Texas Completely Falls Apart in Latest Road Loss vs. OU
Texas Basketball completely fell apart in the second half Tuesday night against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The Texas basketball team lost 70-66 to the Oklahoma Sooners and still have not won a road game this season. Texas is in danger of falling to last place in the Big 12 with a 4-9 record to Oklahoma’s 3-10 record.
The conclusion to draw from Tuesday’s game is the young Longhorns simply do not know how to win on the road. And, head coach Shaka Smart’s message is not getting through.
The Longhorns had no business losing this game, as the equally young Sooners struggled for long stretches. Oklahoma was also playing without their best player Jordan Woodard for the first time since he tore his knee on Saturday. But, Texas struggled even more in the second half.
Texas did not make a three-pointer in the second half and the game fittingly ended on another missed three-pointer at the buzzer. This performance came the day after Shaka Smart spent a lot of time during his Monday press conference talking about the players not shooting with confidence.
Once again, the Texas guards looked very tentative in the second half. The ball got stuck on the perimeter and the post players were unable to get free for open looks. The lack of a true PG to get everyone in the right frame of mind turned into a downward spiral.
Meanwhile, Jarrett Allen hurt this team badly at the free throw line. Allen went 1-8 on free throws one game after going 0-7 against Oklahoma State. Allen missed the front end of a handful of one-and-ones, which essentially turned into turnovers.
But, the game was essentially lost in the first half when Texas clearly had the advantage.
Texas Basketball Should Have Put Away Oklahoma Sooners in First Half
In the first half, turnovers kept Oklahoma in the game when Texas should have blown this game out. The Sooners struggled mightily in the first half playing without Woodard, but Texas allowed them to hang around with poor execution on offense and defense.
Early on, the Longhorns looked inspired and tired of losing on the road, but they kept turning the ball over and they compounded that by not rebounding the ball on defense.
In the first half, Texas shot 61 percent and OU shot 38 percent from the field. But, the Horns only led by one point at the break because they gave up too many possessions on offense and too many rebounds to the Sooners. Plus, the Sooners went 10-14 on free throws and Texas only shot 2-4.
The key, though, was rebounding. Or a lack of it. OU grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in the first half, which led to multiple second chance opportunities.
Plus, Texas turned the ball over eight times, five of which were by Andrew Jones. Jones, who was the hero in Texas’ home win against Oklahoma in January, was completely off his game. He never seemed to recover in the second half.
Longhorns Do Not Capitalize On Hot Second Half Start
According to ESPN2 game announcer Miles Simon, the message from Shaka Smart at halftime was to play at a higher level. Bench player Ryan McClurg even had a halftime speech encouraging his teammates to play up to their ability because they were all tired of losing on the road.
Texas did just that in the first few minutes of the second half with a quick 6-0 run. The great offensive execution forced the Oklahoma Sooners to take an early timeout. But then came another classic 2016-2017 lull.
Texas led 49-43 with 15:33 left in the half. They did not score again until the 9:06 mark when Jarrett Allen broke a streak of 13 consecutive missed free throws dating back to Saturday against Oklahoma State. During that stretch, it was a typical second half on the road when the offense stagnates, the guards look tentative, and everyone plays tense.
Also during that lull, the Sooners took the lead for the first time in the second half. This was after leading just one time in the entire first half. Texas had allowed the Sooners to gain confidence, which eventually doomed the Longhorns.
Texas re-took the lead going into the under 8:00 timeout. Then, Texas led 56-55 with five minutes remaining in the game. But, the Sooners suddenly started making shots and Texas could not convert shots in the paint or from the perimeter.
On the night, Texas only made three shots from long distance – all in the first half. On the other side, Oklahoma only made four three-pointers all game, but two were at winning time in the last five minutes of the game.
What was a tight game suddenly turned into an eight-point advantage for the Sooners with one minute remaining.
The Horns were able to get back within one possession thanks to some timely steals using their pressure defense. But, Kerwin Roach took an ill-advised three-pointer when Texas had time to continue attacking the paint.
The Sooners then sealed the game with free throws for the final score of 70-66.
Overall, Texas only scored 27 points in the second half after scoring 39 points in the first half.
How Does Texas Basketball Recover?
You could see it on Shaka Smart’s face throughout the second half that he was frustrated with his team. It was a rinse-and-repeat situation where the players lose focus and the lack of a PG catches up to the Horns.
It’s hard to find bright spots in this game because Texas should have won. Jarrett Allen finished with a double-double on 17 points and 10 rebounds. But, he left at least seven points at the charity stripe.
Also, Texas had 13 assists to Oklahoma’s mere 8. But, OU cleaned up so many missed shots with offensive rebounds.
Texas even outshot the Sooners 48 percent to 37 percent for the game. But, the Sooners made up for it with 15 more made free throws and one more three-pointer.
Shaka Smart has to find a way to give this team a confidence boost heading into the final few games of the season. This was likely Texas’ last chance to win a road game, as the remaining trips away from Austin are to West Virginia and Texas Tech.
Now the goal is trying to avoid last place. Of course, “avoidance” seems like Texas’s biggest problem this season. The young roster seems to be avoiding a mistake or a difficult situation instead of playing to win. You don’t want to be too hard on the team, but they are repeating the same mistakes in each road game.
Next: Why UT Basketball Will Be National Title Contender In Two Years
Shaka Smart has to go back to the drawing board before this Saturday’s home game against Kansas State. Texas needs to win that game before facing West Virginia, Kansas, Tech, and Baylor to close the season.