Texas Basketball: 2 studs, 1 dud from clutch Big 12 semis win over TCU

Dud No. 1: Sir’Jabari Rice, SG/SF

For a rare instance this season, senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice finds himself in the dud spot on this list. Throughout the season, Rice was a mainstay as a stud on our studs and duds lists postgame as he was the biggest spark that Terry and the Longhorns had in terms of scoring off the bench.

Yet, the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year award recipient was off his game on this night. Rice had his worst shooting night from deep on the season, going an abysmal 0-of-7 from beyond the arc. And his shooting numbers didn’t get much better from inside the arc in this game either.

Rice shot 2-of-5 from two-point range and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line, good for just five points. More bad news for Rice’s performance in this game was that he turned the ball over three times while raking in just one assist.

At least Rice was able to find some positive ways to contribute to Texas’ winning efforts in this game. Rice really showed up on the defensive end of the floor, registering his second outing of the season with three steals and two blocks. But it was Rice’s first time registering three steals and two blocks in a single game while putting up a half-dozen boards.

Rice was key in helping Texas actually win the battle on the boards against the Horned Frogs. Rebounding was a major issue that was detrimental to the Longhorns in its loss to TCU in Fort Worth last month. Texas was outrebounded by a margin of more than a dozen in that game.

It looks like Rice has struggled to find his shot since getting into the starting five in the last two games. He’s shot just 6-of-25 from the field in the Big 12 Tournament thus far.

Texas will need him to be much better if they want a shot at beating Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament final on March 11.