Tag: Texas basketball news

The Texas Longhorns have started out back to back games with impressive first halves that ended with leads over Kansas and Texas Tech. In both games they couldn’t hold the lead. For Texas, those losses could ultimately what leads to a new coach in 2020-2021.

Scoring Droughts

Too often in the game against the Red Raiders, Texas would go long stretches especially in the second half without scoring. This allowed them to get right back in the game after being down by 16 at one point.

From the 14:53 mark of the second until the 10:27 mark, Texas failed to score and the Red Raiders went on a 9-0 run to tie the game. This was a huge reason that it was close for most of the second half.

Forcing Turnovers

When Texas built the lead early on in the game it was a combination of Andrew Jones shooting and forcing turnovers by Texas Tech. In the first half alone the Longhorns forced 11 turnovers that allowed them build their lead.

In the second half it was quite the opposite as they only forced two. The Longhorns weren’t able to force many but in fact turned it over nine times in the second half. Matt Coleman had three while Jericho Sims and Jones added two more apiece.

Taking Low Percentage Shots

In the first half it felt as if Jones couldn’t miss a shot but as the game wore on, he didn’t have that same magic for the Longhorns. As a whole Texas took too many ill-advised three pointers. They shot 23 three pointers with only six finding the net for 26.1 percent from the floor.

The combination of A1J and Coleman shot a combine 14-33 from the floor (42.2 percent). They combined for 35 of the Longhorns 57 points. Their poor shooting throughout the second is a big reason why Tech was able to outscore them 43-26 and steal the game on the road.

The Longhorns now set their sights on the number one ranked Baylor Bears on Big Monday. With just eight games remaining on the schedule and a 14-9 (4-6) record, time is running out on Shaka Smart and the Longhorns.

In the first matchup of Texas Tech and Texas, after a quick layup by Jahmi’us Ramsey, the Red Raiders took the quick lead. The Longhorns had a hard time hitting a shot as the teams struggled to score in the first three minutes of the game. A block by Kai Jones got Texas into transition and found Matt Coleman III all alone for the three.

U16: Coleman hits a 3, and Texas has a 3-2 lead at the first TO. Teams are 2-for-9 combined.

— Brian Davis (@BDavisAAS) February 8, 2020

It was stifling defense and Andrew Jones early on for the Longhorns. Jones was able to get 11 of the first 18 points for Texas. On defense he was getting steals, blocking shots to provide all the energy for Texas. Texas forced 10 turnovers by Tech in the first 12 minutes of the first half. That led Texas to a 14-0 run to extend the lead to 22-8 with under eight minutes to go in the half.

After falling down by 16 late in the first half, Tech went on an 8-0 to cut the lead in half. It was up to Jones to build the lead back to double digits after drawing a foul to get him to the line. In the fist half A1J was responsible for 16 of the Longhorns 31 first half points as they led at the break 31-19.

Bucket getter. @mattcoleman2_ becomes the 38th Longhorn in program history to reach the 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣-point mark. 🤘#AllForTexas | #HookEm pic.twitter.com/5OwhtTHMqH

— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) February 8, 2020

It was Texas Tech in the first half with the sloppy play that led to 11 first half turnovers. The Longhorns returned the favor early on in the second half with three quick turnovers that allowed Tech to close within seven after a Davide Moretti three-pointer, 37-30 with 16:00 to go.

Royce Hamm Jr built the lead back up to nine following an assist from A. Jones. The Longhorns would score on a Donovan Williams layup to go up 41-32 before Texas would go on a four plus minute scoring drought that let Texas Tech right back in the game. They would tie it up at 41 with over 10 minutes left. Hamm would stop the drought with an offensive rebound and slam to retake the lead after Kamaka Hepa misses a layup.

After back and forth between the two teams, it became the Matt Coleman show as they headed to a finish. Coleman scored six of his 17 points in a three minute stretch to retake the lead at 54-52. Coleman would drive into the lane before he found Courtney Ramey all alone for a three-point shot to jump back in front of Tech, 57-56.

The final 2:06 was less than memorable for the Longhorns, especially the final 31 seconds. In an attempt to retake the lead, Coleman attempted three layups and was blocked all three times by Tech forward T.J. Holyfield. The Longhorns would fall at home 62-57 after four consecutive Moretti free throws sealed the deal.  Andrew Jones led the Longhorns with 18.