After jumping out to an early 7-2 lead, Texas basketball (15-10, 4-8 SEC) struggled to keep up with the No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (21-3, 10-1 SEC) offensively. Head coach Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide never trailed after going on a big run early in the first half to overtake a 13-12 Texas lead around the 13-minute mark.
Tre Johnson and Texas basketball drop third-straight contest vs. No. 2 Alabama in double-digit home loss
Alabama closed out the final 13 minutes of the first half on a 37-18 run, as the offense started to dry up for the Longhorns. Texas shot under 25 percent from the field and under 20 percent from beyond the arc in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
The Tide had five players score over a dozen points en route to Alabama shooting over 60 percent from the field and 59 percent from beyond the arc. Alabama was the first team to score over 100 points against the Longhorns this season.
Texas has now dropped three straight contests and four of its past five. Head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns are backsliding down the stretch in SEC a little over one month before Selection Sunday for the postseason in the NCAA Tournament.
Here are three takeaways from Texas's convincing 103-80 loss to No. 2 Alabama at the Moody Center on Feb. 11.
Injuries taking their toll
Due to injuries, Terry and the Longhorns staff were missing a trio of key players in the backcourt and forward rotations early in this game. Junior guard Chendall Weaver and sophomore forward Devon Pryor missed this game against Alabama due to lower-body injuries.
Senior forward Arthur Kaluma suffered an injury in the first half that caused him to miss the rest of the game after 11 minutes played.
Texas felt the absences of Kaluma, Weaver, and Pryor on the glass and the defensive end of the floor. Kaluma, the team's leading rebounder, has been a consistent and reliable one-on-one defender in the frontcourt and on the wing. Weaver and Pryor have also been athletic, high-effort defenders on and off-ball for the Longhorns this season.
We will update Kaluma's status with the leg injury he suffered against Alabama in the first half once there is new reporting on the matter.
Texas gets demolished shooting from the field
Outside of some offensive spark from the trio of senior guard Julian Larry, freshman guard Tre Johnson, and senior forward Jayson Kent off the bench, the Longhorns struggled to keep up with the Tide offensively.
Texas's 80 points scored wasn't nearly enough to keep up with Alabama's pace and efficiency on the offensive end and in transition. Alabama was money shooting from beyond the arc, draining 17-of-29 attempts from beyond the three-point line for a sparkling 59 percent shooting for the Tide from downtown.
The Longhorns were outshot by a margin of 20 percent from the field and 23 percent from beyond the arc. With the sort of efficiency and rotation depth Alabama has in the core part of their lineup and the bench, Texas didn't stand much of a chance to comeback in the second half last night.
Jayson Kent and Tre Johnson show Texas's only signs of life offensively
Two positives from this game on the offensive end of the floor for the Longhorns was the scoring produced by the duo of Johnson and Kent. Scoring over half of Texas's 80 points vs. Alabama, Johnson and Kent both shot better than 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc.
Kent played his best game of the season for the Longhorns, scoring a season-high 19 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. Kent was active moving around off-ball to find open areas of the floor for high-percentage looks from the field and beyond the arc.
Johnson stayed hot scoring the basketball for the Longhorns, scoring over 20 points for the ninth game. He leads the SEC in scoring, at a clip of 19.3 points per game this season.