Texas issues a beatdown to West Virginia
Texas literally wiped the floor with Bob Huggins’ 15-9 West Virginia squad. Texas won 94-60 in a game that wasn’t in doubt past the first 10 minutes of the contest.
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Couple of major takeaways for me:
1. Texas shot lights out. The Horns were 10-17 from three-point range. The Horns are unlikely to repeat that level of performance the rest of the year.
However, the place where they shot even better was the free throw line. The Horns did not miss a single free throw until there was four minutes left in the game. Texas finished 24-25 from the line.
While the three-point percentage won’t necessarily carry over to the next game, consistency at the free throw line typically does. The Horns have fared well from the charity stripe all year and that is a bona fide strength of this team.
2. Sir’Jabari Rice, Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr are leading this team. If Rice isn’t the sixth-man of the year in college hoops, I’d be surprised. Allen continues to fill up the stat sheet across the board – 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists yesterday. And Carr is the team’s leading scorer, yet Rice and Allen can take some of the pressure off of Carr to be a solo act.
And that’s where I think Texas is currently taking a step forward deep into this season. The emergence of Rice and the veteran play of Allen have allowed Carr to not be the offensive focal point as often. Points for Carr are coming more naturally and not as forced.
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3. Texas is an extraordinarily smart team IMO. Experience and veteran play is a big part of it. But that’s not all. Even the big guys inside are playing smarter and smarter as the season wears on.
The big guys seem to be leaning into their strengths rather than trying to figure out exactly how they fit in the game plan.
**
A month ago, this team could have thrown in the towel.
But they didn’t. And what’s more, they are actually improving right now and playing with added confidence because of it.
Yesterday was one of the best, most well-rounded performances I can recall from a Texas basketball team. And it was no mistake.
