Longhorn Basketball Preparing to Open Big 12 Play

The No. 11 ranked Texas Longhorn basketball team wrapped up their non-conference play early this week with a win over the Rice Owls, posting a record of 11-2 heading before heading into Big 12 play this weekend.

As with most teams, there have been highs and lows throughout the course of the non-conference schedule. The Horns opened the season by winning the 2K Classic and later captured key win over the UConn Huskies on the road. Though their first loss was at the hands of the No. 1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats, they proved even then they could hang with the nation’s best, and without their offensive floor general, point guard Isaiah Taylor.

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There have been some games, however, in which they looked out of sorts, including their overtime loss to the unranked Stanford Cardinal on the Horns’ home floor.

Over the last few games, the Longhorns have not been playing all that well. It’s easy to blame that on the loss of Taylor, but regardless, there are a few others things that must be improved upon as they head into conference play against the 10-3 (undefeated at home) Texas Tech on Saturday.

First and foremost, the Longhorns have to cut down on turnovers. Period. In Taylor’s absence, Javan Felix, Demarcus Holland, and Kendall Yancy have all held down the point guard position, but all have been inconsistent and prone to turning it over more often than they should. This is something that should improve once Taylor returns to the floor this weekend, but you have to be able to count on others to run the offense and protect the ball as well.

Additionally, Jonathan Holmes and Myles Turner both need to be more aggressive on offense. We all know what Holmes can do, as evidenced by his buzzer beater in Connecticut, and Turner has shown us why he was so highly rated coming out of high school. Nevertheless, both players have seemed timid at times this year. If this offense is going to score enough points to win in the Big 12, these two have to be firing on all cylinders. Turner will be making his first collegiate start against the Red Raiders this weekend, so look for him to get more involved from the very beginning.

On the other end of the floor, while the Longhorns have always been a solid defensive team under Rick Barnes, their perimeter defense has not been as good as it should be. If you had to point to one thing that cost the Horns the Stanford game, it would be giving up way too many threes. The same happened vs. Rice. The Longhorns need to tighten up from behind the arch and force teams to go inside against their big men, who are among the most talented in th conference.

This is a very capable Longhorn basketball team; in fact, it’s likely the best since Kevin Durant was on campus. Their ceiling is no doubt the highest its been in years; however, there are some key issues that need to be fixed as they begin conference play if they are to realize their full potential.

The Horns and Red Raiders tip-off Saturday at 1:00 CST in Lubbock. The game will be aired on ESPNU and WatchESPN.

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