By Riley Zayas
AUSTIN, Texas — According to Texas men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart, there are only two types of teams come mid-March: those still playing and those who aren’t.
Even as it seemed like all hope to make the NCAA Tournament was lost for the Texas men’s basketball team by mid-February, the Longhorns got hot at the right time, winning five straight heading into the season finale against Oklahoma State, 81-59, at the Frank Erwin Center.
The end result is that the fourth-seeded Longhorns will face[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] Texas Tech in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at 11:30 a.m. Friday in Kansas City, Mo., in a game that will be carried on ESPN2.
Although a win over OSU would have given Texas third place outright in the Big 12 and a 74 percent chance to make the NCAA tournament according to ESPN “Bracketologist” Joe Lunardi, the Horns left the arena Saturday afternoon projected to be the 64th team to reach the NCAA Tournament. While it is not an ideal position for Texas and its fans, Lunardi’s track record of predictions is strong. But bracketology and analytics will not ultimately determine if Texas makes the tournament — this next week will.
The 10-team Big 12 tournament will feature every team in the conference, and tips off Thursday morning, with the championship game Saturday. The fourth-seeded Longhorns’ opponent? None other than the Texas Tech Red Raiders, a team with which Texas split two classic battles this season. The No. 5 seed in the tournament, Tech beat Texas in Austin and Texas beat Tech in Lubbock. Who will come out on top at this neutral-site contest? That’s the question that will be answered this week in Kansas City.
Like the Longhorns, the Red Raiders are fighting to keep their NCAA tournament dreams alive with just a week until Selection Sunday. Last year’s NCAA runner-up, Texas Tech still has head coach Chris Beard, but lost every starter from that Final Four team except for point guard Davide Moretti. A vocal leader, he has been effective all season, whether the shots are falling for him or not, and has found ways to get involved even if he was not the one doing the scoring. For example, in his team’s road victory at Texas in early February, he was limited by the Horns to just seven points and only made one field goal all game, an early three-pointer. However, he made four key free throws with under a minute in the second half to put the game out of reach.
Possessing good vision in the passing game, he averages 2.3 assists per game to go along with 12.8 points per game. In the season finale, a four-point, 66-62 loss to Kansas, he tallied an impressive 18 points and played all but two minutes of the game.
Another one of the guards on whom Beard has relied throughout confrence play has been freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey, who averages a team-high 15.4 points per game, and has been active on the glass as well, with 4.1 rebounds per game.
This duo will be tough for the Horns to stop, but surely will be an integral part of Smart’s gameplan. Tasked with guarding Moretti and Ramsey will likely be Matt Coleman III, UT’s best defender, Andrew Jones, or Courtney Ramey.
The winner of the Texas-Texas Tech game will advance to face the winner of the game between No. 1 seed and top-ranked Kansas and either Iowa State or Kansas State, who will play a play-in game Wednesday.
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