Texas Loses Ugly Big 12 Tournament Game – Season Over
Texas lost an ugly Big 12 tournament game against West Virginia on Thursday night.
The Texas Basketball season ended with a 63-53 loss against WVU in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
The Longhorns struggled to simply put the ball in the basket during long stretches of both halves. At the end of the game, the Horns either missed point-blank looks at the rim, wide-open threes, or free throws.
The difference at the free throw line captured the story – Texas went 8-19 on free throws in a 10-point game.
The final nail in the coffin was a key sequence with about 7 minutes left in the game. Texas was down 6 points at 52-46 and well within reach of the Mountaineers.
Kendal Yancy then had a chance to pull within 4 at the free throw line, but he missed both free throws. West Virginia immediately capitalized with a jumper, steal, and three-pointer. Just like that, it was an 11-point advantage for WVU.
From there, Texas only scored 7 points in the final stretch of the game. And, they only scored 2 points in the last 5:36 of the game. To add insult to injury, the two points were free throws by Yancy when the game was essentially over with 30 seconds left.
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| Longhorns | 30 | 23 | 53 |
| Mountaineers | 39 | 24 | 63 |
Texas seemed to be 10 points short of the top Big 12 teams all season. So, it was fitting the season ended with a similar result.
- Loss at Iowa State: 9 points
- Loss at Baylor: 10 points
- Loss at Kansas: 12 points
- Loss at TCU: 15 points
- Loss at Ok. State: 13 points
- Loss at WVU: 15 points
- Loss vs. KU: 10 points
- Loss at Tech: 10 points
- Loss vs. Baylor: 11 points
- Big 12 Tourney Loss vs. WVU: 10 points
Texas Basketball Unable To Close First Half
Texas Basketball came out with a lot of energy in the first half, riding the momentum from their upset win over Texas Tech on Wednesday.
After playing the Mountaineers tough in the first 17 minutes of the half, Texas fell apart in the last three minutes.
Texas and WVU were tied 29-29 before the Mountaineers closed the half on a 10-1 run. During that stretch, Jarrett Allen missed shots, made 1-2 free throws, Andrew Jones missed a three and turned the ball over, and Kerwin Roach missed a three and layup.
Suddenly, Texas went from a competitive game to a 9-point deficit.
Included was a stretch where Texas did not make a basket during the final 7 minutes of the half after the game was tied 27-27. The remaining three points in the half were from the free throw line.
These are the kind of stretches that plagued Texas all season. They overcame it with a miraculous final 10 minutes against Tech on Wednesday night. But, WVU was not getting to let Texas slide.
Without a true PG or go-to scorer, Texas looked for someone – anyone – to score and lead the game back. But, it wasn’t there. Not even Jarrett Allen, who had the Dunk of the Year against WVU the last time they met. But, he only scored 9 points in the game and two after halftime.
Longhorns Run Out of Steam In Second Half
Texas turned the ball over on the first play of the second half, indicating they were not ready to compete against WVU’s tough defense.
The Longhorns also struggled to score. It wasn’t until Jarrett Allen made a dunk two minutes into the half that Texas got on the board. That ended a 9-minute shooting drought going back to first half, but it was the last time that Allen scored.
But, Texas still had chances. The Horns closed within 4 points with 8:33 left after Yancy made a three-pointer. But, WVU scored to make it a 6-point game, Yancy missed his critical free throws, and WVU poured on five quick points to make it an 11-point game.
All of that in two minutes from 8:33 to 6:34 sealed Texas’ fate. It was the kind of snowball that happened to Shaka Smart’s team all season long.
From there, the young Longhorns seemed worn out and deflated. They could not put the ball in the basket and trying to play against the Mountaineers’ press defense on a back-to-back night proved to be too much for the Horns.
WVU wasn’t much better, only scoring 6 points in the final 6:34 of the game to go with Texas only scoring 7 points in the same stretch. It was an ugly way to close a game that Texas had a chance to make interesting.
But, seniors Kendal Yancy, Shaq Cleare, and Mareik Isom did not have magic on this night to extend their careers. Now, Texas Basketball has to figure out what went wrong this season and address some glaring flaws for next season.
Next: Why UT Basketball Will Be National Title Contender In 2 Years
It seemed like all the flaws were present in one last game that sealed Texas’ fate in the 2016-2017 season, finishing 11-22 on the year. And, there’s that 10-11 numerical difference again.