Texas Basketball vs. Purdue: 5 takeaways from monster win over Boilermakers

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AUSTIN, TX – NOVEMBER 16: Jericho Sims #20 of the Texas Longhorns attempts a shot against Zane Najdawi #35 and Kaelon Harris #23 of the Citadel Bulldogs at the Frank Erwin Center on November 16, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /

1. Jericho Sims crashes back down to earth

One of the few positive takeaways from the losses in the past two games at the hands of VCU and Radford was the elevated play of Sims. The sophomore big man scored in double figures and combined for 14 rebounds in his last two games. He didn’t fair as well for the Horns as the front court production mostly dwindled.

Sims got just 14 minutes of playing time as Smart gave way to the hot hand of Hayes. As he got 12 more minutes of playing time than Sims, Hayes is seeing his role steadily increase each passing game. Hayes and Osetkowski could see their minutes spike if they start hitting the glass harder. Sims, Hayes, and Osetkowski combined for a measly seven rebounds against Purdue.

However, one of the key issues for Sims was some early foul trouble. Sims and Hayes both had their own foul trouble, as the two bigs combined for seven personal fouls in 40 minutes on the floor. Freshman power forward Kamaka Hepa also saw a lot of minutes on the floor this game. Hepa posted five points, three rebounds, and two assists, in 23 minutes.

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Purdue might’ve been the biggest test left on the non-conference slate for the Horns. The Big 12/SEC Challenge showdown against the Georgia Bulldogs and the upcoming battle with Providence compete for the crown of hardest test outside of Big 12 play. While Sims standing out could be big for the Texas front court from here on out, this shows that the complete team effort deep into the rotation is more important.

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