Marcus Carr says Texas hangs its hat on defense

Point guard Marcus Carr has played a key role in the Texas Longhorns getting to the Sweet Sixteen. A large part of that has been his defensive effort, shutting down opposing guards.

However, as Carr explained, the entire Texas team hangs its hat on the defensive side of the ball.

“We like to hang our hat on our defense, and causing turnovers, that’s definitely a huge part,” Marcus Carr said. “It can help you offensively and help you get some easy baskets in transition and just stop the other team from scoring.”

This season, Texas was 89th in scoring defense, allowing just 67.2 points per game. The Longhorns also take pride in forcing turnovers, having forced 15.86 turnovers per game. That’s 19th in all of college basketball.

“So we definitely like to turn up the pressure on the defensive end and try to create turnovers, just try to be the most aggressive team.”

Texas takes on Xavier in the Sweet Sixteen. The entire team knows it won’t be an easy game, but Marcus Carr is impressed with their offense in particular.

“Xavier is a really good team,” Carr said. “Obviously, they wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. Great offensive team, likes to push the pace. They can shoot the ball well. They have an inside presence as well. So they’re a pretty good team. That’s why they’re here. We should do a good job of preparing for them.”

Marcus Carr makes the case for Rodney Terry

Texas has played most of this season with Rodney Terry in place as the team’s interim head coach. However, the players have liked the way things have gone this year and want to see Terry named the head coach, including Marcus Carr.

“Watch the game we just played and every single game we played this season,” Carr simply said to advocate for Terry.

Unfortunately for Terry, Texas may not want to hire him. Instead, athletic director Chris Del Conte wants to make a big splash hire.

“They’re going to swing for some of the big boys, if they don’t hire Rodney Terry. If Rodney Terry goes deep, they’re going to have to give it to Rodney Terry. They don’t want to. Chris Del Conte doesn’t want to ultimately,” Jeff Goodman said.

“But he may have no choice if Rodney Terry goes deep, second weekend or beyond. If not, they’re going to try to swing for the fences.”