Texas Sports: The Week Ahead Dec 6-Dec 12
By Donny Hunt
It promises to be a big week for Texas sports this week. Football may be over, but there are still some big games on tap for Longhorn Nation to help you get over the disappointment on the gridiron.
Volleyball
The biggest ticket in Austin this week will be for the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. The Longhorns will host the Austin Regional Friday and Saturday in Gregory Gym. Texas, the number 3 national seed will host # 14 UCLA on Friday.
Texas advanced to the Sweet 16 for the tenth consecutive season by defeating a tough Purdue squard 3-1 on Friday night. The Longhorns opened tournament play with a straight sets victory over Fairfield in the opening round.
UCLA also won their first round matchup 3-0, defeating Lipscomb. The Bruins were then pushed to the limit by Michigan in the second round, needing five sets to finally defeat the Wolverines.
The other game in the Austin regional features sixth seeded Wisconsin versus 11 seed Florida. The winners will play Saturday for a trip to the Final Four in Omaha. History is on the Horns’ side in this one, as Texas is 61-9 all time in NCAA Tournament matches held in Austin.
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Women’s Basketball
It’s a light week for the No. 6 Longhorns basketball team. Their only game this week is Sunday afternoon at the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans (2-3).
The Longhorns are 6-0 on the season and come into this game red hot after winning back-to-back games against Top Ten foes. Texas started the past week by knocking off traditional power #5 Tennessee on the road in Knoxville. They then followed up that feat by beating #9 Mississippi State at home on Wednesday. Texas enters this game with a 20 game win streak in regular season, non-conference games.
The Longhorns are a defensive machine, leading the Big 12 in scoring defense (47.5 ppg) and field goal percentage defensive and are second in turnover margin.
They can also light it up on the other end, as three players are averaging double digit points on the season, led by Senior center Imani Boyette at 14.2 ppg. Guard Brooke McCarty (So) and guard Brianna Taylor (Jr) are also pointing up 10+ points per game.
The light week gives the Longhorns a chance to rest up for their next home game, next Sunday against Stanford.
Texas Longhorns
Men’s Basketball
Things haven’t been as rosy for the men’s basketball team, off to a 4-3 start in Shaka Smart’s first season in Austin. However, the Longhorns are coming off a solid victory over Samford on Friday.
This week the Longhorns host two games at the Frank Erwin Center, starting with Tuesday’s match-up with UTSA. The big one on the schedule, though, is Saturday afternoon when the North Carolina Tar Heels pay a visit to The Drum.
The Texas offense is keyed by Junior point guard Isaiah Taylor, who is averaging 14 points and nearly 5 assists per game and Senior center Cameron Ridley 11 points and nine rebounds per game on the season. Ridley was the Longhorn’s leading scorer in Friday’s win over Samford.
Texas has won their last two at home and doubling up that total would be a major accomplishment for the Horns and provided some big momentum for the Longhorns going forward.