Texas Basketball: 3 most important senior leaders down the stretch

Marcus Carr, G

The two-way impact that senior guard Marcus Carr had on this team so far this season was profound. Carr is playing like the Big 12 Player of the Year, especially in the month of February.

He’s clearly found his stride at the right time, as Carr is leading the Big 12 in points per game in February, at a clip of 18.0.

Take note that not even senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice is on that list of the scoring leaders in the Big 12 in the month of February. That just shows how important Carr’s scoring output was to the Longhorns this month.

Even more important than Carr’s scoring pace, though, is his ability to be the primary playmaker for this offense. Similar to what Allen does for this offense as a secondary facilitator, Carr has found a way to efficiently get points on the board whether he’s dishing the ball off or putting it in the bucket himself.

This is reflected in the fact that Carr is the only player in the Big 12 this season that is averaging at least 17 points per game, four assists, and no more than two turnovers in conference play.

Since last season, Carr has completely re-shaped his game so that he has become a more efficient shot-maker and a distributor with much better court vision. He’s gone from essentially being a microwave scorer that Texas relied on all too often to spark the offense last season to a do-it-all playmaker that is a threat from anywhere on the floor in the settled half-court offense.

If Texas is going to find success during the postseason, Carr will be a major contributing factor. He was great for Texas in the two NCAA Tournament games last season, as he averaged 19 points per game and eight assists while shooting an insane 48 percent from the field and 54 percent from deep.