Texas Basketball: 4 lessons learned from upset win over Purdue

4. Live by the Coleman, die by the Coleman

The best player for Texas basketball by far in this game was junior guard Matt Coleman. He was also much better than his starting counterpart in the backcourt. Sophomore guard Courtney Ramey couldn’t get much of anything going, shooting 0-of-4 from the field and turning it over three times.

Last season, Coleman was great at leading this defense and facilitating the offense. But there wasn’t much else that he could boast consistently that he did well. The shooting performances definitely came and went, as did the Longhorns string of successes.

However, this was a game where Coleman looked more confident shooting than he did in a long time. He was pulling the trigger whenever he had the open opportunity and converted on the bulk of his tries from the field. He registered a game-high 22 points to go along with seven assists, four rebounds, and one steal. Coleman also had just one turnover on the day.

Coleman is now averaging 16.0 points per game, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists, while shooting better than 70 percent from the field and around 64 percent from three point range. Those type of shooting numbers might die out soon for Coleman, but enjoy while they are lying around. This is giving him a player efficiency rating hovering just shy of 30 thus far.