Texas Basketball: 3 overreactions after the last-second win over OU

The first game of the Big 12 slate went the way of acting head coach Rodney Terry and No. 6 Texas basketball on Dec. 31. Texas was able to take down head coach Porter Moser and the Oklahoma Sooners in a tough environment on the road at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve.

But this win didn’t come easy for Terry and the Longhorns as Oklahoma fought hard until the very end. Oklahoma pushed Texas, including a late buzzer-beater that was ultimately all for naught.

The buzzer-beater three-pointer at the end of the second half wound up giving Texas the win by the final score of 70-69.

This was big for the Longhorns to get a win in its first true road game of the season. Texas had only played games at home or at neutral sites through the first dozen games of the regular season.

The win over Oklahoma will also serve as another valuable experience for this experienced Longhorns team. Being able to close out this close win in a trying situation on the road against a challenging opponent such as the Sooners is an experience gained that will be valuable come March and April.

Overreactions after Marcus Carr and No. 6 Texas basketball down OU by one point to open up Big 12 play

With that in mind, here’s a look at three overreactions following the Longhorns’ tight one-point win over Oklahoma on Dec. 31.

Arterio Morris should start getting more minutes while Tyrese Hunter is struggling offensively

The offensive struggles in the last few weeks for sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter are quite pronounced. After getting off to a hot start in the first month of the regular season, Hunter has completely cooled down in the last six games.

In the last half-dozen games, Hunter has only scored in the double figures once. And he continued struggling to find his offensive game in the win over Oklahoma this weekend.

Against the Sooners, Hunter registered just five points on a poor 1-of-7 shooting from the field, 0-of-3 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Hunter also posted four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and three turnovers.

This was one of the worst performances of the season to date for the former Iowa State Cyclone and the reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Hunter turned the ball over too much and still wasn’t able to find his shot from the field and specifically from deep. The turnover issues were something of a new occurrence for Hunter, though. Combine the turnover issues with the scoring struggles, and you will find a situation where Hunter is in one of the worst funks of his career to date.

According to Sports Reference, Hunter has the lowest game score of any Texas guard in the usual rotation in the last six games.

These issues also can’t repeat themselves if Hunter wants to keep his spot in the starting unit for too much longer. I would imagine that if Hunter’s offensive struggles continue for the next few games that freshman guard Arterio Morris will start to eat into some of his minutes.

Morris is already getting more playing time off the bench in the last few weeks given how he’s starting to find his game on both ends of the floor. Morris is giving a ton of effort on and off-ball on the defensive end. And he’s shooting the ball extremely well from the field and from deep in the last six games.

During that span, Morris is shooting an impressive 51.4 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from beyond the arc.

Although Morris only got a dozen minutes off the bench against Oklahoma, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to see him get more opportunities in the next few games. He’s just playing too well while Hunter is struggling immensely on the offensive end for Terry not to make that adjustment in the near future.

Marcus Carr is the most valuable player in the Big 12 so far this season

It’s hard to believe that I’m saying that senior guard Marcus Carr should be getting legitimate consideration for the Big 12 Player of the Year honors if the season were to end today. At the outset of the regular season, it seemed like Hunter was going to be the face of this guard rotation.

That perception of Hunter taking the lead as the face of this guard rotation, and possibly the program as a whole, has shifted greatly in the last few weeks given how well Carr has played of late.

Carr is putting up some insane numbers on both ends of the floor in the last few weeks. In the last five games, Carr is averaging a solid 23.2 points per game, 1.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals, and just 1.6 turnovers while shooting 53.6 percent from the field and an insane 61.8 percent from beyond the arc.

The five-game winning streak that the Longhorns are currently sitting on would not be possible without Carr. He willed the Longhorns to an overtime win a few weeks ago, in Terry’s first game as the acting head coach, over the Rice Owls at home at the Moody Center.

Carr also had a career night with a whopping 41 points in the 97-72 win over the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions on Dec. 27.

And while the scoring wasn’t at the same level as it was in the four games prior for Carr against the Sooners this weekend, he was still tremendous in many phases of the contest. His 13 points tied for a team-high. Carr was also arguably the best defender for Texas in the win over Oklahoma. He put up a game-high four steals as senior guard Grant Sherfield had a tough time finding his shot from deep.

All in all, I would definitely say that Carr is playing some of the best basketball of his collegiate career in the last month or so. He’s also the clear-cut team MVP at this point of the season.

There is also a good case to be made that Carr is the Big 12’s MVP so far this season. All that really needs to be said to make an argument for Carr as the Big 12 MVP so far is the fact that he leads the conference in four of the most notable advanced metrics.

Carr is at the top of the Big 12 this season in win shares (2.8), win shares per 40 minutes (.285), box plus/minus (11.6), and player efficiency rating (25.8).

Dylan Disu has returned to form at the right time

There were two players that really stood out for the Longhorns on the defensive end of the floor in the win over the Sooners this weekend. The first was the person we just talked about being the potential Big 12 MVP of the season so far.

And the other defensive standout for the Longhorns in the win over Oklahoma was senior big man Dylan Disu.

Disu was a monster on the glass and protecting the rim for the Longhorns. He posted five rebounds, good for a solid 20.3 rebounding percentage to go along with a game-high three blocks. Disu’s three blocks saw him post a sparkling 25.2 block percentage, which was also a game-high.

It’s worth noting that Disu had the only three blocks on the night for the Longhorns. He held it down in the paint on the defensive end of the floor, which was critical for the Longhorns to hang with the Sooners during some of the slower runs in the first half for this team.

You can also thank Disu and senior forward Timmy Allen for helping Texas win the battle on the glass over Oklahoma. Disu and Allen combined for 11 boards, including six on the offensive glass, to steal some extra possessions from the Sooners.

The performance from Disu in this game was nice to see after he looked bothered by nagging injury issues in the last few outings.

The way that Disu played in this game could be evidence that he’s feeling better after suffering a lower-body injury that was said to keep him “day-to-day” on Dec. 21. In fact, this was the first game that we saw Disu score in double figures since the Nov. 21 win over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks.

The version of Disu that showed up in the win over Oklahoma is exactly what Texas needs in the frontcourt to keep things solid during Big 12 play. He looked great playing alongside a rejuvenated and rolling Allen. And if we continue to see the likes of senior forward Brock Cunningham and senior big man Christian Bishop making big contributions off the bench for this frontcourt, Texas will be in a great spot in the Big 12 moving forward.