Texas Basketball: 3 players who need to pick up the pace in December

Jase Febres, SG/SF

There was never a point in the five-year-long career to this date for shooting guard/wing Jase Febres where he even took half the number of two-point attempts compared to three-pointers. And this season spells the same formula for Febres. But he’s just not as effective out of the gates this season for the Longhorns compared to years past.

Texas has some good three-point shooters on the roster this season, but most are actually wings or forwards. Febres is definitely the purest shooter that the Longhorns have on the roster, though. He just hasn’t really hit his stride on a consistent basis as of yet.

Through seven games played this season (four of which he started in), Febres has shot just 32.1 percent from the field and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Both of those are below his career averages.

It really looks like the problem for Febres in terms of shooting from deep this season was the Abe Lemons Classic. In those three games in the Abe Lemons Classic, Febres shot 0-of-8 from beyond the arc. Outside of those three games, Febres has shot 7-of 12 from beyond the arc this season.

In terms of the other phases of the game, Febres is still doing his job on the defensive end of the floor. He’s right around his career average with a 1.5 defensive box plus/minus. But he does have a career-best 2.6 steal percentage and 2.3 block percentage.

If Febres can get it going from the field and specifically from downtown, he’s going to be a real three-and-D force for the Longhorns. Beard needs that presence in his rotation moving forward.