In one of the more entertaining basketball games of the past few years, 39,000 fans watched the Texas Longhorns run away from the talented UNC Tar Heels in a 103-90 victory at JerryWorld.  While this recap is technically supposed to analyze this game by itself,  I'd prefer to look at this game in the larger picture of the overall season.  We've talked a lot about how the ultimate goal is to get this talented roster playing to its potential by the end of the season.  While today's game wasn't a total virtuoso performance--especially on the defensive end--Texas demonstrated a lot of the qualities that made this team a preseason favorite to reach the Final Four.  With the exception of Jordan Hamilton, our best players shined under the spotlight of today's match-up and showcased the strengths of their respective talent sets.  Negating another potential concern, Texas didn't show any stage fright and took it to the Heels from the tip-off until the final whistle.  This didn't look like the team that sleepwalked their way through the the first half of games against some cupcakes.  Not at all.

Along those same lines, one of the more fascinating parts of today's victory represents its validation of the significant steps taken forward by J'Covan Brown and Avery Bradley.  The calm, cool, and collected performances from the two freshmen stand in stark contrast to their out-of-control (Brown) and tepid (Bradley) offensive performances from earlier in the season.  Brown and Bradley each poured in over 20 points today, and both of them could have easily gone for 25 apiece.  Unfortunately, as we'll discuss in detail below, Jordan Hamilton had perhaps his worst game of the season and represents the current enigma on the roster.

After the jump, we provide a quick recap of the game before breaking down some of the individual efforts...this was a lot of fun.

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As this has been a soul-crushing week of work for most of us, BON has been largely silent over the upcoming UNC-UT tilt at JerryWorld tomorrow.  While I'll leave the chalktalk to Wiggo, I did want to briefly comment on the location of the game. 

I've gotten a lot of texts, e-mails, etc, asking if I'm going to the game tomorrow.  Even though I'll be in Dallas with my family, I just couldnt bring myself to drop the money for the tickets.  Apparently, I'm not alone.  In discussing the game with several friends, most of us were more excited about attending the Erwin Center tilt with Michigan State, especially after our Houston Regional experience at Reliant Stadium.  Additionally, after my sister and I have spent $600 (!!!) for football season tickets, OU tickets, and our Stampede passes, it was a little too much to spend another $150 for two tickets to this game.  It might have been different if there were student tickets available for this game, but, as that probably would have required people to do some work, that was a lost cause.

There has been a lot of discussion on the interwebs about the future of college basketball involving big games played in football stadiums.  The attractions--and detractions--of these games are rather obvious, and it's not my intent to simply rehash the points over depth perception, safety, money, or the awful viewpoints for the fans.  I really just wanted to briefly mention the lowlight of my Reliant Stadium experience when we played Memphis--the noise level.  That was perhaps the most pumped I've ever been to attend a basketball game.  My friends all talked about how our crowd would help take the team to another level.  Within 2 minutes, it was clear that wasnt going to happen, and it wasnt entirely because of a lack of effort.  The setup, including the lack of locational unity for the fans, wasn't conducive to generating (or sustaining) a lot of noise.  It felt like watching basetball in a vacuum.   I'd be curious to hear if anyone else had a different opinion over that game and venue.

That said, I'm still jealous of the BON'ers going to the game.  I'll be very interested to hear the feedback on watching the game at the stadium, which has become as big a story as the game itself, and I hope several of you provide recaps.  Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, the story will be solely focused on our convincing victory over the Tar Heels. 

Hook 'Em!

Last season, Texas State had an obnoxiously loud cheering section in the south O-Zone as they pushed Texas to the limit.  This afternoon, their cheering section stayed up in the mezzanine and witnessed a thorough beating.  Unlike last season, Texas used an early 16-0 run to bury the Bobcats and had the game well in hand before the second TV timeout.  In some of its best basketball of the season, Texas jumped out to a massive 35-12 lead with 5:00 left in the first half.  While I'd love to simply pat the team on the back for laying a woodshed beating on Texas State, there are definitely some interesting things to take from today's game.  By "interesting," I mean things that will cause Rick Barnes to yell at the youngsters during chalk talk.

While the game against Long Beach State seemed to represent a significant step forward for the Horns--especially some of the freshmen--this game largely represents a step sideways.  This win is definitely better than the ho-hum second-half blowouts in our first few games, but this team absolutely has the ability to do better.  While some of the early season wins were 20-point wins that felt a lot closer, this game was a 30-point win that felt like it should have been by 50.  To be honest, I'm not entirely sure the team didnt just get bored at some points of the game today.

As I'm also smack dab in the middle of law school finals--a common theme for BON authors--I'll offer some truncated remarks and highlights after the jump.

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Game Recap: In each of the first four games of the season, Texas followed a clear pattern.  The Horns would get an early lead, lose it before the end of the half, then methodically overwhelm their opponents over the final twenty minutes.  Today, the script got flipped, as the Longhorns struggled early and got outplayed during several parts of the second half.  Despite the big win, in watching the game, the victory raised more questions about this team than it answered.  During portions of the second half, Texas showed some flaws that future opponents will definitely try to exploit before they were able to pull away in the final minutes.

Unlike previous games, Texas started slowly and shot poorly from the field.  At the second TV timeout, Texas was only up 10-6 and looked sloppy on offense.  Things didnt immediately get any better.  Out of the break, Texas remained ice cold from the field and made some careless turnovers. Continuing another disturbing trend, the Longhorns missed their first 7 three-pointers.  I'd be fascinated to see the full Gameflow analysis from the first 13 minutes, as the Longhorns once again unveiled the lineup including Balbay and Mason at the same time.  As you might expect, this lineup didnt work very well on the offensive end. 

After the slow start, Texas eventually turned on the jets and showed why this team can be so beautiful to watch.  Starting with a powerful alley-oop slam by Avery Bradley with 5:47 left, Texas went on a 15-6 run over a 3:30 span to go up 33-18.  During the run, Hamilton nailed back-to-back threes and five different players scored for Texas.  It was an impressive run, and a reminder of what this team can do when clicking on all cylinders.  Unfortunately, right after this run, Texas failed to finish the half strong and let Rice close to within 33-23.   Incredibly, Rice scored 18 of their 23 first half points on either dunks or lay-ups and didnt score a single point from outside the paint.  Several defensive lapses by Texas led to easy baskets, and it's scary to think about how dominant this defense can be once they become more comfortable with their roles and responsibilities.

In the second half, Texas immediately started pumping the ball inside to Sexy Dex to great success.  Dexter scored seven quick points in the first three minutes of the half and additionally made a beautiful assist to Avery Bradley when the inevitable swarm of defenders came his way.  Similar to the first half run, Texas scored eleven points in under 3:00 and looked unstoppable on the offensive end.  Texas looked well on their way to running Rice out of the gym, but Rice's switch to a zone defense showed the warts that all the Texas nay-sayers have been pointing out.  After this initial scoring burst, Texas shot poorly, failed to keep getting the ball inside, couldnt shoot free throws to save their life, and made some egregious decisions on the offensive end.  Additionally, the team made some facepalm level turnovers that will lead to several expletives being uttered when the team watches the film from this game.  From the 17:00 mark until the 6:00 mark, Texas made a total of three baskets from the field and only one from inside the arc.  Outside of Jordan Hamilton's 3-6 shooting, Texas went 1-11 from behind the arc.

Despite the lopsided final score, Texas was in a dogfight until the final minutes.  With 7:00 to go, Texas was only up 61-54 and appeared to be on their heels.  Fortunately, the defense stepped up, and J'Covan Brown poured in eight points in the final minutes to put the game out of reach.  Texas held Rice without a field goal over the last 6:21, only allowing three free throws.  The disjointed nature of this game saw Texas still struggling to put everything together at the same time. 

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Game #3: Iowa Hawkeyes (1-2) vs No. 3 Texas Longhorns (2-0)

8:45 p.m.  *  Sprint Center  *  Kansas City, MO

TV: ESPN2  /  Radio: 98.1 FM

While it might have slipped your minds (VINCE! HOUSTON! OILERS!), the UT Basketball team will be playing the Iowa Hawkeyes tonight in Kansas City.  The game is part of the CBE Classic, and the winner will face the winner of Pittsburgh/Wichita State in the "championship game" tomorrow night.

As you know, Texas is being massive hyped as a Final Four contender.  As you might not know, Iowa is expected to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten standings and has already lost to Duquesne and UTSA.  Iowa is currently scoring 56 points/game and is ranked 326th out of 346 teams in Offensive Efficiency.  That's bad, but it could get even worse, considering that Texas is currently ranked 1st out of the same 346 teams in Defensive Efficiency.  Resistable force meeting the immovable object, if you will. 

Tip-off is at 9 PM, and the game will be on ESPN2...at a bare minimum, you should flip over and watch this team during commercials of the football game.  If you haven't had a chance to watch the 'Horns, this is your chance.  I think you're going to like what you see. 

Note:  If you havent read the excellent "Gameflow" segments for the first two games from goingforthecorner, make sure you check out them out here and here.

Awiggo's Keys to the Game after the jump.

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And.....it's go time.

After a long off-season following the heartbreaking--yet not soulcrushing--loss to Duke in Greensboro, it is finally time for the Longhorns to get back on the court.  We've been beating the drum for the past few months, but this is going to be a special team and a special season.  Today will be our first look at the 'Horns as they start their murderous schedule against the not-so-murderous Anteaters of UC-Irvine.  Ryan Clarke of Longhorn Roadtrip--AKA "The Man"--has written an excellent preview for the game.

After the jump, I've catalogued a list of links and articles from the off-season for your perusement.  If you dont read anything else, make sure you read the extensive Roundball Roundtable...

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Two weeks from today, Texas will have vanquished an overmatched opponent in front of thousands of fans.  And I'm not talking about Baylor.  While it seems like only yesterday that BON'ers were saying "TOO SOON" about talking about UT Basketball, the reality is that tip-off is nearly upon us.  In only two short weeks, Rick Barnes and company will have thoroughly and soundly defeated the Anteaters of UC-Irvine at the Erwin Center.

Despite promises and guarantees to the contrary, no Stampede tickets have been sold for the game.  The e-mail was *supposed* to come out last Monday.  But it didnt.  The e-mail was supposed to come out on Tuesday.  But it didnt.  The e-mail was supposed to come out "by the end of the week."  But it didnt.  As I sit here and type this post tonight, I'm still unable to purchase a Stampede pass for my final year on the Forty Acres. 

While some of you will merely repeat the often stated "Texas is a FOOTBALL school" line and shrug your shoulders about this, that's the exact type of attitude that allowed this inaction to occur in the first place.  The idea that student season tickets for football would be unsold less than two weeks prior to kickoff is simply inconceivable.  I feel the same way about this delay for the Stampede tickets. For those of you who contacted me about this--I feel your pain, and this isnt ok. 

But this isnt just a post about the Stampede.  It's a post about how the Stampede e-mail situation simply represents the latest step in an impotent offseason of marketing the upcoming basketball season.  Once again, this isn't ok.

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...since losses is plural, then you've probably already realized that this post will be about basketball.  Last season, Texas went 23-12, which was their most losses since the 2001-2 season, when the team went 22-12.  In fact, over Rick Barnes' eleven year career at Texas, the Longhorns have never lost more than 13 games in a season.  By and large, last year's team was written off as a disappointment, especially considering the lofty preseason rankings and expectations.

After the jump, we take a closer look at the relative tightness of each of the Longhorns 12 losses last season, which includes some surprising numbers.  More importantly, we look at the contributions of the two departing seniors in each of the "close" games from last season.

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