Who knows quite what to make of 11th ranked Kansas’ 75-62 win over 17th ranked Texas Saturday in the Erwin Center?
Plenty of questions remain following the Longhorns’ loss. Should fans look at it as the third double-digit loss in five conference games, two of which came at home? Should they look regard it a not-unfathomable blip on the radar after two impressive wins?
In its simplest form, was the Jayhawks’ win a matter of which team executed better in a match-up of two similary-talened, ranked teams? As John Gasaway writes for ESPN, the Jayhawks are better than most experts thought, and they should only improve as freshman Cliff Alexander discovers he can play with any big man in the conference.
Should fans worry that latest Longhorn loss is a harbinger of bad things to come, that Texas has already peaked and it’s all downhill from here? In his “Nine Things” column in Monday’s Austin American-Statesman, Kirk Bohls fears that may be the case.
“Texas has lots of games to turn it around, but[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] there are alarming signs of the same offensive inefficiency that has plagued [Rick] Barnes’ Longhorn teams,” he writes.
As Barnes lamented following the game, his team got away from the formula that led to wins against West Virginia and TCU: Feed the post to take advantage of the Longhorns’ massive front line, making the defense collapse and take the uncontested three-pointers that are left.
Instead, Texas settled for long jumpers early and missed often, Brian Davis wrote in the Statesman following the game.
“With a clear size advantage over No. 11 Kansas, Texas chose to shoot long-range jumpers,” he wrote. A bunch of ’em, too — just like in two other Big 12 losses. Unfortunately for the Horns, it continues to be a recipe for disaster.”
Chuck Carlton, writing in the Dallas Morning News, said Texas hasn’t committed to its identity yet.
“For opponents, the Texas size inside is nearly impossible to ignore,” he wrote. “Somehow, the Longhorns aren’t capitalizing on their most obvious asset, as a 75-62 home loss Saturday to No. 11 Kansas illustrated.”
As the Statesman’s Cedric Golden wrote, the responsibility for feeding the post lies first and foremost with the guards.
“I have to do a better job of feeding the post,” Taylor told [Golden]. “Just knowing when we have a mismatch with guards on Jon (Holmes) or when Myles (Turner) has it going and things like that. Just got to do a better job of knowing that and recognizing (the defense).”
But later, Barnes said the big men must be more assertive in demanding the ball. Holmes set a good example, but his fellow posts didn’t match his desire for the ball, as Brian Davis reported in the Statesman.
“Jon Holmes wanted the ball,” Barnes said. “He’s the only one who looked like that.”
While fans can ask and answer any of the above, and possibly more, questions, the Longhorns themselves have little time to ponder what might have been. From the frying pan that was Kansas, Texas jumped quickly into the Big Monday fire that is Iowa State, ranked ninth following last Big Monday’s win over Kansas.
Fred Hoiberg’s Cyclones followed that Kansas win with a clunker of a performance Saturday against Texas Tech, which got its first conference win. Back at home against the Horns, though, Iowa State made mincemeat of Texas’ zone throughout the first half and then led by as many as 21 before Texas got hot from the outside and actually trimmed the lead to four in the final minute.
Early on, as Davis reported for the American-Statesman, Texas pounded the ball inside to Turner, who produced 16 points. But some misses late in the first half and early in the second had the Cyclones off and running.
“There was a focus on getting the ball to Myles Turner inside, and that worked early,” Davis wrote. “But it drifted away as Iowa State scored practically at will and took a 21-point lead with 11:36 remaining.”
Led by Georges Niang’s presence from a spot at the foul line, the Cyclones attacked Texas’ vaunted zone throughout the opening half. Time and again Niang caught the ball in open space in front of Ridley or Turner and either made the short jumper or fed teammates for lay-ups when Texas’ bigs tried to close down on him.
The one thing that pleased Barnes during the game was his team’s fight to get back into the game. Texas made 10 of 15 three-pointers in the second half after missing all seven of its tries before halftime during a furious rally sparked by the shooting and full-court pressure defense. The Longhorns scored 23 points in the final three minutes.
“The Longhorns scored 47 points in just more than 11 minutes and pulled to 87-84 on Jonathan Holmes’ 3-pointer with 22 seconds left before the Cyclones held them off at the line,” wrote the Houston Chronicle.
The Longhorns must continue to figure out a way to get back to its early season form. At 3-4 in the conference, things don’t get much easier. The Horns sandwich road games at Baylor and Kansas State around a Feb. 4 home game with Oklahoma State.
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