Texas Basketball: 3 best shooters for the Longhorns in the Sweet 16

We are almost exactly 24 hours away from the tip-off of the Sweet 16 matchup in the Midwest Region between the two-seed Texas basketball and the three-seed Xavier Musketeers at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO, on March 24.

Interim head coach Rodney Terry was able to lead the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008. And it looks like Terry and the Longhorns are set for their most difficult matchup of the NCAA Tournament thus far against head coach Sean Miller and the Musketeers.

Texas comes into the Sweet 16 having knocked off the 15-seed Colgate Raiders in the Round of 64 and then the 10-seed Penn State Nittany Lions in the Round of 32 last weekend. Terry and the Longhorns have gotten the job done in a couple of different ways to begin their NCAA Tournament run.

In the 20-point opening-round win over Colgate, the Longhorns were making it rain from deep, hitting a whopping 13 three-pointers in that game. But Texas had to find other sources of offense (namely Dylan Disu scoring from inside the arc) in the narrow five-point win over Penn State. Texas only hit one three-pointer in the win over the Nittany Lions.

Although, I have to think that Texas will have to space the floor a little bit better if it wants a shot to beat Xavier in the Sweet 16. While Texas has faced some efficient offenses in the first two rounds of the Big Dance, Xavier might be the best and most versatile of the three.

Best shooters Texas basketball brings to the Sweet 16

With all of this in mind, here’s a look at the three best shooters for the Longhorns this season heading into the Sweet 16.

Sir’Jabari Rice, SG/SF

Senior shooting guard/wing Sir’Jabari Rice is not only one of the most adept scorers on this team this season, but he is also one of the best shooters from multiple levels of the floor in the settled halfcourt offense.

The Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year Rice shot a solid 45.7 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from beyond the arc, and 87.8 percent from the free-throw line this season. Rice’s efficiency from the field and from the free-throw line has culminated in a true shooting percentage better than 60 for the second time in his collegiate career.

Rice has proven this season to be a pure shooter from deep, namely from above the break. When he is able to find his spot from the wing or the top of the key with some space to pull up, Rice is hitting nearly 50 percent of his looks on the season.

Another aspect of Rice’s shot-making that makes him such a dangerous wing on offense is his shot fake. In my humble opinion (along with most other Texas fans and a lot of announcers this season), Rice has the best pump fake in college hoops.

Moreover, one of the more underrated parts of this Texas backcourt/wing unit is the ability to make deep shots. Sophomore guard Tyrese Hunter, senior guard Marcus Carr, and Rice are all capable deep shot makers, as the stats prove this season. Texas is actually one of just a handful of teams in the Big 12 this season that has three or more players (min. 25 attempts) shooting better than 35 percent on field goal attempts from 25+ feet from the basket.

Obviously, those three players for the Longhorns that accomplished that feat so far this season are Rice, Hunter, and Carr.

What’s even more important at this point of the NCAA Tournament is that Rice is a good shooter in clutch time. Rice actually leads the Big 12 in clutch time true shooting percentage this season, at an insane clip of 80.5 percent.

Rice is also one of just two players in the Big 12 this season that is shooting better than 40 percent from deep in clutch time on double-digit attempts. The only other player in the Big 12 to do that this season is Iowa State guard Gabe Kalscheur.

All in all, Texas needs Rice to find a good rhythm from deep in the Sweet 16 if they want to hang with one of the best and most free-flowing offenses in the country this season in Xavier. He was red-hot in Texas’ win over Colgate in the Round of 64, making a whopping seven of 10 attempts from beyond the arc.

But he cooled off in the win over Penn State, going just 1-of-6 from deep.