Horns hoping fans rock the ‘Drum’ w/ K-State coming to town

AUSTIN — A buzzing band of basketball fans rocking ‘The Drum’ could make all the difference for the Texas Men’s Basketball team Tuesday in an extremely crucial home contest.

The Big 12 Conference-leading Kansas State Wildcats are coming to the Erwin Center tomorrow for a showdown that will go a long way toward determining the season’s stakes for the Longhorns.

No. 18 Kansas State leads the Big 12 with an 8-2 mark in the conference, winners of eight straight games overall, and stands at 18-5 overall.

Pack the drum tomorrow night @ 8:00. Let’s keep the streak alive. #HookEm 🤘🏾 pic.twitter.com/sbj7IhhaQ6

— Andrew Jones (@DrewdotCash) February 11, 2019

Tickets start at a mere $7 and there is special $5 parking all the way up to 11:59 p.m. tonight as well. Get your tickets at this link, and the $5 click-and-park in the East Campus Garage can be purchased here.

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From cheap bites and drink specials during a special home happy hour, plus giveaways for early-bird fans there’s plenty of reason to get down to the Erwin Center early Tuesday.

Texas has shown its toughness at home, especially when they’ve had a huge crowd backing them such as in the huge wins over Kansas, Baylor and Oklahoma at home this season.

The Longhorns, who are 10-4 at home this season with the local fans cheering them on, are looking to their fans to fill the Erwin Center well ahead of the 8 p.m. tipoff on Tuesday, with incentives prior to tip off for students and longtime fans alike.

With a two-game winning streak in their pockets, the ‘Horns desperately need to defeat Kansas State to elevate up the Big 12 standings and to take steps toward solidifying a spot in the big tournament during March Madness next month.

Starting at 6:15 p.m., the first 500 UT students will get a absolutely free Pluckers Boneless Bites outside of Entrance E on the east side of the Erwin Center. On top of that, happy hour starts at 6:30 and lasts all the way up until tipoff with $5 domestic beers and $6 premium beers, plus the ‘Fan First Concessions Menu’ featuring an average of 30-percent off of 10 of the most popular gameday items such as nachos, hot dogs, soft drinks, popcorn and bottled water.

Longhorn Nation, we need you! See you tomorrow night at the Erwin Center. #PackTheDrum #hookem pic.twitter.com/9NxHj7UPU4

— Shaka Smart (@HookEmSmart) February 11, 2019

In the last seven games since freshman Courtney Ramey entered the starting lineup, the Longhorns (14-10, 6-5 in Big 12) have started to look like the team fans wanted them to be all season long. Meshing in the youngsters and newcomers, such as the sensational Jaxson Hayes, took a little longer than the team may have expected at the start of the year.

Texas has averaged 79.5 points per game in its last two wins and will look to have the offense flying once again Tuesday. Along with Ramey and Hayes, Kerwin Roach II has been on a roll with 17.5 ppg in the last two contests while shooting a staggering 68.4 percent from the field and connected on 4-of-7 from 3-point land.

Ramey was just named the Big 12 co-Newcomer of the Week for his efforrts in wins over Baylor and West Virginia, topping the week with a 19-point showing against WVU to go with five rebounds and four assists. Texas has not lost at home since Ramey entered the starting five, going 3-0 so far and 4-2 overall.

As of now, though Texas has a battle ahead of it to get back to the top of the standings, they’ve shown they can hang with the big boys time and time again this season. As of Monday, Kansas is ranked No. 14, Texas Tech is 15th and Kansas State comes in at No. 18 as the Big 12 has largely beat up on each other this season with multiple teams, including Oklahoma, entering and exiting the Top 25 since the start of the season.

The chance to go on a run and dominate the rest of the Big 12 starts Tuesday, with the game also being nationally broadcast on ESPN2.

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