By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
AUSTIN, Texas — Selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament carried a lot less stress this year for the Texas men’s basketball team than it has at the end of the past two campaigns, thanks to a good, if not great, body of work in the regular season and a number of benchmark wins against some of the nation’s top teams.
For their efforts — and, some would say, despite their quarterfinal exit in the Big 12 Tournament last week — the Longhorns drew a sixth seed in the West Regional of the NCAAs and will face No. 11 Northern Iowa at 8:50 p.m. Friday at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.
If the Longhorns beat Northern Iowa, they [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]potentially face a round of 32 matchup with Texas A&M — yes, those guys.
Texas (20-12) has a lot to prove against the talented Panthers and sports plenty of confidence even though it has lost three of its past six games in blowout fashion.
“We haven’t played well as of late, but we are a really confident team and we are happy with what and who we have in our locker room,” Texas senior guard Javan Felix said. “We are always going to set our center high. We know how good we all are when we are all at our best, and that’s something we’ve been working really hard to attain. We feel like the sky is the limit for us.”
Northern Iowa earned its eighth NCAA appearance and seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament in the past 13 years by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, and will enter the NCAA Tournament with an overall record of 22-12.
“Northern Iowa is the game — our focus has to be on this one game,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “We are starting a new season, and we have to play better than we have lately, than we’ve been since beating Oklahoma (Feb. 27).”
The Panthers have won 12 of their past 13 games and have earned five wins this season against teams in the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Northern Iowa garnered victories over Stephen F. Austin (70-60), North Carolina (71-67), Iowa State (81-79) and twice against Wichita State (53-50 and 57-52 in overtime).
NIU also lost a pair of games to teams in the field 68: falling, 68-52 at Hawaii and at home against Wichita State, 74-55.
“We are focused on the game at hand,” Texas junior point guard Isaiah Taylor said. “Northern Iowa has a great point guard and … some great shooters. It feels good to be in the tournament, and we know we have bounced back well after losses this season, so we’re confident.”
UT’s early exit from the Big 12 Tournament may have been a blessing in disguise. The Longhorns likely were guaranteed a spot in the NCAAs already before heading to Kansas City (and losing to Baylor), so coming home after one game allowed two of their most important players — Taylor and center Cameron Ridley — to rest their respective injured feet.
“A rest is always good, and I’ve just been doing what I can do and not going too hard in practice,” Taylor said. “Coach Smart says the most important time to be good is game time.”
Smart is very familiar with Northern Iowa, having faced the Panthers three times in his tenure as coach at Virginia Commonwealth.
“Northern Iowa is a team that can throw a lot of different things at you, and they are coming into this game with a lot of momentum and confidence,” Smart said. “As a team, we have to step forward and stick our chests out and say, ‘hey, we can do this.’”
Texas has not advanced past the round of 32 in the NCAAs since 2007-08, when it made it all the way to the Great Eight. The Longhorns lost to Butler in their first game last season, to Michigan in the third round in 2013-14 and in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational to Houston in 2012-13.
“The players are anxious to win and make a run and experience some success in March Madness,” Smart said. “They know that this is the time of year for them to make their mark.”
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