Texas Basketball: 3 takeaways from disheartening upset loss to OK State

2) Takeaways from Texas basketball loss to OK State

Bench gives huge boost on the glass

A major positive that emerged from this game for Smart and the Longhorns was their play from the frontcourt rotation off the bench. There were a few games in a row where the Longhorns were down a lot of their depth in the frontcourt rotation. And the players they did have in the mix just weren’t as efficient of late as we’re accustomed to from earlier in the season.

The mainstay for this Texas frontcourt rotation off the bench continues to be the breakthrough sophomore power forward Kai Jones. In this game, Jones registered 11 points, nine rebounds, no assists, one steal, and one blocks. And he shot a sound 3-of-5 from the field, 1-of-1 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe.

Jones is still standing out for this Longhorns frontcourt rotation at this point of the regular season slate. His NBA Draft stock continues to rise in the process.

To add to the solid efforts from the frontcourt rotation off the bench for Smart and the Longhorns, sophomore forward Brock Cunningham came up with a nice bounce back performance in this double overtime loss to the Pokes. Cunningham only gave Texas three points off the bench, on 1-of-4 shooting from the field (all three point attempts).

But Cunningham did his damage for the Longhorns in other areas of the stat sheet. He registered a team-high 10 rebounds, along with three rebounds, five steals, one block, and just one turnover. This was one of the better all-around games we’ve seen from Cunningham in his two years playing for Texas thus far.

As a team, the Longhorns outrebounded the Pokes by a margin of three (56-53). If not for the likes of freshman power forward Greg Brown, Cunningham, and Jones, the Longhorns were doomed on the glass, though.