Well, Saturday afternoon, in front of a packed house of 16,734 at the Erwin Center, Kemba Walker & Company, came, saw and they conquered.
With the taste of last seasons collapse still fresh in the mouth of many Longhorns fans, many may look at Saturday’s loss and say, “Oh no, here we go again! Another ultra talented, under-performing Texas team.” This is, by no means the case.
First and foremost, let’s talk about the best opponent the Horns have faced to date. (UCONN’s Big East counterpart Pitt included, who handed the Huskies 1 of their 2 losses by the way.) In typical Huskie fashion, they are oozing with talent, exude that Big East toughness and have a transcendent talent. The crux of this UCONN team is that they are extremely young; Walker (Jr.) is the only upper classman in the starting lineup. Youth can lead to mental mistakes which we saw that today when Fr. Roscoe Smith absent-mindedly heaved what he believed to be a buzz beater in regulation. Nope, youngster, there was 7 seconds left on the clock. This set up an additional possession that Texas failed to capitalize on but mistakes like that will kill you 9 times out of 10. They also rely on Walker to shoulder the majority of the scoring load, as was the case today, it’s when the other key contributors are on (Oriakhi/Napier/Smith/Beverly) that this team can beat anyone in the country. After getting a good look at UCONN today, they have all the pieces necessary to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Their size and physicality can bother any team, they have a fierce commitment to rebounding at both ends of the floor and Walker may be the best player in the country.
(Quick note on Kemba: his speed and body control are incredible. He doesn’t have great size but he wiggles and finds his way thru spaces in the lane and can create his shot at will. He always seems in control and is athletic enough to fight thru good defense i.e. finishing in the lane, hitting multiple jumpers with Balbay draped on him and, finally, the miraculous buzzer beating 3 in OT. Needless to say, Walker can put a team on his back and carry them to victory, even when the shots aren’t falling, as they weren’t in the 1st half.)
Ok, ok enough of the UCONN talk! Let’s get to the Longhorns!
Positives
UCONN put the type of size and front court toughness out there that Texas will have to deal with if they want to compete for a Big XII title (specifically when facing Kansas/A&M/K-State.) Much of this burden is going to fall on Thompson. Unfortunately, in games where Texas is out matched in the front court, the Horns success will center on Thompson ability to stay on the floor i.e. out of foul trouble. (more on this later in the Negatives)
While on the topic of the front court, Matt Hill was definitely a huge + for the Longhorns today. Forced into action due to Thompson’s early foul trouble, Hill had a couple of sequences where he was key defensively and on the glass. Will he didn’t crack the points column, I think Hill’s showed he can be relied on to bolster the front court. (Also why Wagmene only logged 3 minutes)
J’Covan Brown - Yes, Longhorn fans, this man is now your best X-factor. Brown seems as if he has settled into his role on this team (although he does still call for the ball when he wants a heat check) and contributed immensely on both ends of the court. We all know J’Covan can score it is just at what detriment to the overall shooting % and with how many turnovers. Today he was strong, shooting 50% from the field, 2-3 from deep, and, most importantly, 4-4 from the charity stripe. All that with only 1 turnover and he did an admirable job pestering Walker on the defensive end.
Longhorns Defensive Effort - Once again, Texas was impressive on the defensive end. Their commitment to contesting every shot and getting stops has been apparent all season and today was no different. They held UCONN to 38.1% shooting (holding teams to 36.4% heading into today’s game, good for 6th in the country) and bettered the 2nd ranked team in the country in blocks per (6 for Texas, 3 for Connecticut) They also held the nation’s top scorer, Walker, to a season low 5 points in the first half. Walker was also 4 points below his season average of 26.1 and needed 27 attempts to get there, tying his previous season high, attempted 27 against Pitt. This is key heading into Big XII play as Texas will face some of the best scoring teams (Mizzou 5th, Kansas 6th, Colorado 8th) and some of the best scorers (LaceDarius Dunn 7th, Alec Burks 42nd) in conference play.
Negatives
Y’all are probably thinking, “Texas lost the game! Enough of the homer-ism!” The Longhorns did plenty wrong that ultimately cost them the game so let’s get into it.
First off, Texas didn’t put enough distance during the 1st half when they completely outplayed Connecticut. Holding the Huskies to 35.3% shooting and the nation’s leading bucket getter to 5 points should warrant a larger lead than 5 heading into the half. Texas should have built on that cushion, it would’ve helped in the 2nd half. One thing that effected their ability to do such was……
Tristan Thompson Foul Trouble - 2 early fouls put the fab Frosh on the bench early. He only played 6 minutes in the 1st half. This hurt Texas on the offensive end as they could’ve used T^2 to pressure Oriakhi and build a lead but where it really killed was defensively. UCONN was able to ride out Walker’s cold start via contributions from Oriakhi, Okwandu & Beverly (17 pts combined.) Additionally, 10 of the Huskies 12 first half buckets came from deep within the paint. Texas needed their big man and best defender on the court to alter shots around the basket. Unfortunately, this will be a running theme throughout the season.
Free Throws - Ah, the Texas Achilles heel! Same verse, different song today! Texas was 14-23 (60.8%) from the line compared to Connecticut’s 12-14 (85%.) The main offenders today: Thompson & Hamilton, a combined 2-9 from the stripe. The sequence of 3 consecutive misses in OT, 2 by Thompson and 1 by Johnson (ON AN AND 1!!!!) were absolutely devastating for Texas. You like your team to be aggressive to the hoop, shown in Texas’ 23 attempts, but the misses have and will continue to hurt Texas.
Jordan Hamilton - SMH. How can your leading point scorer, efficiently nonetheless 50% shooting, & double-double getter (yep, getter) 11 rebounds, make the negative list? Botch a crucial open court, dunk/layup and defer in crunch time, that’s how. As great as Hamilton is, and he played a spectacular game today, he still needs to make that next step. Look no further than his Midseason Wooden Watch list counterpart on the opposing team, Kemba Walker, and you see the mentality Jordan needs to make that next step. The missed dunk was a lapse in judgement, said he should have gone up with 2 hands in the post-game, but it couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. Even a layup there sets the house on fire and gives Texas the lead, which they had fought the last 7 and a half minutes to get back. If Hamilton converts there, Texas rides the momentum to a victory. Also, there is no reason Hamilton needs to defer to anyone on this team! I don’t care who has the hot hand, (Joseph, today it was Brown) the ball needs to be in the hand of your best scorer and hardest to defend during game winning possessions. Obviously, Hamilton must obey his coaches wishes but in order to make that next step, Hamilton needs to become this team’s closer. Which leads into my final point…..
Game Management - Coach Barnes has rebounded nicely from last season’s debacle, putting forth one of his best coaching efforts thus far throughout this season. His personnel management has been applaud-able and his game planning has been stellar, proof in today’s effort against Kemba Walker. However, ol Rick showed up when the pressure turned up. First mistake: no timeout (or hold for the last shot) after the Balbay rebound to Johnson fast break leak out. 17 seconds left, call a timeout (pretty sure they had one, if not, at least have the foresight to tell your team to hold for the last shot!!), gather your team, draw up the game winning shot. Instead: Johnson runs a frantic break for a layup that gets blocked(possible goaltend.) Thank Manny Diaz for Roscoe Smith’s lapse in judgement just heaving the ball as UCONN should’ve had another opportunity to win in regulation. Next mistake: final possession in regulation after Smith full court heave FAIL, 7 seconds left, inbound to Brown, no screen even!, left elbow jumper, air ball OT. Barnes had a timeout to draw up a game winner and that’s the best you come with?!? No screen, no Hamilton, no Joseph or Johnson even?!? 2 strikes Coach. Finally, the last possession of OT needs to go to Hamilton. Trust his judgement to either take the shot or pass to an open shooter. That’s what great players do. Just draw something up to ensure he gets the ball and the opportunity to make that decision. Everyone in the Erwin Center knew Kemba Walker was getting the ball for the Huskies during crunch time and, whatdoyaknow!, Coach Calhoun found a way to get the ball in his hands!!! Final possession: Calhoun throws a curve ball and doesn’t guard the inbounder, Brown, leaving an extra defender to shade Hamilton, this forces Brown to look Joseph’s way leading to the bobbled, contested 3 pointer that fell short. 3 strikes, you’re out Coach.
Final Thoughts
In spite of all those negatives, Texas lost the game by 1 point to a team that should be dancing well into the late rounds in March. Texas has established themselves as one of the best defenses in the nation as was apparent in limiting one of the best scorer’s in college basketball on Saturday. Connecticut was scrappy and hung around when Walker was cold, caught a couple breaks (Thompson fouls, Texas FT shooting, Hamilton missed layup) and hit some clutch shots. Contests between 2 teams of this caliber usually come down to free throw shooting and a handful of possessions and, unfortunately, on Saturday these went in UCONN’s favor.
Last year, the Longhorns went into Storrs and were exposed as the Huskies provided the kick that sent Texas tumbling down the stairs of dysfunction. This season, the Longhorns can take plenty from their 3rd loss on the season. They head into Big XII play, (@Tech, home v. OU & ATM) confident in their ability to play with, and beat, any team in the country. With a few tweaks, hopefully they’ll get that chance against UCONN in Houston.
- Tyler A. Denning
