Texas Basketball: Longhorns look like one of Big 12’s best after CMU win
One of the better starts to a regular season under head coach Shaka Smart is happening for the Texas basketball program after knocking off Central Michigan.
The Central Michigan Chippewas brought in the nation’s top scoring offense into the Frank Erwin Center to square off against the hosting Texas basketball program on Dec. 14. Texas needed to beat Central Michigan to get one step closer to reaching double-digit wins on the season. They came into this game with an 8-1 record. Their last game saw a take down of the in-state rival Texas A&M Aggies in the revival of the Lone Star Showdown at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Dec. 8.
Central Michigan came into this game with a record of 7-3, hoping to get back on track with a win over the Texas Longhorns basketball program. Averaging around 90.0 points per game in their first 10 games of the season, the Chippewas had an offense that was scoring at a torrid pace that a solid Longhorns defense had to deal with.
The good news was that head Texas basketball coach Shaka Smart had a top 80 ranked defense in the nation in terms of points allowed per game and a top 20 group in defensive rating. Junior guard Matt Coleman and junior center Jericho Sims highlighted a solid Longhorns defensive bunch thus far. And shooting guard Andrew Jones and point guard Courtney Ramey were bolstering the offense.
Senior Central Michigan guard Kevin McKay led the way for his team in this game, and made it tough for the Longhorns defense to hold off that spirited effort McKay posted a team-high 21 points and six rebounds. McKay was one of four Central Michigan starters that all posted at least a dozen points on the afternoon.
However, the Longhorns got a big day out of junior small forward Jase Febres. With a game-high 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, Febres continued rolling with his hot shooting ways. Most of the production for Febres came on his 7-of-10 shooting from three-point range.
Ramey added 20 points, six assists, three rebounds, and one steal. He did all that while shooting 7-of-13 from the field. Ramey also had a rare game, with no turnovers.
The best effort off the bench for Texas came from junior forward Royce Hamm Jr., who finished with eight points, 12 rebounds, and one block. He was stout in relief of Sims, who found himself in foul trouble early on. While Sims didn’t foul out in this game, he did finish up with four on the afternoon.
With this win over Central Michigan, the Longhorns moved to a very solid record of 9-1 on the regular season. Texas also moves to a record of 6-0 at home at the Erwin Center this season.
This 9-1 record is starting to give Texas plenty of momentum with the start of Big 12 play just around the corner. Texas has two more non-conference games before they tip-off Big 12 play, on Jan. 4 on the road against the Baylor Bears. All that remains before then are battles against Providence (Big 12/Big East Challenge) and High Point at home.
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The way Texas is playing right now, they look to be a top team in the Big 12 this season. Fulfilling that promise is usually a whole different animal during Smart’s tenure on the Forty Acres. According to the Kenpom.com rankings, Texas does rank well inside the top 50 teams in the nation at this point. And their resume is getting better and better through the non-conference slate.