Texas Must Guard Against Further Road Struggles

As Texas approaches the final week of the regular season and the post-season beyond, fans should look at the Longhorns with guarded expectations.

(Also See: Texas Should Eye Big 12, NCAA Seeding)

Following Saturday’s 77-65 loss at Oklahoma, much has been made of the Longhorns’ struggles away from Austin. And with TCU on tap Wednesday to close out the home schedule, the experts wonder – rightly so – how and if Texas can snap out of its road funk since it won’t be playing in the friendly confines of the Erwin Center any more.[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

Brian Davis wrote in Sunday’s Austin American-Statesman that coach Rick Barnes isn’t sure why the Longhorns become a different team away from Austin.
Players aren’t sure why either. Sophomore guard Demarcus Holland told Mike Finger in the Houston Chronicle they just need to start playing better. It’s not like Texas is the only team in the Big 12 that struggles away from home. Only Kansas (5-3) and Oklahoma (4-4) have been better than Texas (3-5) in conference road games. Factor in non-conference play, and only Kansas, OU and Texas have won as many as they’ve lost away from home. Kansas and Texas are 5-5 away from home, OU is 4-4.

Texas has clearly grasped the importance of playing from the inside out, making the most of the size advantage Cameron Ridley enjoys against almost everyone else in the league – only Kansas’ Joel Embiid and Kansas State’s Thomas Gipson can stand eyeball-to-eyeball with the Texas center. The sizable sophomore has increased his production against Big 12 opponents. He averages 12.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and shoots 56 percent from the floor, all up from his non-conference averages of 10.8, 7.2 and 53 percent.

But when defenses collapse around Ridley, Texas’ guards have to step up. The guards, Barnes implied, are getting great, open looks, like they’re playing HORSE. Chuck Carlton quoted Barnes saying that his guards need to become more assertive. And by assertive, Barnes must mean shooting with confidence, something his guards have struggled to do away from home, even when the Horns have been winning away games.

Away from home, and not just in the four straight road losses, shooting’s been the big bugaboo. Sophomore Javan Felix and Isaiah Taylor, the Longhorns’ most potent outside scorers, have struggled mightily outside of Austin. Over the current road losing streak, only once has either shot better than 33 percent from the floor (Taylor’s 8-20, 40 percent, performance at Iowa State).

Away from home in the Big 12, Taylor’s made just 34 percent of his shots, Felix only 30 percent overall, 17 percent from three-point range. By contrast, at home the numbers surge. Taylor has made 42 percent of his shots in the Erwin Center; Felix 46 percent overall, 45 percent from three-point range.

Whether it’s the white jerseys or familiar confines, Texas’ guards must figure out a way to duplicate their Erwin Center efficiency while playing in Lubbock, Kansas City or wherever the NCAA Selection Committee sends them.

Texas showed earlier this season that it could indeed win away from Austin. Texas owns wins at North Carolina, which has surged to 14^th in the latest rankings, Temple, Baylor and West Virginia. In many of those games, an extra scorer emerged from the Longhorns’ rotation. At North Carolina, Holland scored 15 points. At West Virginia, freshman Martez Walker added 10. Freshman Kendal Yancy scored 10 in an away win over DePaul. Lately, though, they’ve struggled to make shots and find their moments.

The Longhorns have twice won at least three games in a row away from home. They’ll need to rediscover that formula in order to impress the selection committee and draw a favorable seed and destination – preferably San Antonio – for the tournament. Presently, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the Longhorns as a six seed in Raleigh that would advance to play ACC regular season champion Virginia. Finishing the regular season with a road win at Texas Tech and winning at least two in Kansas City would go a long way to leaving a better taste in the committee’s mouth. [/s2If]
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