Thoughts on last night’s game:
1. No quit.
Lost beside Matt Coleman’s heroics, and beside Jericho Sims’s defensive masterpiece, and beside the general catharsis of finally beating this year’s Texas Tech Red Raiders was that the Longhorns repeatedly came back against long odds. It took some guts. Texas showed some guts.
2. Matt Coleman’s heroics were heroic.
What else is there to say? The guy made things happen. Heart and soul.
3. Jericho Sims’s defense was otherworldly.
The guy was a presence inside. Invaluable, as he’s so often been throughout the season’s final stretch.
4. Kai Jones made plays.
Such a head-turner at times.
5. Jase Febres came through massively.
If there was one guy who kept Texas in it throughout the first 75% of the contest, it might’ve been Febres. We knew he could be a valuable asset, but as time went on and he wasn’t finding the court, hopes of him contributing in a major way dimmed. He’s back now, and he’s contributing in a major way, and Texas both needed him and got him last night.
6. Greg Brown’s been resilient before.
This isn’t the first time Greg Brown’s had to take a back seat this year, or to put it more frankly, a seat on the bench. He’s come back mentally on the previous occasions, but none were on as big a stage as this one, or as late in what one expects to be his college career as this one.
7. The vibe is good.
I used the word “catharsis” above, and that feels apt. Texas found a way to win against a team that had previously evaded Texas. It wasn’t dominant—it hasn’t been dominant for a while now—but it was a vibe-clearing win, and as the fourth straight, if momentum’s a thing, Texas has it heading into tonight’s game with…
***
Leaving the preview below, but updating the post with three quick thoughts on the announcement that this game is canceled:
1. Hope everbody at Kansas is ok.
With a largely vaccinated nation in sight, the seriousness of the situation does seem lesser, but for those infected it’s still scary. Wish them the best.
2. This might cost Texas a good win.
Might make a difference, might not. But it could.
3. Postponing the tournaments seems dumb.
There is a difference between calls for May Madness this year and calls for May Madness last year. That difference is vaccine timing. But there still is no guarantee of herd immunity by May. The tournaments will happen. The season will end. And hopefully next year, these postponements are a thing of the past.
***
The Game
Texas vs. Kansas
The Time
8:30 PM Texas Time
The Television
ESPN2
The Opponent
Texas has beaten Kansas twice this year, and with David McCormack out, tonight’s Kansas isn’t the same on paper as those other iterations.
Still, not an easy task to take down the Jayhawks. They’re still loaded with talent. They’re still coached by a tactical wizard. They’re still Kansas.
What Texas Need to Do
Keep on winning. If the second weekend is what’s needed to get Shaka Smart universally revered (or as close to it as is possible in this fanbase), another win tonight would go a long way in seeding.
On the Court
The offensive footprints for Texas across the two victories were distinct. In Lawrence, the Longhorns shot the lights out. In Austin, Texas got through a rough shooting night, never figured it out on the scoring end, and won anyway.
On the defensive side, Texas got through it the same way. They neutralized Marcus Garrett. They kept KU from feasting on offensive rebounds. They didn’t make the paint uninhabitable, but they got halfway there.
It would be great if a Jase Febres-enabled Texas burned holes in the nets and left Kansas in the dust. Realistically, though, Jericho Sims is going to need to lock down the lane, Texas’s guards are going to need to stop Garrett (and Ochai Agbaji, who was a nightmare for Oklahoma last night), and Greg Brown’s going to need to excel where he most excels, which is on the glass.
It looks like, given McCormack’s absence, Texas is a slight favorite. A Big 12 semifinal is a great place to take care of business.
