Texas Basketball: 3 reasons why the Longhorns will dominate Stanford

Stanford struggles against solid perimeter defenders

One area where the Longhorns have still excelled for the most part this season, even through the losses, is with their perimeter defense. There are struggles that senior guards Marcus Carr and Courtney Ramey have faced on a consistent basis this season on the offensive end of the floor. But they’ve remained two of the better on-ball perimeter defenders in the Big 12 so far this season.

So far this season, Ramey has registered a career-best 86 defensive rating and 2.7 defensive box plus/minus. The one area that Ramey could still improve at this point of the season defensively is with his off-ball help and getting a bit more disruptive.

Ramey is averaging below one steal per game (0.9 steals per game exactly) this season which is one of the worst numbers of his career to date.

All in all, though, Texas could really take advantage of a Stanford team that does turn the ball over a good amount. Stanford averages around 15 turnovers per game this season, which is good for the bottom 80 in Division 1 this season.

Stanford also has five of the top 10 players in the rotation that average just as many or more, turnovers per game as they do assists. Texas can take advantage of this by getting more important possessions, as they did at times against Seton Hall.

Between the likes of Ramey, Carr, and redshirt senior shooting guard/wing Andrew Jones, Texas should be able to make life difficult for Stanford on the perimeter in this game.