Texas hasn’t been the same since they had a big lead against Michigan State in Las Vegas. It’s been all downhill from there, and the Longhorns need to arrest this fall as soon as they can, though that will be easier said than done. Wednesday night’s 54-53 loss to VCU was not a good one.
Let’s first note that of the three straight losses, none came to awful opponents. There’s no shame in losing to Michigan State on a neutral court, Radford looks like they can win the Big South again, and VCU looks better than expected. However, the bottom line result doesn’t tell why this is troubling.
First, as noted, the loss to Michigan State came in a game where they led 25-6 at one point. Granted, there was a lot of basketball left to play at that point, but that also means the Spartans outscored them 72-43 – a 29-point margin – the rest of the way. That’s a very thorough out-playing of a team over a good stretch of time.
The loss to Radford came in one of the Highlanders’ best defensive efforts of the year, as previously noted. While Radford also won at Notre Dame, this was a bigger win for them. The Highlanders won’t be an NCAA Tournament at-large candidate, but this loss should not end up being a killer. However, if you’re an NCAA Tournament team like Texas should be, you generally beat teams like Radford at home (on the road or at a neutral site is a little different).
Finally, last night’s loss to VCU isn’t so bad considering VCU is now 7-2. Still, the Rams have work to do if they are to become a contender for an at-large bid in March, and Marcus Evans missed a good portion of the game with an injury. Texas had a lot of chances to pull this one out, but they didn’t – again, at home. And while it’s not a bad loss, the reality is that if you’re an NCAA Tournament team, you generally beat teams like VCU at home.
Offense has stood out as the biggest issue. The Longhorns scored 92 points against North Carolina and were off and running a night later against Michigan State before the game turned completely. They were the victims of Radford’s defense and then scored just 53 points against VCU last night.
The slate doesn’t get much easier for Shaka Smart’s team. They host Purdue on Sunday, Grand Canyon and Providence before taking on rebuilding UT Arlington to close out the bulk of non-conference play (they go to Georgia in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge in late January). If this is just a slump, they will have gotten it out of their system at a better time than for it to happen in the midst of Big 12 play. It is still concerning all the same.
Side Dishes
One Texas school that is doing fine is TCU, who headed over to SMU and came away with a 67-59 win after turning the game around in the second half. SMU had a 35-29 lead at the break, then the Horned Frogs shut down the Mustangs in the second half and the offense followed. SMU shot 36.1 percent from the field on the evening, including 4-25 from long range, and also committed 14 turnovers.
Let’s talk about the feel-good story of the night in college basketball for a moment, one that got a deserving full story from Myron Medcalf on ESPN.com. Minnesota guard Dupree McBrayer lost his mother on Monday as she succumbed in her battle with cancer. Two nights later, he hit a key three-pointer as his team rallied from a double-digit deficit to knock off Nebraska 85-78. There were plenty of displays of concern for the young man, from Celtics guard Marcus Smart reaching out on Twitter after he likewise lost his mother to cancer not long ago, to his team wearing warmup shirts before the game paying tribute to her with “RIP Tayra” on them and Nebraska head coach Tim Miles embracing him after the game.
Villanova got quite a push from Temple, and for a while it looked like the Wildcats’ 23-game winning streak in Big Five play was in some jeopardy. A 12-0 run in the latter part of the second half gave them the lead for good as they beat Temple 69-59, aided by a career night from Jermaine Samuels, who missed time with an injury last season but was highly recruited and is one player who could emerge as a key player for this team.
UIC hosted Illinois State and won comfortably 94-75, but it was a game with some nice individual outings. Tarkus Ferguson had a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists and Jordan Blount had 27 points to lead the winners, and in the losing effort, Milik Yarbrough had 30 points on 11-20 shooting for Illinois State.
The last game of the night was a dandy, although for a time it didn’t look like it would be. Gonzaga opened up a ten-point halftime lead as they appeared to take control, but Washington fought back valiantly with a 12-2 run to open the half, and some better work in their zone defense helped them tie the game once again on a late 6-0 run. Rui Hachimura capped a big night (26 points, seven rebounds) with a jumper from around the foul line with less than a second to go to give the Bulldogs an 81-79 win and remain undefeated.
Tonight’s Menu
The slate is noticeably lighter, but there’s another early Big Ten game and a big rivalry game involving a Big Ten team.
- In Big Ten action, Purdue hosts Maryland (7 p.m.)
- Iowa goes back into non-conference play as they host arch-rival Iowa State (8 p.m.)
- Arizona tries to stay on a roll as they come home to host Utah Valley (9 p.m.)
