Texas Basketball: Horns can rebound in big way vs. K-State

On the night of Jan. 16, No. 4 ranked Texas basketball will get to take the floor again at the Frank Erwin Center to try and bounce back from their tough loss to the No. 15 Texas Tech Red Raiders at home earlier in the week. Texas had their undefeated start to the Big 12 slate ruined by head coach Chris Beard and his upset-minded Red Raiders back on the night of Jan. 13.

Texas Tech got the best of head coach Shaka Smart and his Longhorns earlier in the week, by the narrow final score of 79-77. And while Texas Tech got an extremely tough test this weekend, taking on the No. 2 ranked Baylor Bears at home on Jan. 16, the Longhorns get a nice chance to bounce back and right the ship against the Kansas State Widlcats.

Only the Iowa State Cyclones sit lower in the Big 12 standings right now than Kansas State. The Wildcats come into this meeting with the talented and deep Longhorns with a record of 5-8 (1-4 Big 12). Their lone win in Big 12 play so far this season came over the Clones way back on Dec. 15, by a nine-point margin.

Meanwhile, Texas had a lengthy winning streak overall that was also snapped in that close loss to Texas Tech. They come into this game against Kansas State with a still solid record of 10-2 (4-1 Big 12). Only Baylor sits ahead of the Longhorns in the Big 12 standings at the moment.

Texas is a lofty 17-point favorite over Kansas State at home on Jan. 16. And the ESPN matchup predictor gives the Longhorns a whopping 95 percent chance to win this game.

These Longhorns are going to need a big response from the standout experienced guard duo of senior Matt Coleman and junior Courtney Ramey. Despite a nice showing from the trio of redshirt junior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones, senior center Jericho Sims, and freshman power forward Greg Brown, the Longhorns still couldn’t top Texas Tech three days ago.

Coleman is still posting solid per game stats so far. In 12 games played so far this season (all of which he’s started in), Coleman averaged 13.6 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.2 blocks, and 2.0 turnovers. And he’s shot 44.7 percent from the field, 35.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 89.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Ramey is also still looking solid in terms of his per game stat line thus far. In a dozen games played so far this season (also all of which he’s started in), Ramey averaged 13.9 points per game, 3.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.1 blocks, and 2.6 turnovers. He’s shot 42.7 percent from the field, 43.6 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Kansas State will be the last game that Coleman, Ramey, and the Longhorns face at home at the Erwin Center before they hit the road again to face Iowa State next on Jan. 20 in Ames. Texas is set to tip off tonight against the Wildcats at 7 p.m. CT.