Road trip to Seton Hall presents Longhorns with biggest test since Gonzaga

There are four KenPom top 100 teams on the No. 7 Texas Longhorns’ out-of-conference schedule. They’ve lost to one already, No. 1 Gonzaga, in Spokane, Wash. by a score of 86-74. During that game, Texas’ lack of size and rim protection was successfully probed by the Bulldog offense, led by Drew Timme‘s 37 points on 15-of-19 shooting.

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Texas will face the next top 100 team on its schedule this Thursday, when it travels to the New York City area ahead of a game versus No. 23 Seton Hall. The Pirates have size up and down their roster that could give Chris Beard’s team fits in the same manner as the Bulldogs.

“They’re a big team, tall team, large team, whatever you want to call it,” Beard said Sunday. “Their identity is their size, so that could be a challenge for different teams.”

Beard downplayed the deficit, saying he’ll have the ability to either match up with Seton Hall’s size or play against it in different ways. But thus far, his team has struggled with size even from outside the nation’s elite.

As mentioned, Texas has played just one top 100 team in KenPom thus far on its way to a 6-1 early season record. In those seven games, the rebounding margin has been +1, +1, +9, +4, +3, -2, and +5. The Longhorns rank No. 141 in the country in rebounding margin. Meanwhile, the Pirates check in at No. 24.

Much of that is boosted by the number of players 6-foot-6 or taller in the Pirates’ regular rotation. Six players 6-foot-6 or taller average over 15 minutes per game, including leading scorer Jared Rhoden. The 6-foot-6 forward averages 17.6 points and 7.4 rebound per contest.

Just behind him is Tyrese Samuel, a 6-foot-10 presence averaging 11.8 points and 6.1 rebound per game. Six players of varying height average over 9.0 points per game, but the majority of them are taller players.

The Pirates have the same amount of top 100 wins as the Longhorns do: one. Led by head coach Kevin Williard, Seton Hall traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich. earlier in the year and topped the then-No. 4 Wolverines, 67-67.

They dropped a neutral site game to KenPom top 100 Ohio State, 79-76, but have taken care of business against the rest of their opponents.

“It’s a good team. I would argue it’s one of the best teams in college basketball,” Beard said. “It’s early, so we’ll see how the separation happens here in the next month. You just look at Seton Hall and you know they’re going to be a team that has a chance to win a championship.”

With the challenges Seton Hall presents, the Longhorns believe they will need their defense to travel in order to have a chance of leaving the Prudential Center with a win. If it does, they think it will help them as the season progresses into conference and postseason play.

“If we really want to be the team we say we are and contend for championships, we have to lock in and put on a better performance against high-major teams,” Longhorns guard Andrew Jones said Sunday.

Jones said that while Texas is still forming an identity, the team wants to be able to hang its hat on defensive ability. Jones ranks fourth in the Big 12 and No. 49 nationally in steals per game with 2.14. As a team, the Longhorns are No. 20 in steals.

Texas can score, too, with five players of its own averaging over 9.0 points per game and one, Marcus Carr, just shy of the mark at 8.9. It’s the defensive side they want to prove is just as good as the current offense.

“Everyone knows we can score,” Jones said. “Everyone knows we have skill. We can really have an identity of locking opponents down and holding their best guys under their averages. That’s really going to show our true identity.”

Texas will still be without Vanderbilt transfer and Pflugerville Henderson graduate Dylan Disu. Beard said the 6-foot-9 forward, who led the SEC in rebounding last year until going down due to a knee injury, won’t be available when the Longhorns tip-off against the Pirates in Newark, N.J. this Thursday. However, he mentioned he wants to get Disu into games soon, and that his knee has responded well to back-to-back practices.

Much of Texas’ presence on the interior will be the responsibility of 6-foot-9 Tre Mitchell, 6-foot-7 Christian Bishop, and 6-foot-6 Brock Cunningham.

“We just need to execute the game plan defensively and offensively, and just don’t worry about our opponent,” Jones said.

So far, Texas has cruised through its mostly home schedule. The highest-rated opponent in KenPom to visit the Erwin Center (or Gregory Gym) is Cal Baptist, who ranked No. 182.

Seton Hall will be the toughest test since Gonzaga, and will test the Longhorns in multiple senses.

What do they think needs to happen to leave New Jersey with a victory?

Said Jones: “We’ve just got to make sure what we do at home travels.”