Texas Basketball vs. Grand Canyon: 5 takeaways from steamrolling of Antelopes
3. Widespread contributions throughout the rotation
With how much talent and depth Texas basketball has in the rotation, it’s nice to see more than just the starters and one or two bench players step up in a single game. Texas basketball went deeper into the rotation than it normally does. The fact that Smart got contributions all over the place bodes well for the Horns heading into Big 12 play.
Part of the reason why the bench contributions were so abundant was the absence of senior shooting guard Kerwin Roach II in the starting lineup. That might’ve been just the shakeup Texas needed since Roach II seemed to get his scoring touch back. Roach II posted 15 points to finish second on the team in scoring.
In place of Roach II in the starting lineup, former transfer shooting guard Elijah Mitrou-Long had his best individual game of the regular season. Mitrou-Long tied Febres for the team lead in scoring with 16 points. He was also one of five different players on the team that posted double-digits in scoring.
The other big contribution received off the bench came from the talented freshman point guard Courtney Ramey. The stat line Ramey posted in this game was the best he’s had since his career started on the Forty Acres. He posted 10 points, a career-high eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals. All in all, the contributions from Ramey and the rest of the bench provided 44 points compared to just 23 from Grand Canyon’s bench.