Game Preview: Back(-to-back?) quality opponents for the Texas Longhorns in Brooklyn

After three easy victories over Houston Christian, Chicago State, and Mississippi Valley State, the Texas Longhorns will see more difficult opponents over the next two days as part of the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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The Longhorns will face the Syracuse Orange tonight, and then could face either the Texas Tech Red Raiders or the St. Joseph’s Hawks on Friday night.

Those three previous wins for the Longhorns were against some of the worst teams in all of college basketball, with those programs holding a combined record of 3- 11. Syracuse, under second-year head coach Adrian Autry, enters 3-0 with wins over Youngstown State, Colgate, and Le Moyne.

Plus, a potential rematch with Big 12 rival Texas Tech could await the Longhorns on Friday. All three teams have rosters that will challenge Texas in a way they haven’t seen since opening night.

“We’ve always taken a one game at a time approach,” Texas head coach Rodney Terry said Tuesday. “Obviously we’ve got a well-coached Syracuse team that we have a lot of respect for that we get a chance to face in our next contest.”

Autry isn’t the 2-3 zone aficionado his predecessor in Jim Boeheim was on his way to several Final Four appearances and the 2003 national title. He actually runs a program that likes getting out and running. The Orange are No. 50 in adjusted tempo, according to KenPom.

Texas will try to stop the second best team on their schedule so far on Thursday before possibly seeing another test on Friday. It’s all part of an event the Longhorns have looked forward to being a part of.

“I know for us, we’re excited about competing in the Legends Classic,” Terry said. “We’ve been on slate to play in that over the last three years that we go there. We pushed it back a couple of years, but we love going to the East Coast and having the opportunity to play in a different part of the country, and a different part of the country gets a chance to see our guys and our teams up close and personal.”

The Orange have five players currently averaging double figures, with JJ Starling leading the way with 21.3 ppg across Syracuse’s first three games. Former TCU Horned Frog Eddie Lampkin averages 15.0 ppg and 9.3 rpg. Chris Bell, Donnie Freeman, and Jyare Davis round out the list of Orange players scoring at least 10 ppg.

Syracuse shouldn’t be confused for a dominant program. They almost lost to Colgate and Le Moyne. However, they’re a step up from the Longhorns’ past three opponents.

Plus, the Red Raiders or the Hawks could await Texas on the other side.

The first step, however, comes tonight. Texas battles Syracuse in the Barclays Center starting at 6 p.m. ESPN2 will televise the contest.

it's gameday at Barclays Center 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/DWBi1rnUYE

— Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) November 21, 2024

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2024-25 Texas Longhorns

Tre Johnson, 6-foot-6, 190 lbs, Fr., Link Academy (Mo.), 23.5 pts, 3.0 reb, 2.0 ast

Arthur Kaluma, 6-foot-7, 225 lbs, Sr., Kansas State, 14.5 pts, 7.5 reb, 2.3 ast

Kadin Shedrick, 6-foot-11, 231 lbs, Gr.: 11.0 pts, 5.3 reb, 0.3 ast

Chendall Weaver, 6-foot-3, 180 lbs, Jr.: 7.5 pts, 6.88 reb, 2.3 ast

Julian Larry, 6-foot-3, 185 lbs, Gr., Indiana State: 8.3 pts, 2.5 reb, 4.0 ast

Jordan Pope, 6-foot-2, 175 lbs, Jr., Oregon State: 8.8 pts, 1.5 reb, 2.5 ast

Jayson Kent, 6-foot-8, 215 lbs, Gr., Indiana State: 6.5 pts, 2.8 reb, 1.0 ast

Ze’Rik Onyema, 6-foot-9, 235 lbs, Sr.: 4.5 pts, 2.0 reb, 0.3 ast

Jamie Vinson, 6-foot-11, 225 lbs, Fr., Oak Hill Academy (Va.): 4.0 pts, 2.0 rebs, 0.3 ast

Devon Pryor, 6-foot-7, 185 lbs, So.: 2.5 pts, 2.0 reb, 0.5 ast

Cole Bott, 6-foot-6, 195 lbs, Gr. (walk-on): 0.0 pts, 0.3 rebs, 0.7 ast

Preston Clark, 6-foot-6, 220 lbs, R-So. (walk-on): 0.3 pts, 1.0 rebs, 0.3 ast

Tramon Mark, 6-foot-5, 200 lbs, Gr., Arkansas

Malik Presley, 6-foot-6, 200 lbs, So., Vanderbilt

Nic Codie, 6-foot-8, 200 lbs, Fr., Dallas (Texas) Newman Smith

Anthon McDermott, 6-foot-5, 185 lbs, Fr., Hallsville (Texas) (walk-on)