Texas men’s basketball faces Sooners, Cowboys in regular season’s final week

By Riley Zayas

AUSTIN, Texas — So close…yet so far.        `

It would be no surprise if that is the way members of the Texas men’s basketball team are feeling as the Longhorns head into their final, and most crucial, week of the season.

Barring a deep run and possible title in the Big 12 Championship, the upcoming week holds UT’s chances to make the NCAA Tournament, a goal that the Longhorns set out to accomplish before the season even tipped off.

Being one of those[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] “bubble teams” in ESPN’s NCAA Tournament “Bracketology,” Texas is riding a four-game win streak that was initiated two weeks ago when in a 70-56 win over TCU … which shocked No. 2 Baylor, 75-72, Saturday.

This week is both a positive and a negative, as it gives Texas the chance to play one of most challenging teams in the Big 12 in Oklahoma, and a victory over the Sooners would boost the Longhorns’ NCAA résumé. But the Horns will be tested for all 40 minutes.

UT and OU will meet at 8 p.m. Tuesday in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Oklahoma may have a conference record of 8-8, but the Sooners have beat some of the best in the Big 12, one major reason why they are projected to be in the NCAA tournament. Texas and Oklahoma are tied for fourth in the league, each posting an 8-8 Big 12 record, making UT and OU “bubble teams” fighting for that last at-large bid in the Big 12.

The Sooners have not been perfect, but Oklahoma has compiled a résumé that includes key conference wins over West Virginia and Texas Tech. One of the biggest orchestrators in OU’s success has been Kristian Doolittle, who dropped 22 points on Texas the last time these two programs met Jan. 8. Doolittle posted one of the best shooting performances of his four-year collegiate career, knocking down two threes, and shooting 50 percent from the field. Since that game in Austin, he has averaged 14 points per game, and scored in double figures his last seven contests. He will be the player the Longhorns have to guard most closely, because he has the capability to single-handedly put the Sooners on his back offensively, as he did Feb. 15 in the Sooners’ game against Kansas, when he put up 27. The forward likely will be matched up with either Kai Jones, Brock Cunningham or Will Baker, as top post man Jericho Sims is out for the year.

Doolittle averages a team-leading 15.7 points per game, and has teamed up with another talented forward, junior Brady Manek, to form one of the Big 12’s highest-scoring post units. Manek comes into the matchup averaging 14.9 points per game, as well as 8.9 rebounds per game.

The Sooners are a strong free throw shooting team, ranking third in the Big 12 with a team shooting percentage of 76.8 percent from the line (by comparison, the Longhorns are shooting 67.7 percent from the charity stripe). However, their opponents tend to have good days from the line when facing the Sooners; OU opponents have hit 73 percent from the line this season, the highest average for opponents against any team in the Big 12.

In a game Texas must win, the key will be limiting Oklahoma’s trips to the line, as well as shutting down the deep-range shooting of Doolittle and Manek.

After facing Oklahoma, the Longhorns will host Oklahoma State in their final home game of the season at 3 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN2.

Oklahoma State might be second-to-last in the Big 12 with a 4-11 Big 12 record, but that does not mean they can not stun Texas at home. After all, the Cowboys have beaten Syracuse, No. 25 Houston, No. 22 Texas Tech, and Oklahoma, already this season.

OSU’s achilles heel this season has been its lack of scoring. Seventh in the conference in points per game, Oklahoma State averages just 66.7 points per game coming into the week, and has given up an average of 66.5 points per game. Without the quantity of scoring threats that many of the other Big 12 teams possess, it has been hard for the Cowboys to stay competitive in games; OSU has lost to Kansas by 25 points, West Virginia by 18 and Texas Tech by 35.

If Oklahoma State does have one go-to scorer, it is Cameron McGriff, who has scored a team-high 11.6 points per game this season, thanks in part to 83 percent shooting on free throws.

In order to beat the Horns, OSU can not rely only on McGriff, although he has had the hot hand lately. Instead, Texas should expect a more even shot distribution, especially amongst the guards, as Lindy Waters III (38 percent field goal percentage), Issac Likekele (44 percent) and Thomas Dziagwa (41 percent), all of whom can shoot from anywhere on the floor.

The keys to winning this game for Texas start with rebounding. Depleted in the post with multiple injuries, the Horns have held their ground in the paint so far, but will have to win the rebounding battle if they want to come away with the victory, as Oklahoma State is third in the Big 12 in defensive rebounds per game, and fourth in offensive rebounds per game.
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