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No. 7 Texas will face No. 10 Kansas State on March 13.
Texas concluded the 2024 college basketball regular season with a 94-80 win over Oklahoma on Saturday. Continue reading “A look at the 2024 Big 12 Tournament bracket for men’s basketball”
Texas’ move to the SEC got more real after its Big 12 regular season finale against Oklahoma.
Texas football has been an SEC program for a couple of months now. Basketball is soon to join it on the other side of the move from the Big 12.
The Longhorns played their last Big 12 regular season game in Saturday’s win over the Oklahoma Sooners. After the upcoming week’s conference tournament, the team’s only tie to the league will be representing it in neutral site games over March Madness before departing.
There’s no love lost between the Longhorns and their current league. This season has seen fans of a couple teams chant “S-E-C” to punctuate victory over Texas. The Longhorns don’t take it as an insult.
Texas is on to bigger and better things in football, but the move to its new conference will make for a more manageable basketball schedule that what it has faced in the Big 12. College basketball’s juggernaut increased in difficulty when it added Houston to a conference led by Kansas, Baylor, Iowa State and other prominent basketball programs.
The Longhorns’ time in the Big 12 is coming to an end. Saturday marked the final basketball regular season in the conference.
Texas will play its final Big 12 basketball tournament as it tips off March 12.
Texas reached 20 wins to cap the regular season with a win over Oklahoma.
For the third consecutive year, the Texas Longhorns swept the Oklahoma Sooners on the basketball court. It was the Longhorns’ seventh consecutive win over their hoops rival.
The win turns up the heat on Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser who has yet to beat Texas since taking over in Norman.
Texas head coach Rodney Terry took pressure off himself getting to the 20-win mark for the season. His team did so for the most part without reliance on three point baskets.
The Longhorns attempted 12 three-point shots making six of them. Consequently, Texas made 63.5% of its field goals and scored 94 points. The high scoring output was bolstered by a 22-for-23 performance from the free throw line.
The high field goal percentage and volume of free throw attempts are perhaps a result of more two-point shot attempts. Perhaps, for a program who isn’t afraid to shoot from long range, the team might have found a more efficient way to score given its personnel.
Texas isn’t loaded with three point scorers, but that doesn’t mean it lacks scorers altogether. The scoring output was well distributed on Saturday.
Veteran guard Tyrese Hunter led the scoring for the Longhorns with 30 points on 13 shot attempts. By comparison, fellow guard Max Abmas put up 11 points on 13 shot attempts.
Forward Dylan Disu added 16 points in post-injury action while Dillon Mitchell scored 14 points off the bench. Texas reserves Chendall Weaver and Kaden Shedrick put up nine and eight points respectively.
The Longhorns will look to follow one of their more complete offensive performances with a win in the Big 12 tournament.
Rodney Terry thinks Texas is one of the best teams in college basketball.
The Texas basketball program has won five of its last 12 games. It currently sits at 19-11. Still, its head coach Rodney Terry believes the Longhorns are one of the top teams in college basketball.
Terry said the following of his team on Monday.
“We’ve played one of the hardest schedules in the country. Have we had a stumble here or there, just like every other team in this league has? Yeah, we’ve had that. But we’re one of the best teams in the country. We can play with anybody.”
It’s unclear how widely Terry is expanding the list of college basketball’s best teams, but he paints a different picture than the team’s record would indicate. While the Longhorns have played a difficult schedule, they haven’t performed to the level of a college basketball contender.
The Longhorns lost their two marquee nonconference games in the early going. They lost by 10 points to reigning national champion UConn before losing by 21 points against former Texas coach Shaka Smart and Marquette.
The conference slate has only been marginally better. The Longhorns are 3-6 in ranked games in conference play. That’s to say nothing of ugly losses to unranked West Virginia (9-20) and UCF (15-13).
Texas is good enough to make the NCAA tournament, but hasn’t earned much more acclaim than that. While there is still time to improve heading into college basketball’s postseason, there is work left to do for the Longhorns.
Texas will play Oklahoma for a higher tournament seed in Saturday’s regular season finale at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Rodney Terry on if Texas should be in the NCAA Tournament:
“We’re one of the best teams in the country.” pic.twitter.com/zz42QvQRbp
— Texas Sports Unfiltered (@TSUnfiltered) March 5, 2024
Baylor’s 34-for-42 performance at the free throw line provided enough cushion to run away with the game.
We had a high scoring matchup in Waco on Monday night. The Baylor Bears and Texas Longhorns ran the score high despite only 18 combined three-point baskets made.
The Longhorns got off to a fast start from three-point range, but finished the game at 9-for-23 from the three-point line. The cold streak proved costly.
Baylor did much of its damage from the free throw line hitting 34 of 42 free throw attempts. Texas head coach Rodney Terry noted the disparity of free throw opportunities as the Longhorns had just 21 attempts to the Bears’ 42 from the free throw line.
Midway through the second half, Baylor stormed back into the game. Nevertheless, the game took a turn for the worst when Texas forward Dylan Disu went down with injury. Then the Longhorns’ lack of depth was on full display.
Baylor went from falling behind by double digits early to running away with the game.
Despite falling to 19-11 on the season, an earlier win against Texas Tech and dominant victory over Oklahoma State should have the Longhorns in the NCAA tournament field. Whether they can win in the tournament is still to be seen.
The Longhorns will end the season with a home Red River game with the Oklahoma Sooners (19-10) who also look to solidify tournament seeding. The teams will play Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.
After falling to Kansas, it’s time to accept that the Longhorns aren’t a viable contender for postseason success.
Texas basketball is not a legitimate contender heading into March. It’s time to embrace it. Continue reading “Texas basketball falters at Kansas, 86-67”
There’s no better resume building opportunity moving forward for Texas than Kansas on the road.
Another opportunity to move off the bubble will take place on Saturday. The Texas Longhorns (17-9) take on the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks (20-6) in Allen Fieldhouse.
Like the Houston Cougars who Texas faced last Saturday, the Jayhawks are good at protecting their home floor. Kansas is 13-0 at home on the season compared to a 3-5 record on the road. That doesn’t make them any less vulnerable.
The Jayhawks have five losses in Big 12 conference play with an 8-5 record in such games. College basketball’s toughest conference has got the better of most teams. Kansas is no exception. Pulling an upset will still be a tall task for the Longhorns.
Texas enters the game with conference wins over No. 11 Baylor (19-7), Oklahoma (18-8) and TCU (18-8). Another top victory could solidify the team’s NCAA Tournament resume and take pressure off of its final four regular season games.
It’s not a must-win game for the Longhorns, but like Houston, Iowa State and BYU it’s an opportunity to earn a difficult win that they failed to earn in previous tries. Texas will face Kansas on Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Texas isn’t done yet after a huge win over Kansas State.
The Texas Longhorns (17-9) are still alive in the NCAA Tournament race. It wasn’t pretty nor impressive, but the Longhorns earned a win over the Kansas State Wildcats (15-11) at home.
Texas guard Max Abmas headlined the game reaching 3,000 career points. Much of the Oral Roberts transfer’s points came from elsewhere, but the high scoring guard accomplished the milestone on Monday.
Texas was the first to 50 points with under five minutes left to play. Despite the low scoring output the Longhorns never trailed in the game.
An intentional foul by Kansas State on an airborne Texas forward Chendall Weaver nearly cleared the Longhorns bench late in the contest, but cooler heads prevailed. The cheap foul resulted in a technical and allowed the ‘Horns to further separate.
There’s still plenty of work to do, but Texas is still in the hunt for March Madness. In a must-win game, the Longhorns won. Nevertheless, there’s five games left and head coach Rodney Terry’s squad will need to win two or three more to reach the tournament.
Texas next faces the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse Saturday at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Texas stays on the NCAA Tournament bubble in a blowout loss to Houston.
The Houston Cougars (22-3) shellacked the Texas Longhorns (16-9) on Saturday. The loss continues the Longhorns’ recent trend of following a win with a loss in Big 12 play.
Texas falls to 2-4 in its last six games. It’s not the stretch the team hoped for after a slow start to conference play. While the effort was there for the Longhorns early, the game wasn’t close.
Houston reached 60 points before Texas scored 40. The Cougars weren’t all that efficient from the three-point line either. The team built a decisive early lead despite a 2-for-10 start from three-point range. They finished 8-for-23 from behind the arc.
Texas’ didn’t have many good offensive performances on the day. Texas guard Max Abmas shot a disappointing 2-for-14 from the field with seven points. The closest to a good offensive performance came from Texas forward Dylan Disu who scored 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Forward Chendall Weaver added 11 points.
With six games remaining, the Longhorns have two losses to spare to comfortably reach the NCAA Tournament with 20 wins. The final six games are home battles with Kansas State, Oklahoma State and No. 25 Oklahoma, and road trips to face No. 6 Kansas, Texas Tech and No. 12 Baylor.
Final | Texas 61 Houston 82
— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) February 17, 2024
The Longhorns face another tough test against the Houston Cougars.
It’s crunch time in college basketball. Teams on the bubble across the country are looking to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Texas is one of those teams.
The Texas Longhorns (16-8) face the Houston Cougars (21-3) on Saturday. With no game in between now and then, the Longhorns should have plenty of time to prepare. They’re going to need it.
The two teams faced earlier this season in the Moody Center in Austin. Texas battled back from an 11-point second half deficit to send the game to overtime, but the better team separated. Houston won the game on an 11-7 overtime period, 76-72.
Fast forward to Saturday where Texas will again face one of the top NCAA title contenders on the road. The venue ramps up the degree of difficulty for the Longhorns and head coach Rodney Terry.
Houston doesn’t often lose at home. The Cougars are 13-0 when playing at the Fertitta Center in Houston. Terry and company will be due significant credit if they can find a way to win.
The battle for Texas will come down to rebounding perhaps more than anything else. Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson reiterated the importance of rebounding following the Cougars’ win over the Longhorns stating that rebounding has been key to his teams’ success. It wasn’t coachspeak.
Houston won the rebounding battle in the last matchup, 47-36. In a game that went to overtime, a disparity that wide can change the outcome.
Texas is still an unfinished product. Even in Saturday’s 94-58 win over West Virginia, the Mountaineers brought in more rebounds than the Longhorns. It took Dylan Disu shooting 7-for-10 from the three point line to earn that margin of victory.
Despite room for growth, the Longhorns played well in spurts in recent losses to Houston and Iowa State. They will look to put it all together in a big game at 12 p.m. CT on CBS.
