How big is a “big game” when more than half your schedule should be ranked?
The Game
Texas vs. Villanova (in Austin)
The Time
12:00 PM Texas Time
The Television
ESPN
The Opponent
Villanova. The Wildcats haven’t made the NIT since 2004.
What Texas Needs to Do
Keep winning. This state needs to be taught a lesson, and that lesson is to appreciate Shaka Smart.
On the Court
Believe it or not, Villanova’s been shooting, and making, a lot of threes. But there’s more than that. Villanova’s returning most of their rotation from a team that lost only seven games, the least forgivable of which was a home loss to Providence. They’re clean, and they’re composed, which means they give away few turnovers, they’ve got a good defensive rebounding rate, and they rarely foul. They can certainly be beaten (they’ve already lost) but it’s hard (Virginia Tech had to make ten of their twenty three-point attempts).
So, how’s Texas going to operate?
It’s possible the Davidson approach will be a blueprint: Sacrifice help defense for the sake of staying on shooters. But there will be more than that which Texas can do.
Villanova isn’t small, but they are their traditional guard-focused selves, which means Texas should have some opportunities to get Jericho Sims and/or Kai Jones going. It’ll be interesting to see whether Smart uses both at once or pairs one with Gerald Liddell or Royce Hamm while keeping Greg Brown on the floor. Doing that would create some risk—one of Sims/Jones/Hamm/Liddell might have to hold his own on the arc defensively. It would also create opportunities for mismatches centered around Brown.
Overall, beyond locking down the outside, there isn’t a whole lot Texas can do to attack Villanova’s strengths, and there aren’t exactly a ton of weaknesses, which means Texas needs to do what Texas does well: extend possessions with offensive boards, score inside, limit easy looks. Do all that, and they’ve got a great chance.
Hook ‘em.
