3 standouts that could lead Texas basketball to the Final Four

Following a nice double-digit win over head coach Mike Boynton and the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Jan. 24 at home at the friendly confines of the Moody Center in Austin, Texas basketball is in a good spot heading into the Big 12/SEC Challenge. Interim head coach Rodney Terry and No. 10 Texas are riding a two-game winning streak and have won five of their last six heading into the weekend.

But the test in the Big 12 SEC/Challenge for Terry and the Longhorns will be anything but easy. Texas is set to travel to Knoxville on Jan. 28 to take on former Texas head coach Rick Barnes and the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers.

That will be very telling for the Longhorns as to whether this team can win in the toughest of environments in all of college basketball. Tennessee has just one loss at home this season, which came at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats on Jan. 14.

If Texas can pass this test, it’s hard to imagine that this team won’t have enough confidence and momentum to finish out the regular season as one of the top Big 12 regular season title contenders.

That could also lead to the Longhorns vying for a high single-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Marcus Carr and the senior standouts that could lead No. 10 Texas basketball to the Final Four in 2023

With all of that in mind, here’s a look at three standout Longhorns players that could lead this team to the Final Four this postseason.

Sir’Jabari Rice, SG/SF

The player that turned out to be the most impactful new addition on this team so far this season for the Longhorns is the former New Mexico State Aggies senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice.

The former Big 12 Newcomer of the Week is having a sensational run coming off the bench for the Longhorns this season. Rice is having the most efficient season of his career, especially on the defensive end of the floor, where he’s registered a career-best 2.5 defensive box plus/minus.

There are some rather obvious reasons why Rice looks like he will be a big-time player for the Longhorns in March and April. The first reason is that Rice has already emerged as a big-time player in the NCAA Tournament in past games when he was playing at New Mexico State.

Rice has already played in a couple of games in the Big Dance in the midst of New Mexico State’s exciting Round of 32 run last season. He played alongside the brother of senior Texas forward Timmy Allen with the Aggies last season, including a Round of 64 upset of the four-seed Arkansas Razorbacks.

That type of experience in March will bring nothing but positive energy to the table for the Longhorns come the postseason this year.

Another big reason why I could see Rice being so valuable for the Longhorns come postseason time is the fact that he is one of the best iso and clutch scorers in the Big 12. In fact, Rice leads the Big 12 in points per possession on iso plays. He also ranks among the top five players in the conference in clutch time points per game, at 4.4.

The combination of prior postseason experience along with clutch scoring and a natural isolation scoring ability will make Rice one of Texas’ most valuable players down the stretch this season.