Texas Longhorns Basketball Hosts Oklahoma Sooners in Big Monday Match-Up
The No. 11 Texas Longhorns, fresh off their first conference game of the season against Texas Tech, will host the No. 18 Oklahoma Sooners in Austin Monday night. This year’s first game of the Red River Rivalry posts two solid and somewhat evenly-matched teams against one another in a nationally televised Big Monday match-up.
Since losing Isaiah Taylor to a wrist injury, the Longhorns have not been playing their best basketball of the season. Though he returned to the court vs. the Red Raiders last weekend, he was a bit rusty offensively, committing six turnovers o just two assists. He didn’t shoot well, but made up for his offensive performance with a good defensive showing.
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With Taylor back and with a game under his belt, this Longhorns basketball team has no more excuses. If they want to compete for the Big 12 title against some of the most competitive teams in the country, they are going to have to start playing the way we know they can; no more excuses.
The match-up vs. the Sooners won’t be easy. Much like Texas, they play very sound defense, holding opponent to just over 59 points per game. They’re currently ranked 5th in defensive efficiency.
The Longhorns, also a very strong defensive team, are holding their opponents to just over 55 points per game.
On the other side of the ball, the Sooners have a high-powered offense, scoring 74 points per contest while the Longhorns are scoring 72. The Sooners’ lead scorer is Buddy Hield, and it’s likely that Demarcus Holland will be in charge of slowing him down. It should be an interesting match-up between these two.
Fortunately for the Horns, who like to play at a fast pace, the Sooner too prefer to play up-tempo as well. When Texas allows the other team to dictate a lower pace, they tend to struggle. Having Taylor back should help the offense tremendously, as when he is on the floor, this team simply plays abundantly better when it has the ball.
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The one area in which the Horns’ hold a distinct advantage, and it could be what puts them on top, is rebounding. Texas ranks 2nd nationally in rebound differential while Oklahoma isn’t a strong rebounding team.
With both teams playing strong defense and a fast-paced offense, as is usually the case, this game will likely come down to turnovers. Texas has given the ball away far too much this season. Even with Taylor back, the Longhorns’ committed ten turnovers in a ten minute stretch during the first half against Tech, but hopefully, with a game under Taylor’s belt, he will have knocked off some of the rust.
On paper, these two arch rivals match up very well. If both teams play the way they’re capable, it should be a close game, but with the home crowd behind them, the Longhorns hold the slight edge.
The game will be televised at 8:00 P.M. on ESPN’s Big Monday.