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Quick thoughts on Texas' 72-69 loss to Ole Miss

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•about 22 hours•

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Tre Johnson
Tre Johnson (Petre Thomas-Imagn Images)

Here are five quick thoughts on the Longhorns’ 72-69 loss to No. 23 Ole Miss on Wednesday night. A full game recap is below the thoughts.

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Postgame Thought No. 1

Road games in the SEC are tough, and Texas had chances to win a tough game. No sequence made that more clear than the final one, when Chris Beard elected not to foul late while up three.

Tre Johnson was left wide open in the corner, and he had a good look. But it clanged off the rim.

The loss is by no means on Johnson. He had 22 points on 6-of-16 shooting along with an 8-for-8 night from the line. But the three-point effort he had versus A&M did not travel to Oxford as he was 2-for-8.

In fact, the Longhorns struggled from three, going just 5-for-22. Ole Miss wasn’t much better at 7-for-21, but those misses hurt.

Postgame Thought No. 2

The most telling stat of the night was turnovers. Texas had 11 total turnovers, an extremely respectable total for the Longhorn offense. However, Ole Miss recorded just four turnovers. While it’s not clear if that’s a season low for forced turnovers, a paltry four turnovers isn’t conducive to fast break opportunities for the Longhorns. That was manifested in the two fast break points Texas recorded.

The Longhorns played a clean game for the most part, but Ole Miss protected possession as a Beard team typically does.

Clean doesn’t necessarily mean beautiful. A regular 23 fouls were called in this contest, but about 10-15 more could have been called but were not by an officiating crew content to let a lot of contact — a lot of contact — go during the course of the 40 minutes.

In addition, Texas had two critical defensive failures that allowed the Rebels to take a lead late. Ultimately, the Longhorns would erase that deficit, but late-game lapses such as those seen Wednesday will be far more costly against more difficult opponents.

Postgame Thought No. 3

Rodney Terry has elected to expand his rotation in recent games. Some of that was due to foul trouble on Oxford on Wednesday, and some of that is due to Terry believing more players are deserving additional opportunities.

The player that made the most of his extended chances against Ole Miss was Devon Pryor. He’s seen more minutes of late, but in 16 minutes against the Rebels Pryor had six points on 3-for-4 shooting along with five rebounds. He looked like he belonged and even showed some offensive acumen not expected from him.

On the other hand, Jayson Kent is not giving Terry many reasons for minutes. He saw just four minutes on Wednesday, was -6 during those opportunities, committed two fouls, had a turnover, and didn’t score a point.

Nic Codie saw three uneventful minutes and missed his only shot.

Pryor has shown signs of development in recent games, and that continued versus Ole Miss. However, the expanded rotation did not bear much fruit. Pryor was part of a bench effort that recorded only 10 points in comparison to Ole Miss’ 24.

Postgame Thought No. 4

There may be a desire to make this game where Texas lost by one possession to a ranked opponent bigger than it is because of the head coaches. Beard defeated his former assistant Terry in the first matchup for Beard versus Texas since his dismissal in 2023.

In reality, this was a close game between two conference opponents. But it’s hard not to think about the context of both jobs when looking at the tight battle and the result.

Postgame Thought No. 5

This will be stats, which you can find here.

By:Joe Cook

Ole Miss wins

01/29/2025 10:21:40 PM

Texas ties the game at 66 after trailing by four with 3:18 thanks to a Tre Johnson three via a great find from Tramon Mark. Ole Miss then retakes the lead with a paint bucket to go up 68-66 with under two minutes left and call timeout. Kadin Shedrick gets a second-chance dunk to tie it at 68 with over 1:15 to go. Sean Pedulla hits a step-through bucket as the clock goes under one minute. Out of a timeout with 51.8 left, Arthur Kaluma goes to the line and sinks one of two. Pedulla misses while well defended by Larry.

Texas trails 70-69 with 26.1 left and 21 left on the shot clock. Tre Johnson misses a floater, Arthur Kaluma misses his tip in, and Ole Miss gets the rebound and is fouled with 8.9 left. Davon Barnes hits the first. Barnes hits the second. Tre Johnson gets a look off at the buzzer but misses. 72-69, Ole Miss.

By:Joe Cook

Rebels lead by four at the under-4

01/29/2025 10:01:22 PM

By:Joe Cook

Ole Miss takes its largest lead of the night with 5:00 left

01/29/2025 09:54:17 PM

The Rebels have won the physical battle in the last few minutes, and a five-point run thanks to a three-point play and a breakaway dunk off a Tre Johnson turnover has given the Rebels their largest lead of the night.

By:Joe Cook

Texas leads at the under-8

01/29/2025 09:44:13 PM

By:Joe Cook

47-47 at the under-12

01/29/2025 09:31:52 PM

Both teams combine to score six points in just under three minutes, a nod toward just how much of a football game this has become. Driving to the lane is a treacherous exercise as officials are letting a lot of contact go either way.

By:Joe Cook

Game becomes physical, teams tied at 44 with 14:30 left

01/29/2025 09:24:24 PM

Ole Miss grabs their first lead since the 10:15 mark of the first half. And during this opening stretch of the second half, the game has become incredibly physical with officials letting a lot of contact on both ends slide. The game is tied 44-44 with 14:30 left to play.

By:Joe Cook

Ole Miss makes a run heading into halftime, Texas still leads

01/29/2025 08:58:35 PM

Ole Miss on a 9-0 run thanks to much cleaner effort on both ends that has created sloppy, disjointed play by the Longhorns. Missed bunnies by Texas lead to four points for the Rebels, one of those due to a block. Texas hadn’t scored in three-plus minutes until a driving layup by Arthur Kaluma. 38-34 Texas at half.

By:Joe Cook

Texas holds an eight point lead with 2:44 left in the half

01/29/2025 08:47:54 PM

Ole Miss’ three-point shooting is keeping the Rebels in the game. Ole Miss is 9-for-26 from the field but 5-for-12 from three. Texas just 3-for-12 from distance. Texas winning the rebounding battle 21-11. Devon Pryor is providing strong minutes, he has four points, including a thunderous dunk and three rebounds in seven minutes. Texas leads 36-28 with 2:44 left.

By:Joe Cook

Texas goes on another run

01/29/2025 08:37:10 PM

Ole Miss takes its first lead after a lazy pass out to the perimeter from Jayson Kent is intercepted and taken back for a layup. However, Tre Johnson begins heating up as part of a 12-2 run for the Longhorns that puts the lead back up to nine points. Johnson has nine points already, Arthur Kaluma and Kadin Shedrick have five points apiece. 28-19 Texas with 6:58.

By:Joe Cook

Ole Miss surges back to tighten the spread at the under-12

01/29/2025 08:25:57 PM

Sean Pedulla hits the first field goal of the game for Ole Miss out of the timeout. A turnover from Ze’Rik Onyema leads to another Ole Miss three to make it 11-8 quickly. Two free throws make it 11-10, and the almost double-digit lead evaporates in under 90 seconds. Texas and Ole Miss trade buckets over the next few possessions. Texas has a 10-0 points in the paint advantage, but Ole Miss makes it a task to get there. 14-12 Texas 11:41 left in the first half

By:Joe Cook

Texas takes an early 11-2 lead over Ole Miss

01/29/2025 08:17:18 PM

The Longhorns jumped out of the gate with far better effort and cleaner play than Ole Miss, shooting 5-for-9 from the field. Meanwhile, Ole Miss hasn’t made a field goal. Texas is already up in the rebounding battle 9-2. Texas leads 11-2 with 15:00 left in the first

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