Texas Basketball: 2 pleasant surprises after UT’s 2 games of 23-24 season

Despite some sluggish starts, No. 19 Texas basketball and head coach Rodney Terry have cruised to two easy victories to open the 2023-24 regular season. Texas defeated the Incarnate Word Cardinals at home in the regular season opener at the Moody Center in Austin on Nov. 6, 88-56.

After a slow start to the first 10 minutes of the game against the Delaware State Hornets at the Moody Center on Nov. 10, the Longhorns pulled away in the second half to come away with a comfortable 86-59 win. Texas struggled with Delaware State’s zone defense on Nov. 10, but they adjusted to find more passing lanes and a more free-flowing offense in the second half.

No. 19 Texas basketball sees key players standout in easy wins to start the 2023-24 season

Texas hasn’t really been challenged yet this season, but this team still looked good with a bevy of new faces on the roster and without one key starter in the lineup due to an injury. Over half of the Longhorns’ roster from last season turned over during the offseason. We expected growing pains with so many new players breaking into new roles on a new team early this season.

It was evident that the Longhorns were still building chemistry in the core rotation when they turned it over nearly 20 times (the most in a single game for Texas in the last two seasons) against Delaware State last week.

Texas had many positives emerge to start Terry’s first season as the full-time head coach. Outside shooting (45.8 percent shooting from deep), protecting the rim (five blocks per game), disruptiveness on defense, and rebounding were all major positives for the Longhorns in the first two games.

Here’s a look at two pleasant surprises for the Longhorns after the first two games of the season.