Texas Basketball: Seniors need to show up vs. Alabama State

While this looks to be one of the easier matchups remaining on the regular season schedule for new head coach Chris Beard and No. 17 ranked Texas basketball on the afternoon of Dec. 22, the Alabama State Hornets still present this team with an opportunity to keep momentum on their side. At this point, we don’t really need to see Texas dominate another team that isn’t a contender for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

What we need to see from Beard and the Longhorns is the consistency and efficiency on both ends of the floor from important senior leaders such as guards Courtney Ramey and Marcus Carr.

Texas is getting solid play out of the gates this season from top transfer additions such as junior big man Tre Mitchell, senior forward Timmy Allen, and even the recently debuted junior power forward Dylan Disu. But others like Carr and Ramey need to show up on a more consistent basis on both ends of the floor. This has hurt the team against top competition such as the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Seton Hall Pirates.

Beard and the Longhorns already proved to us that they can at least beat a decent team that could theoretically slide into the NCAA Tournament as a lower single-digit or double-digit seed. When Texas beat the Stanford Cardinal out of the PAC-12 in the Coast-to-Coast Challenge on Dec. 19, it did prove that this team can at least take down a decent competitor.

But Texas needs to now prove that some of their top players can play consistent two-way basketball against any opponent. That starts with players like Ramey and Carr building up the confidence and momentum needed ahead of the start of Big 12 play against easier opponents such as Alabama State.

A good indication of the inconsistent play offensively from Ramey is the fact that he has six games (out of 10 played) so far this season where he has at least as many turnovers as assists. Another indication is the fact that Ramey has either shot worse than 34 percent from beyond the arc, or at least 50 percent from downtown, in every single game this season.

The fact that Ramey doesn’t have a single game where he’s shot between 34 and 49.9 percent from beyond the arc this season is a sign of a real hit-or-miss player.

I’m definitely not saying that Ramey is going to be perfect, or just average every game. What I am saying is that Ramey needs to be more consistent for Texas given his importance to the flow of this offense.

Texas basketball needs the senior guard duo of Marcus Carr and Courtney Ramey to start finding more consistency

Carr takes this example of inconsistencies to a whole other level. And the play out of the gates this season from Carr, in general, has left a lot to be desired on the Forty Acres. Last season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Carr averaged just shy of 20 points per game, with a 7.1 box plus/minus, and a player efficiency rating north of 20.

So far this season with the Longhorns, Carr is averaging around eight points per game, with a box plus/minus below zero, and a sub-par 11.3 player efficiency rating.

Carr is the real example of a complete hit-or-miss player for the Longhorns this season. He’s got four games where he registered no more than six points. And he’s got four games under his belt this season where he’s shot less than 31 percent from the field.

That’s not to mention the fact that Carr has five games this season without a single make from beyond the arc, four of which he took at least two attempts from downtown.

Carr really needs to pick up his play on both ends of the floor if he wants to keep any sort of important role in this starting unit heading into Big 12 play for Beard and the Longhorns. He’s definitely the biggest disappointment to start the season of anyone on this team.

Another important point to note heading into the Alabama State game is the fact that it would be good to see Texas get the likes of freshman forward Jaylon Tyson, Disu, and sophomore guard Devin Askew going. Since Texas is more than a 30-point favorite heading into this game, you would figure Beard and his staff could get some rotational guys more playing time against Alabama State.

Texas is set to carry a record of 8-2 (0-0 Big 12) into this meeting with 2-9 Alabama State on Dec. 22. Tip-off time between Texas and Alabama State is set for 1 p.m. CT on Dec. 22 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin.