Horns hammer Horned Frogs, advance to NIT championship in NYC

The Longhorns wanted one more and now they have it.

Texas took down Big 12 nemesis TCU 58-44 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden to advance to NIT championship game Thursday evening against Lipscomb.

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The first half was crucial as the Horns held the Horned Frogs to a measly 17 points before the break, and held off a TCU charge in the second half to secure the win.

Kerwin Roach II topped all scorers with 22 points and Dylan Osetkowski added 13 points and nine rebounds to lead the Texas men’s basketball team to one more game in New York City.

“I told the guys before the game — you know, with don’t want to stop playing,” Texas head coach Shaka Smart said. “Our guys were really motivated to beat them and it started on the defensive end. That was huge.”

Digging in defensively allowed the Longhorns to have their best performance of the season on that end of the floor at a critical juncture, as the 44 points scored were the fewest by any Texas opponent all season long.

“We thought we did a heck of a job on Colorado holding them to 19,” senior forward Dylan Osetkowski said. “But holding TCU to 17, we continue to raise the bar for ourselves. Whether we hold the next team to 16 or under 20, that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Although TCU closed within five during the second half thanks to a 10-2 run, Texas took off once again, thanks to its defense, and was back up to an 11-point lead after a 6-0 run with just over seven minutes to play.

“Biggest adjustment mentally was just the aggressiveness, the mindset we wanted to have,” Smart said. “In terms of basketball, the biggest adjustment for us was transition defense.”

The showdown for the NIT title will be at 6 p.m. Thursday on ESPN.

Exacting revenge on the Horned Frogs was a looming motivator for the Longhorns after TCU dominated Texas 69-56 during on March 9 during the regular season — on senior night, no less. Roach missed that game due to suspension for violation of team rules, but he has come back stronger than ever as evidenced with his all-around performance to boost Texas to the NIT title game.

“(I) just really wanted to win and contribute the best way I can,” Roach said. “Coming off the bench, just giving my team a spark and contribute any way I can, offensively or defensively.”

Smart sensed that Roach had a big night in him, and is proud of the way he has responded after that late-season suspension.

“Yeah, it was tough for our team when he went out. It was certainly tough for him. He was really, really down and disappointed in himself,” Smart said. “But I told him, I said, you’re going to get to play again, so it’s all about how you respond when you get back out there on the floor.”

One of the more astounding stats from the victory was how the Horns posted 15 assists (on 23 field goals made) against 10 turnovers, with eight of those assists coming from rising freshman Courtney Ramey. TCU had a mere seven assists while turning the ball over 11 times.

“Well, the biggest thing for Courtney is his competitive spirit and he really gives our team an unbelievable jolt with the way that he approaches the game and the fact that he’s just about winning,” Smart said. “You know, you wouldn’t really be able to tell that he had not scored a basket the way that he was fighting and playing. … I thought he did do a really good job of bringing aggressiveness on the defensive end and really finding his teammates with open shots.”

Added Ramey, who also had five rebounds and tons of defensive presence despite not scoring in the win, “That was our goal when we got invited to the NIT – get Kerwin and DO a championship. We just wanted to keep playing. Our main goal is to win this last game.”

Texas held the lead for 36 minutes and 50 seconds of the 40-minute contest, asserting itself against the pesky Horned Frogs.

Jericho Sims added six points and eight boards for the Horns, Matt Coleman III had nine points, while Jase Febres pitched in with eight points and four boards along with some stout defense.

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