Rodney Terry honest about Texas' needed urgency

No. 9 Texas has two games left in its season to potentially win the Big 12 and improve its seeding in the NCAA Tournament. However, Rodney Terry said he and the Longhorns are not feeling any extra sense of urgency even though they sit a game back from No. 3 Kansas with a week to go.

Terry says no game or stretch in their conference matters more than another during his media availability on Monday. All he sees between now and their finale on Saturday against the Jayhawks is an 80-minute stretch where he wants his team to be at its best.

“I mean we’ve played March basketball for the last two weeks. Every game in the Big 12? Last I checked, every game has been a real game. We haven’t had an opponent where we can say we don’t have to bring our A game,” Terry said. “(TCU) is the next game on our schedule. It’s a big 40 minutes for us but every game in the Big 12 has been a big 40 minutes. So we’re gonna approach it the same way have all season long. We know we have an 80-minute Big 12 conference race left.”

Texas has done everything they’ve need to this season. Even amidst a mid-season coaching switch, the Longhorns have put together a season that’s worthy of being a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

With that said, all Terry wants he and his team to be focused on is doing the things that are within their power over the next seven days to best position themselves for the postseason. That will start on Wednesday night in Fort Worth before facing off with Kansas in a game that could end up deciding the regular season winner in the Big 12.

Terry details what he’s doing to help keep players fresh, focused

Texas has been in the headlines for multiple reasons throughout the 2022-2023 season, but Rodney Terry has been the glue that’s held things together.

It’s propelled the Longhorns to a tremendous season thus far, sitting at 22-6 and first in the vaunted Big 12 Conference at the moment. Ahead of Texas’ game against Baylor this weekend, Terry explained what he’s done to keep his team’s eye on the prize, and their minds focused and fresh.

“I think this time of year is really, really important that as much as we concentrate on the physical part? I think the mental piece is important as well in terms of fatigue,” started Terry. “We need to let these guys be student-athletes. Let them have a chance to continue to work on their academics. We’re going to have some time here soon where we’re going to be away a lot in postseason play. Let them kind of have a normal student life a little bit.

“… I think it’s really important that they get a chance to recharge, hit the reset button a little bit. This league is very tough man. It’s every night. It’s elite level teams,” Terry said. “We beat a really good Iowa State team tonight at home. (They’ve) had a really, really good season to this point. We’re going to play a really, really good time on their home court in Waco on Saturday, an elite-level team. Top ten team in the country. I think it’s really important that we manage the guys to where they’re able to be fresh, excited about still being in the gym and wanting to compete at a high-level, from an energy standpoint. So I think it’s important that we manage that the right way, both mentally and physically both.”