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Texas Basketball vs. VCU: 5 takeaways from upset loss to Rams

By Andrew Miller

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Virginia Commonwealth Rams fans cheer against the Rhode Island Rams during the first half in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 9, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Virginia Commonwealth Rams fans cheer against the Rhode Island Rams during the first half in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 9, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 21: De’Riante Jenkins #0 of the VCU Rams leads the fast break during the first half of the game against the California Golden Bears during the Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 21, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 21: De’Riante Jenkins #0 of the VCU Rams leads the fast break during the first half of the game against the California Golden Bears during the Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center on November 21, 2017 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

4. Fouls went mainly in VCU’s favor

The only two teams to lose in the Big 12 on Dec. 5 had trouble even getting to the foul line. Texas basketball shot only eight free-throws while VCU got to the foul line 21 times. Part of that was due to the Horns running into foul trouble down low between sophomore Jericho Sims and Hayes. Sims and Hayes combined for seven personal fouls in just 43 minutes combined.

That is a weird stat since most of the scoring for the Horns came from Sims and Hayes. Those two were the catalysts of the offense and led the team in scoring. Sims was huge once again, and was the only Texas player to score in double figures. Hayes put up eight points coming off the bench, while playing 19 minutes.

The front court was not the issue for the Horns here. Even senior forward Dylan Osetkowski had a pretty solid outing with nine rebounds, two steals, and two assists. Turnovers were the only issue for Osetkowski. His offensive performance was mostly sound outside of those three turnovers, and he shot 50 percent from the field.

It’s always difficult to blame the refs for a loss in any definitive fashion. But, the Horns outplayed VCU is most parts of the game, and had 13 less free-throw attempts. If the reffing fell more in the Horns favor, we’d likely be talking about a game that saw them escape with a victory. Texas did have other opportunities to lock up this win, though.

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