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Texas Basketball vs. Grand Canyon: 5 takeaways from steamrolling of Antelopes

By Andrew Miller

FULLERTON, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Trey Drechsel #2 of the Grand Canyon Lopes gets by David Beatty #1 of the La Salle Explorers for a basket in the first half of the game during the Wooden Legacy Tournament at Titan Gym on November 25, 2018 in Fullerton, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
FULLERTON, CA - NOVEMBER 25: Trey Drechsel #2 of the Grand Canyon Lopes gets by David Beatty #1 of the La Salle Explorers for a basket in the first half of the game during the Wooden Legacy Tournament at Titan Gym on November 25, 2018 in Fullerton, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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AUSTIN, TX – DECEMBER 9: Elijah Mitrou-Long #55 of the Texas Longhorns reacts as the Texas Longhorns defeat the Purdue Boilermakers at the Frank Erwin Center on December 9, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX – DECEMBER 9: Elijah Mitrou-Long #55 of the Texas Longhorns reacts as the Texas Longhorns defeat the Purdue Boilermakers at the Frank Erwin Center on December 9, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /

5. Texas finally put together 40 solid minutes

One thing that plagued Texas basketball all season was the inability to put two solid halves of play together in one important game. Grand Canyon isn’t the most significant or difficult opponent on the Texas basketball slate this season, but it was a key game for the Horns to gain some confidence. Building a two-game winning streak was important coming off the three-game skid.

From here on out, the Horns are going to need as many quality wins as it can get before the start of Big 12 play. All that remains before Big 12 play tips off are two matchups against the UT-Arlington Mavericks and the Providence Friars. It was crucial for the Horns to gather wins over the Antelopes and Purdue Boilermakers.

It was so disappointing to see the Horns fall to the Radford Highlanders and VCU Rams after a great showing in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. The loss to the Michigan State Spartans was warranted, despite a Texas collapse in the second half. The two following losses to Radford and VCU were not.

However, the complete showing that the Horns had against Grand Canyon showed what the fans were looking for out of this team since the regular season tipped off. The win over The Citadel back on Nov. 16, by the final score of 97-69, was the other time the Horns played a complete game like it did against Grand Canyon. And, even when the Horns looked like the lead was slipping in the second half the team was able to hold on and win the final 20 minutes by a 12-point margin.

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