Texas Basketball: Longhorns embarrassed in 22-point loss to Providence

A 70-48 loss at the hands of the Providence Friars on Dec. 21 is not a good look at all for head coach Shaka Smart and his Texas basketball team.

As if the Texas basketball program couldn’t shake off the perception they had of getting knocked off by bad teams heading into the 2019-20 regular season, matters just got much worse. Last season, this Texas team under the direction of head coach Shaka Smart fell short to the likes of the Radford Highlanders and VCU Rams during the non-conference slate.

That trend continued for the Texas Longhorns basketball program to get upset by opposition less talented than them on Dec. 21 during the 2019-20 campaign. The Longhorns had the Providence Friars on tap, as really the last major non-conference test outside of the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

The last non-conference game that the Longhorns have on tap leading up to the start of Big 12 play comes against High Point at home on Dec. 30. That is the last game before the Longhorns open up the Big 12 slate, against the Baylor Bears on Jan. 4.

However, Smart didn’t see his squad pass their final test of the non-conference slate and of this calendar year. Texas had the opportunity to add to their NCAA Tournament resume and build confidence heading into the new year on Dec. 21, as they traveled to Rhode Island to take on a stingy Providence squad.

Texas was dominated from the opening tip-off by the Friars. Providence went into halftime with a 43-28 lead. They even won the second half by a score of 27-20. Smart never saw his team get going consistently. Their offensive woes also kept in this game, as Providence held Texas to a dreary 31.7 percent shooting from the field and an even worse 14.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The solid defense that the Longhorns are known for didn’t stick in this game either. The Friars only turned the ball over 11 times, compared to 13 from the usually stout Longhorns. And Providence shot better than 38 percent from three-point range, which was a real killer for Texas.

About the only scoring presence that came for the Longhorns this weekend was from the starting backcourt. Junior guard Matt Coleman finished the afternoon with 11 points, four rebounds, and no assists while shooting 5-of-13 from the field. The assist-to-turnover ratio was miserable for Coleman in this game, as he finished with a goose egg in assists and three turnovers.

Sophomore Texas guard Courtney Ramey wasn’t much better here in terms of taking care of the basketball. He also had three turnovers, but did add two assists. Ramey was 6-of-14 from the field for 12 points.

The leading scorer for Providence here was senior star 6-foot-7 guard Alpha Diallo, who finished up with a game-high 14 points. Diallo also added a whopping 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals. He was a force to be reckoned with on both ends of the floor. He also completely disrupted any rhythm the Longhorns had going on the wing.

It’s been a while since Texas basketball fans saw their team thoroughly dominated like they were against Providence. The narrative really shows up with the 10 steals Providence had compared to two for Texas. And the 52 rebounds Providence had compared to 39 for Texas was a telling story for this game too.

Up next for the 9-2 Longhorns is that Dec. 30 matchup against High Point. This was the first true road loss for Texas on the season. They will return home to the Frank Erwin Center to face High Point to cap this calendar year. Texas will enter that game with a record of 6-0 at home.