Texas Basketball: 5 takeaways post-NIT Quarterfinal victory vs. Colorado

5. NIT run commanded by major scoreboard swings

Starting with the first game for the Texas basketball program as part of this solid NIT run, the flow was commanded by enormous momentum swings and individual team scoring runs. Texas started out the NIT against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits with a 19-0 run, and finished with another swing of momentum to claim the final 79-73 victory.

There also needed to be a late scoring swing in favor of the Horns to force the thrilling second-round NIT matchup against the Xavier Musketeers into overtime in the first place. Texas was able to hold on against rising star sophomore forward Naji Marshall and Xavier in overtime to claim that victory by the final score of 78-76.

This showing against Colorado was much more convincing than the previous two. It just looked like Texas was a bit cold and rusty at times against South Dakota State in the first round. And, Xavier was one of the stingiest and most talented teams in this entire NIT field overall. That’s a difficult road that the Horns were able to work through to get to face Colorado.

Texas went into halftime against the Buffs with a commanding 44-19 lead. But, late in the second half saw Colorado mount a decent comeback. Colorado wound up winning the second half by a score of 36-24. But, that wasn’t nearly enough to get back in the winning realm. The final score of 68-55 showed that point for Colorado.