Tag: texas longhorns basketball news

Three Takeaways From Loss To Iowa State

The Texas Longhorns basketball season continued to get worse on Saturday. Three takeaways from their fourth-straight loss.

The Texas Longhorns traveled to Iowa State in hopes of keeping their dream of going dancing in the NCAA Tournament alive. The team led by head coach Shaka Smart walked away with more questions than answers. The team was playing without Jericho Sims inside who will likely miss the rest of the season, dark times in Austin right now.

Injury Bug

The Longhorns are dealing with the injury bug with Jericho Sims out the team had zero inside presence. Michael Jacobson and Soloman Young were able to take advantage in the paint. The duo combined for 38 points on 12-14 shooting. Jacobson came into the game averaging just over six points per game and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Young averages 9.1 points and finished with 17.

Royce Hamm Jr was inserted into the starting lineup but early foul trouble sent him to the bench early on. He provided just one point and two rebounds in 18 minutes. Febres wasn’t able to go in the game but Kai Jones did return giving just three points off the bench. The Longhorns depth was exposed in this game. Matt Coleman played 20 minutes but was hobbling throughout the game. Courtney Ramey finished with a game-high 21 points to lead Texas.

Shaka Smart’s seat is red hot

The worst part about the game is that Smart’s future with the team is in serious jeopardy. The former VCU coach looked like a great hire before he came to Texas as the replacement for Rick Barnes. He led VCU to a Final Four appearance and with the resources at Texas, it seemed like he could get similar results in Austin.

The Longhorns are projected to miss the tournament for the third time in four seasons. The lone appearance in that stretch was a quick first round exit. In fact with Smart leading the team, Texas hasn’t gotten out of the first round. With this latest loss, Smart’s seat is as hot as liquid hot magma. This season likely ends the Shaka experiment and sends Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte back to the drawing board.

Another Poor Shooting Performance

Texas shot under 30 percent once again from the field and just 25 percent from three. At the same time they allowed Iowa State to shoot 57.1/40 in those same areas. A big reason for a 29-point loss to the Cyclones. Texas could defend and couldn’t shoot either. When those two things occur, it doesn’t matter who you play, you aren’t winning.

Texas now will host the TCU Horned Frogs up next. At this point it is increasingly difficult to watch this team to play basketball. As the seasons comes to an end in a few weeks, the Shaka Smart watch becomes the focus moving forward.

The question is just who will take over?

How to watch, listen, and stream Texas Basketball vs. Kansas

Coming off a loss earlier this week, UT looks to bounce back on the road against KU. Here is how you can watch, listen, and stream the game.

Coming off a home loss to Iowa State earlier this week, the Longhorns look to bounce back on the road against Kansas. Already meeting once this year, Texas took advantage of their home court, winning 85-77.

The Jayhawks have really struggled in Big 12 play this season, only winning one game. They have lost seven games in a row, beginning with the game against the Longhorns back in late January. The last four have been by double digits, a streak they will be looking to break on Saturday.

Trying to keep pace with TCU for second place in the conference, every game from this point is a must win for Texas.

Here is how you can watch, listen, and stream Texas basketball square off against Kansas:

Game information:

Date: 2/15/2020

Time: 6:00 p.m. CST

Location: Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas

Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+

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: ESPN+

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How to watch, listen, and stream Texas Basketball vs. Iowa State

Coming off a loss to Baylor, Texas looks to rebound on the road against Iowa State. Here is how you can watch, listen, and stream the game.

Coming off a Big Monday loss to Baylor, Texas looks to rebound on the road against Iowa State. The only issue for the Longhorns is that they will be without three key players when they travel to Ames. Jericho Sims, Kai Jones, and Jase Febres are all out for the game, suffering from injuries.

The injury bug has also hit the Cyclones, as star player Tyrese Haliburton is done for the season with a broken wrist. Projected a lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft, he will be a huge miss for Iowa State, a team that already struggles.

Both under .500 in conference play, neither team is likely to make the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season. At best, this game will help decide seeding in the upcoming Big 12 tournament in Kansas City.

Here is how you can watch, listen, and stream Texas basketball square off against Iowa State:

Game information:

Date: 2/15/2020

Time: 1:00 p.m. CST

Location: Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa

Watch: ESPN2

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 App

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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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