Texas basketball is searching for its first win in SEC play after three tries in conference play. Texas nearly got its first SEC victory in each of the past two games in conference play, including close losses in the second half against the No. 2 Auburn Tigers on Jan. 7 and No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers on Jan. 11.
Can Texas basketball rebound for its first SEC victory in conference play this week on the road?
Head coach Rodney Terry and the Longhorns will try to build from the positives they started finding against Auburn in a second-half comeback rally and nearly upsetting No. 1 Tennessee on their home court on Saturday night.
That said, there aren't many moral victories for Terry and the Longhorns to start SEC play. If the Longhorns don't start racking up some impressive SEC victories in conference play in the near future, Texas will find itself pretty far away from the NCAA Tournament bubble group conversation.
Here are three Longhorns players who are slumping after the first three games of SEC play.
Jayson Kent, F
Texas's frontcourt has struggled to produce much on the offensive end of the floor scoring-wise beginning in SEC play.
Outside of senior forward Arthur Kaluma, Texas doesn't have a single frontcourt player averaging more than three points per game to start SEC play. Senior forward Jayson Kent and redshirt senior power forward Ze'Rik Onyema have been two of Texas's main frontcourt backups in the core part of the rotation this season. They've combined to average just 3.7 points per game in three SEC outings.
A 64 percent shooter from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc for Indiana State last season, Kent has been out of sync to start SEC play.
Kent's minutes have been limited over the past two games. In the losses to Tennessee and Auburn, Kent combined to shoot 0-of-6 from the field, 0-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.
In the past three games in SEC play, Kent has been hesitant to pull the trigger from three-point range when he's open. He also hasn't gotten to his spots by getting to the backdoor cutting and getting open and confident looks from the mid-range and from the corners beyond the arc.
For the first time in his collegiate career, Kent has a three-game streak without any points in the paint in any contest.