Takeaways from Texas men's basketball's exhibition versus Texas Lutheran

The Chris Beard era of Texas men’s basketball unofficially began Monday with a dominant performance, his team’s 96-33 win in an exhibition against Division III Texas Lutheran. Tre Mitchell led all scorers with 16 points off the bench, while Timmy Allen added 15, Courtney Ramey scored 12, and Jaylon Tyson offered 13.

It was an opportunity for Beard to continue his “Unite the Family” campaign for Texas basketball, as the Bulldogs are led by former Longhorn Mike Wacker.

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Wacker was effusive in his praise of Beard for giving his program a spotlight on the Longhorn Network, allowing his Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference squad the chance to compete in the Erwin Center, and giving his Bulldog team a tough tune-up ahead of much lesser competition.

But Wacker was most touched by the efforts Beard showed in welcoming him back to the Forty Acres. Longhorn players wore warm-up shirts with Wacker’s name above his No. 44. Beard gave the TLU head coach plenty of personalized gear. Wacker even sang “The Eyes of Texas” following the game, T-Ring affixed to his right ring finger.

“The fact that we’re all united, all of us, everyone that ever played, or managed, or was a student trainer, athletic trainer, whatever. If you lettered at the University of Texas, you’re part of his family,” Wacker said. “I think that speaks volumes (about) him.

“He didn’t have to do that. He’s getting paid to coach those guys in the locker room. There’s no reason he has to come back and do something like that for me. He did it because he cares about the people in the past.”

It was the moment of a night emblematic of the Unite the Family goal from Beard. Now, for the game…

The Starting Five and Rotations that Probably Won’t Be

Texas started this game with a five-man group of Marcus Carr, Courtney Ramey, and Andrew Jones at guard with Christian Bishop and Timmy Allen playing forward spots. With a week before the season officially starts, that was a glimpse at what most of the starting lineup should be.

But a key player is missing in Vanderbilt transfer Dylan Disu. Still nursing a knee injury, Disu is participating in practices but has yet to be cleared for full five-on-five activity. As a result, Texas lacks his 6-foot-9 presence in the middle of the defense, with Bishop and Allen at 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-7, respectively.

Even against a Division III team in TLU, the starting five and early rotations seemed like those that would occur in a regular season game. Jase Febres was the first guard off the bench, while the 6-foot-9 Mitchell was the first big to enter the game.

Every scholarship player played at least 13 minutes in the exhibition, with the walk-ons getting a share of playing time, too. Most of what was seen was an opportunity for Beard and the staff to get a grasp of the team’s reaction to a pseudo-gameday atmosphere and if the team would play at a crisp level.

With only four turnovers and a 40-for-70 night from the field (57%), that fits the definition of crisp.

Tre Mitchell and Marcus Carr, alphas?

After four years of Matt Coleman wearing No. 2 and being the leader of the Longhorn basketball program, another No. 2 might have stepped into a similar role.

Minnesota transfer Marcus Carr had a strong grip on the offense during his first game in the Erwin Center, notching five assists and a steal against just one turnover.

His first points didn’t arrive until early in the second half, but he made his impact on the game nonetheless. One bucket was the result of a steal and a fast break score, defense turning to offense just like Beard would prefer.

Not only did he show control on offense but also when on defense. TLU guard Xavier Phillips described the scouting report on Carr as noting his shiftiness, change of speed, ball-handling, and defensive ability.

The Division III versus Division I caveat aside, if Carr is already unseating Ramey (a solid Big 12 point guard in his own right) as the guy who makes the offense go within a few months of being in Austin, it speaks to the level of trust Beard already has in him.

On the post, until Disu is cleared, Mitchell’s multi-level scoring ability will play with any lineup Beard puts on the floor. And he put several lineups on the floor where Mitchell was asked to play anywhere from the “three” to the “five” in an offense Beard once described as positionless.

“I don’t know if you would say inside-out,” Mitchell said about his game. “I would say inside and out. I would say that. It comes down to the game, reading and reacting, and taking what’s given.”

The Texas head coach was asked if those two were the alphas on this team. Beard pushed back some against the sentiment.

Texas HC Chris Beard: "This team is experienced and has a bunch of veterans. I don't know if there's going to be a lot of guys getting in guys' faces. I think there will be a lot of experienced leadership."

— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) November 2, 2021

Still, the most prolific scorer of the game took what he wanted at all levels with a nifty set of moves at each spot.

For night one, things looked pretty smooth

The No. 5 team in the country did exactly what it should have done in an exhibition against a Division III school. The Longhorns almost had as many buckets as the Bulldogs had field goal attempts.

The result doesn’t count for Texas’ record, but the process remains notable. Throughout the evening, the Longhorns looked like they knew where to be and when to be there. It didn’t matter who was on the floor, the times where two guys ran to the same spot or when no defender was around to stop an opposing cutter seemed few and far between.

Odds and ends

-Beard was pleased with his team’s perfect night at the free throw line, but wished they had more than 10 attempts. In a similar vein, the Longhorns turned the ball over four times in their 68 possessions.

“I don’t care who you play or how the game goes down. When you have four turnovers in a 40-minute, high-possession game, you’re taking care of the ball,” Beard said.

-Febres was 2-of-3 from distance and 2-of-4 overall, but he won’t be singularly relied on to be Texas’ three-point threat. Eleven different players attempted a shot from behind the arc, but the Longhorns made six of those 20 attempts. When a team scores 58 points in the paint like Texas did on Monday, it may not make much of an impact. But against Gonzaga in a few days? The points in the paint won’t be as easy to come by, and the perimeter shooting needs to be on point in the Pacific Northwest and across the regular season.

-Every player looked comfortable shooting the midrange shot, almost a forgotten aspect of modern basketball. Mitchell, Carr, Devin Askew, Allen, Christian Bishop, Andrew Jones, and Courtney Ramey all took several attempts around the paint.

-Freshman Jaylon Tyson received a lot of run with the walk-ons, but added four of his 13 points in the first half against TLU’s front-line players.

-Beard is serious about building a better Longhorn student section.

Man of the people pic.twitter.com/xpzxPTVbAX

— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) November 2, 2021

-Texas opens its regular season at home on Nov. 9 versus Houston Baptist.