From the Stands: Texas Men’s Basketball Growing Strong

BY Caleb Wiesenhutter - Special to Horns Illustrated

Texas basketball came into the season with low expectation from many fans and media outlets, but they’ve proven everyone wrong.

Coming into the season, Texas was projected to finish eighth in the Big 12 and win only 12 games. Well, they’ve done nothing they’ve been expected to do. Coming off a strong win at Chapel Hill against North Carolina, Texas looks more and more like a team, that could finish in the top half of the Big 12 and a spot . With a 10-1 record, averaging 80 points per game, along with 45 rebounds per game, they look nothing like last year’s team.

The Texas defense has stepped into the scene and held teams to shot a mediocre 39%. They’ve proven that they can win games in the end and in the clutch against tough teams, as they’ve done against Temple, North Carolina and an underrated Vanderbilt team. They’ve also handled it on the road and in neutral site games, as they are 3-1 on the season.

As always Texas has been very strong at home this season with a 7-0 record and an average of 72 points per game along with shooting a good percentage in 44% from the field. And an astonishing number in 9 blocks per game. On the road, Texas is still solid though, shooting 41% from the field and averaging 82 points per game, along with 7 blocks per game.

Texas best stat though, is the team playing together. With five players picking up ten points or more per game and six players averaging 4 rebounds or more, Texas is well put together. The coaching of Rick Barnes and his staff this year, are at the top of the game.

Texas has a very good matchup coming up Saturday against #5 Michigan State, and are hoping to finish off the non-conference schedule strong with a win. The underrated Texas team has proved many wrong this year and hope to continue to do so.