Texas Basketball: 3 struggling players that must step up in February

The month of January largely had to be considered a success for Texas basketball and interim head coach Rodney Terry. Texas posted a record of 6-3 (6-2 Big 12) last month, including two twins over ranked opponents.

Terry and the Longhorns also picked up two road wins in the Big 12 in January. And each of the three losses that Texas experienced in January was to teams that are now ranked in the top 20 in the latest AP Poll.

A solid run on the court in January has led Texas to register a record of 18-4 (7-2 Big 12). Texas enters February in first place in the Big 12 standings. This is the best start to Big 12 play for the Longhorns since the 2010-11 season. Texas won its first 11 games of the Big 12 slate during the 2010-11 campaign.

Former head coach Rick Barnes and the Longhorns would go on to finish eighth in the AP Poll that season after a Round of 32 loss to the five-seed Arizona Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament.

Moreover, Texas clearly has plenty of momentum heading into what promises to be a difficult February schedule. The February slate starts out this coming weekend, with a stretch of two games in three days against the Kansas schools on the road.

Both the Kansas Jayhawks and Kansas State Wildcats rank in the top 10 too.

Tyrese Hunter and the struggling Texas basketball players that must find their rhythm in February

Here’s a look at three stumbling Longhorns players that must step up in February.

Dillon Mitchell, F

We’ve talked a lot about the play of the former elite five-star recruit and true freshman forward Dillon Mitchell of late.

Mitchell’s play, especially on the offensive end of the floor, in Big 12 play was pretty disappointing. He’s averaging just 3.6 points per game, 0.2 assists, and 0.4 turnovers while shooting 53.6 percent from the field and a horrid 22.2 percent from the free-throw line in Big 12 play thus far.

And while that 53.6 field goal percentage in conference play might look solid, it can be a bit deceiving based on where Mitchell is getting most of his shots off from.

Mitchell is shooting 15-of-28 from the field in conference play. But all 15 of his field goals came at the rim. Here’s his breakdown based on shot distance from the rim in conference play.

• At the rim: 15-of-18
• In the paint: 0-of-5
• Mid-range: 0-of-5

Any threat that Mitchell posed in terms of his ability to score away from the basket faded in Big 12 play so far.

Now, I know that we’ve discussed Mitchell’s very limited shooting range ad nauseam in the last couple of months. I’ve made it abundantly clear that I would like to see Mitchell attempting at least one or two more shots away from the rim per game to start expanding his range.

The fact of the matter is that Mitchell isn’t going to be able to improve his shooting range unless he gets his confidence up. And one of the best ways to do that is for him to get some clean looks away from the basket to find his rhythm shooting from inside the arc.

Until Mitchell is able to expand his offensive range, he will continue to clog the lane when Texas is trying to drive to the hoop and overcrowd the paint on set plays in the offensive halfcourt.

In terms of Mitchell’s play in other facets such as rebounding, defense, and off-ball movement, I don’t have anything bad to say about his output of late. He ranks second on the team in defensive rebounding percentage (19.5) in Big 12 play and third on the team in block percentage (2.6).

He’s also got the fourth-best on-off net defensive rating on the team in Big 12 play.

Mitchell continues to show that he is one of the more capable and versatile on-ball and help defenders at his position in the Big 12. His length, discipline, timing, and lateral agility have continued to be a problem for anyone matched up against him on that end of the floor this season.

If Mitchell can continue to play excellent on-ball defense and utilize his insane motor to give Texas a boost on the boards while working to expand his range on the offensive end, the impact on this team would be untold.