Texas is in near-desperation mode as it faces Texas Tech on the road
Texas’ road to the NCAA Tournament remains full of curves and obstacles after a stretch in which it has dropped five of its past eight games and fallen from consideration for the Associated Press’ Top 25.
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That situation makes the Longhorns’ trip to Lubbock to play Texas Tech on Tuesday at 8 p.m on ESPN in United Supermarkets Arena even more critical than a usual visit to the South Plains.
While the Red Raiders, who are tied for fourth in the Big 12 standings with TCU and Baylor, are all but guaranteed a spot in the Big Dance, Texas is not in that position. The Longhorns have four regular season games remaining with three of those – Tuesday’s game in Lubbock and home games versus Oklahoma State on March 2 and Oklahoma on March 9 – against teams not ranked in the Top 25.
It’s imperative that Texas wins those three games. It’s even more important that the Longhorns beat Texas Tech since the Red Raiders (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) won in Austin earlier this season. A sweep would give Tech a double nod should the two teams be on the bubble when considered in the NCAA seedings.
It’s a lot to digest and produce for the Longhorns (17-10, 6-8 in Big 12 play), who return to the road after an 86-67 drubbing by then-No. 9 Kansas in Lawrence on Saturday. Dillon Mitchell and Tyrese Hunter led Texas with 12 points each while Ithiel Horton added 10 points in the loss in which he Longhorns trailed by 20 points at halftime.
“Kansas really took it to us from the very beginning – they had us on our heels in terms of toughness plays, physical plays,” Texas coach Rodney Terry said. “They were ready to play. You know, I didn’t do a great job of having my team ready to play at that same level in terms of the toughness.”
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The Longhorns were outrebounded 34-25 in the loss to Kansas and were just 6 of 10 shooting on free throws. Kansas outscored Texas by 13 points from the charity stripe.
Texas is being hampered by the shooting woes of star guard Max Abmas, who managed just five points in the loss to Kansas. It was the third straight game Abmas did not reach double figures in scoring after going 46 straight contests with at least 10 points.
Texas Tech will look to rebound from perhaps its worst performance of the season, a 75-61 loss at UCF on Saturday that likely kept the Red Raiders from jumping back into the Top 25.
Darrion Williams led Tech with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Kerwin Walton added 18 points as the Red Raiders played without Chance McMillian (hip injury) and mostly without center Warren Washington, who was limited with a foot injury. The Red Raiders struggled from the floor, shooting 37 percent overall and just 28 percent from beyond the arc.
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Both McMillian and Washington are questionable for Tuesday’s game with Texas.
