Texas Basketball: Much-needed NIT victory vs. Lipscomb ahead?
A record of 21-16 is attainable for Texas basketball for the season with a victory in the NIT Finals at MSG against the Lipscomb Bisons.
On April 4, the opportunity will present itself for the Texas basketball program to partly redeem itself for a letdown of a 2018-19 regular season, against Lipscomb, in the NIT Finals at Madison Square Garden. This is the biggest game for Texas basketball since falling short against the Kansas Jayhawks in its only game in the Big 12 Tournament.
What Texas basketball needs to do here against Lipscomb in the NIT Finals at MSG in New York City tonight is understand what its up against. Lipscomb won’t be afraid of the spotlight against this Texas basketball team, just because it comes from a storied history and a top power conference. That Lipscomb team already took down the likes of the NC State Wolfpack and Wichita State Shockers on its way to facing Texas here.
The Texas Longhorns basketball program could not have expected to end up in the NIT during most of the regular season, but here we are. At this point, Texas might as well take advantage of the chance here to get yet another run during what is a nice NIT run. Texas did beat some quality teams on the way to this NIT Final including the TCU Horned Frogs, Colorado Buffaloes, and Xavier Musketeers.
All it takes is one more win when Texas basketball is a 1.5-point favorite over Lipscomb to get the No. 21 victory on the season and win this postseason tournament. Winning the NIT still takes a backseat in the minds of most college hoops fans compared to even making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but this is the best case scenario given the circumstances at hand.
The fans should be elated with how some of the seniors are showing out in the NIT. We’re also seeing a new crop of talent on the Forty Acres emerge for the Horns. With senior center Dylan Osetkowski and shooting guard Kerwin Roach Jr. on the way out after this game, we could be seeing them pass the torch to the next generation with the likes of freshman point guard Courtney Ramey and sophomore forward Jericho Sims.
The exposure here for younger players for the Horns across the board is big. Most of the youth deeper down the bench wouldn’t get this type of exposure in the NCAA Tournament if that was the result of this postseason. We’ll see how this group responds against Lipscomb, though.
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All told, this Texas basketball team shouldn’t have much trouble dealing with Lipscomb talent-wise. Containing the scorching hot Garrison Mathews of Lipscomb is the primary task at hand for this Texas defense. He’s put up 34 and 44 points, respectively, in his past two outings. Pull that off, and the Horns have a good shot at winning the NIT.