Rodney Terry explains what he's seen on film from Colgate, the Longhorns' first round opponent
In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show, Texas interim head coach Rodney Terry said he and his staff were going to “work tirelessly” to scout the Colgate Raiders, champions of the Patriot League and the Longhorns’ first round opponent in the NCAA Tournament.
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What he likely found during his film study is that Colgate, who was 26-8 and 17-1 on the way to Patriot League regular season and tournament championships, can shoot the basketball.
Terry appeared on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt on Tuesday night and further elaborated on what he saw from the team his No. 2 seed Longhorns will face on Thursday night in Des Moines, Iowa.
“They’re a terrific team,” Terry said. “Very well-coached. They’re an older team and one of the better shooting teams in the country. They play fast up and down the floor and they take care of the basketball. A big challenge with Colgate.”
The Raiders are the No. 1 three-point shooting team in the country, making 41 percent of their shots from distance. That’s part of their 51.4 percent mark from the field, good for second in the country. Three Raiders, Oliver Lynch-Daniels, Ryan Moffatt, Chandler Baker, and Nicolas Louis-Jacques, make over 40 percent of their three-point attempts. Five regular members of their rotation make over 52 percent of their field goals.
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Van Pelt praised the connectivity and chemistry the team has shown throughout a season filled with its share of adversity. Terry did the same ahead of the Longhorns’ Thursday night matchup, where that chemistry will be necessary both defending the Raiders and scoring points against them.
“This group has been so unselfish,” Terry said. “They’ve been incredible teammates, and it shows and reflects in the way we play. These guys have great chemistry. It wasn’t really forced by the coaching staff. These guys, on and off the court, have just really connected with each other this summer. They play for one another, they really do on a high level.”
For Texas to potentially set up a rivalry matchup in the round of 32 with No. 7 seed Texas A&M or a contest versus No. 10 seed Penn State, the Longhorns will have to slow down the sharpshooting Raiders. What’s Terry’s message to the team ahead of the contest?
“You’ve got to play for 40 minutes, and we’ve got to come out in the first four minutes and play as hard as we can,” Terry said. “Hopefully, our team’s prepared and they’re excited about competing at a very high level.”
Texas and Colgate tip off at 6:25 p.m. on Thursday. The game will be aired on TBS
