By Colby Gordon
AUSTIN, Texas — During their weekly session with the media Friday, Texas players dismissed the suggestion that Saturday’s home game against Kansas State is a “must-win,” but with the possibility of dropping to 0-3 in Big 12 play, it’s about as big a contest as the third game of the conference season can present.
“Every game is a must-win,” sophomore forward Kamaka Hepa said. “Coming off two conference losses does make it more important, but (in) every game we want to go in and win. That’s the same mindset we have going in vs. K-State.”
After dropping Wednesday’s home game to Oklahoma, [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]Saturday’s game against the Wildcats (7-7, 0-2 in games against Big 12 opposition) looms even larger when considering the Longhorns’ following three games are road games at Oklahoma State and West Virginia sandwiched around a home date with No. 3 Kansas.
“The mentality is just to take each day and try to make it the best day we can make it,” sophomore guard Courtney Ramey said. “We understand there are a lot of things we can get better at. I wouldn’t say it’s time to panic. There are a lot of games left to play. We know we haven’t played our best basketball, but it’s an easy fix that just comes with confidence.”
Ramey noted that the Longhorns (10-4 overall, 0-2 against Big 12 teams) shot too many three-pointers against the Sooners — UT went 8-for-29 from behind the arc — and need to concentrate on playing through junior post Jericho Sims, who recorded another double-double against Oklahoma, with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
“We’ve put in more plays for Jericho to get more touches. We understand he’s playing at a high level right now and he needs the ball,” Ramey said. “A lot of times, he and I will talk on the bench or on the court and he’ll tell me what he sees and I’ll tell him what I see and he’ll tell me whether he’s wanting the ball. The main thing is we just want him to keep playing like he has.”
Hepa said getting ball inside, regardless of whether it’s to Sims, himself or any of UT’s other big men, is where the improvement in the Longhorns’ offense needs to start.
“One thing we need to work on more as a team is getting in the paint and playing inside-out, which is something we want to do,” Hepa said. “If we stay true to that approach, we’ll be fine.”
Texas may be seeing K-State at a good time as the Wildcats also dropped their first two Big 12 games and are struggling on offense. According to kenpom.com, Texas and K-State are the two worst offenses in the conference, with the Wildcats being the worst by a wide margin.
“We know they have a really good small forward in Xavier Sneed and he’s kind of been our focus so far,” Hepa said. “But it’s ultimately more about what we do than what they do.”
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