Shaka Smart and Bob Huggins have a few things in common, but the biggest two are these:
- They coach basketball.
- They have great hair.
The Game
Texas @ West Virginia
The Time
12:00 PM Texas Time
The Television
ESPN (and if you’re driving Stuber Eats in Austin during this game because Uber gave you a big bonus offer if you hit an ungodly number of deliveries before 11 PM tomorrow night, you can listen on the radio on The Horn, 104.9)
The Opponent
West Virginia. The Mountaineers. As the Big 12’s top pack stratifies, it looks like these guys are in the pack with Kansas and Texas Tech, waiting for Baylor to slip up so they can try to claim their place as number two behind Texas (go with me on this).
What Texas Needs to Do
Get Shaka that extension. There is no greater purpose this year.
On the Court
West Virginia’s going to make it hard to make threes, and they’re going to go hard after offensive rebounds, which makes this a big afternoon for Jericho Sims, Kai Jones, and whoever else ends up in the middle down there—Greg Brown, Brock Cunningham, Royce Hamm (who traveled to Morgantown, implying he’s available)…whoever it may be (I’m assuming Kamaka Hepa isn’t going to suddenly have a big role in this development-focused year for him).
But just because WVU’s got good perimeter defense doesn’t mean the guards are going to be neutralized. They’re a strength, and a higher focus than usual on attacking the defense might be good for the Horns, who—for all their strengths—aren’t all that efficient of shooters.
It’s a tough one. And so was last weekend’s visit to Lawrence, but the score’s 0-0 again right now. Texas has an opportunity to set itself up well heading into a very favorable rest of the month (on paper—we’ll see what Covid and rescheduling have to say). Here’s hoping they find a way to take it.
Hook ‘em.
