka Smart.

Big Second and Third Quarter Help Longhorns Sweep The Lady Raiders

A big second quarter after falling down 11 helps the Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team sweep the Lady Raiders.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team travelled to Lubbock, Texas to play the Lady Raiders for the final time in the regular season. The Longhorns fell early on in the game against Texas Tech 11-4. Celeste Taylor hit a three pointer to get back within four points. Higgs layup got Texas within one before the Lady Raiders closed the quarter on a 7-2 run.

Midway through the second quarter the Longhorns found themselves down double digits after keeping it close throughout the first. With 5:17 left before halftime, game high scorer Brittany Brewer put Tech up 11 at 33-22. The Longhorns went on a 16-7 run the rest of the way to close the gap to one at the half.

Lashann Higgs got the Longhorns off to a quick start with back-to-back buckets to take the lead for the first time in the game. Charli Collier got into the act with six points over the next few minutes as Texas built up their lead to nine. The 8-0 run ended on a three-point basket from Sydney Goodson with 6:56 to go. Tech got within one at 55-54 before Sutton and the Longhorns outscored the Lady Raiders 8-4 to close out the third.

Lexi Gordon for Tech got them within two but that would be as close as they would get. The Texas Longhorns and Sug Sutton was just too much for the Lady Raiders to overcome as they were outscored 18-8 in the fourth. Sutton scored nine of her team-high 20 points in the closing quarter.

The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team finishes the season series with Texas Tech with a clean sweep. Collier, Taylor, Higgs and Sutton all finished with double-digit points as Texas improved to 15-7 (7-3). Texas will host Iowa State on Wednesday.