Texas Basketball: 3 takeaways from Horns offensive collapse vs. Iowa St

A bad dry spell to end the game cost acting head coach Rodney Terry and No. 7 Texas basketball in a key Big 12 road game against the No. 12 Iowa State Cyclones and head coach TJ Otzelberger. After getting off to a solid start in the first half, Texas couldn’t muster much offense down the stretch in the final 20 minutes.

The final half of basketball saw the Longhorns go on nearly a five-minute scoring drought, which came at about the worst time possible. Texas also went on a field-goal drought that almost lasted a full 10 minutes down the stretch in the second half.

If not for senior guard Marcus Carr sinking a three-pointer with around two and a half minutes left in the game, Texas was probably looking at a field-goal drought going north of 10 minutes.

That offensive dry spell in the second half allowed Iowa State to generate enough momentum to put the Longhorns away.

What largely turned into a free-throw contest in the final 10 minutes didn’t allow Texas to generate enough of an offensive push to gain any steam to close the gap on Iowa State.

Marcus Carr and Tyrese Hunter can’t lead No. 7 Texas basketball to the upset in Ames

Here’s a look at three takeaways from Texas’ loss to Iowa State on the road in Ames on Jan. 17.

The trap burns Texas

Texas came out of the gates hot in this game. Sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter led Texas to an early lead in the first few minutes of the game, thanks to a nine-point start. But Hunter’s production would ultimately dry up after the first 10 minutes or so of the first half, and Iowa State would make some necessary adjustments to slow down the Texas offense altogether.

Late in the first half, Otzelberger and the Cyclones starter to trap the ball more often. Every so often, Iowa State would even try to trap the full court.

That adjustment worked well for the Cyclones, as they wound up forcing seven turnovers out of the Longhorns in the final 15 minutes of the first half.

The trap, along with one other play that changed the momentum in the first half, would ultimately end up spinning the fortunes of this game away from the Longhorns. Texas couldn’t quite find the offensive rhythm needed to keep up with Iowa State’s offense, which really got going in the second half to the tune of a 42-point output.

Hunter and senior guard Marcus Carr wound up getting way too phased by the suddenly aggressive defense that Iowa State was playing by doubling the ball. That caused Carr to turn the ball over a season-high four times.

Texas has to be able to show that it can break the trap when opposing teams make that adjustment in-game.

But this is also largely what Iowa State does to teams. Iowa State ranked first in the country in opponent turnover percentage coming into this game for a reason.