Game thoughts: Texas takes another Big 12 road game at West Virginia, 69-61

After a rock fight first half that saw the Longhorns clank their way to 26 points, 1 for 7 shooting from deep and only two free throw attempts, they turned it on in the second half and ground their way to an eight point road victory.

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Mark this down as another ugly/beautiful victory that accomplishes the important piece that is getting Texas that much closer to double figure Big 12 wins (ten is fine, anything 11 or above would be great).

On to the thoughts!

• Marcus Carr was nails in the second half and Disu and Bishop were equally important in making this win possible with their interior play (more on all three later) but Sir’Jabari Rice is undoubtedly still the catalyst for me. Carr scores clutch points, Allen scores points, Hunter moves the ball, Cunningham moves the ball, Disu defends, Bishop makes hustle plays…Rice does it all. And he does everything (even taking big shots) within the team/system construct. With each close game against (I believe) somewhat inferior teams, Rice’s play speaks to me as the type of dependable guy who will come through in March. So happy he’s a Horn.
• Maybe he did a little too much dribbling at times today, but shot-hunting Carr was on his **** in this one and Texas needed everything he gave. When he uses his work on the bounce to feel out a defense, as opposed to making his mind wary and just going with it, he is so adept at creating just enough space to get off quality mid-range looks. And when he is hitting like he did today (23 points on 8-14 from the field), he’s such a dangerous player to have. Think a poor man’s Ke Walker.
• Clearly Tre Mitchell was ready to show Texas just what they lost last year when he transferred out mid season (12 points, 8 redounds and 2 blocks), but Disu and Bishop were happy to show him why the Longhorns were prioritizing them in the first place. In 48 combined minutes, Christian and Dylan combined to give UT 24 points and 12 rebounds in a game that was as physical as you’d like in a hostile environment. All fans can ask is that both guys plays hard, stay active around the glass and take high quality looks when they’re there. Great game that was only really muddied by Dylan’s five fouls.
• Allen not being up for it today was a little surprising considering physicality generally isn’t his kryptonite. Still, after the three point blank early misses, he was a non-factor. Dillon Mitchell’s issues, on the other hand, are more concerning. Teams are keying him on back door lob cuts and he’s struggling to make an impact out of the normal flow of the offense. In his defense, until Texas can eliminate the initial defender off the bounce, his offense role will be diminished.
• This was another game where the final score didn’t really do justice to Texas’ overall play. Texas shot better overall, shot better from the foul line, had more assists, more bench points, more fast-break points, more points in the paint, more points off of turnovers…You can often tell a veteran, well coaches team by their ability to win the side quests of a given game. This team has those parts of the game down.

Sitting at 16-3 (5-2) should have the Horns feeling quite positive but, uhhh, let’s just say some tough games are-a-coming. After home rematch against OSU, the Horns go to Tennessee, host Baylor and then make a Kansas two-step at KSU and KU to round out the next five.

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Yikes!

If Texas can even take two of those five games, they’ll be in decent shape to make it to 11 wins and a three (or better) seed is plausible.

Four losses…well…let’s not speak that evil into existence.