1. Holy crap.
That was a blowout.
2. It is amazing what staying between your man and the basket will do.
Texas’s defense was incredible today. It felt like Indiana couldn’t shoot. Yet the Longhorns only blocked three shots. They just locked down on their men, double teamed when necessary (as expected, the Davidson defense appears to have been designed to function the way it did), and stopped Indiana in its tracks.
3. Watching a pickpocketing develop is a blast.
Most of this was Brock Cunningham throwing his body into the middle of things, but there was also one by either Matt Coleman or Andrew Jones—I forget which, and I see both had steals—where they just poked it away from a guy trying to go one-on-one near the top of the key and started a fast break. In all these cases, it was evident what was about to happen a full half-second or so before it did, which was plenty of time to get all good and excited about what was coming.
4. Some of those threes hit the rim hard.
You could say it’s good that Texas got 38% of possible offensive rebounds (That would have been third in the country last year, behind West Virginia and Houston). You could say it’s good that Texas managed to win by 22 despite shooting 28% from three. Both those things are probably true. But at the same time, it’s hard to believe bludgeoning the front of the rim from deep and then getting the board because it’s bounced over to the Tennessee side of the Smokies is the best offense Texas can generate.
5. Jase Febres is on this team.
It’s a bit startling to remember that Texas is missing one of its best offensive players from last year, as the senior continues to recover from a knee injury. If he does return—and the assumption, for now, seems to be that he will—he might help give the rims some reprieve.
6. Greg Brown has so much room, and space, to grow.
He’s a potential (likely?) lottery pick, and he only scored two points today, and it didn’t matter at all. Viewed through this lens, it makes sense why Brown chose Texas over the G-League. It’s the perfect incubator—veteran team, seemingly a players’ coach, right in his hometown. If he gets good, and we expect he will, Texas’s ceiling rises even higher.
7. The fouls may be excessive.
Some of the calls were weird, but that’s college basketball. Some of this is defense, but the depth can only take so much. This feels like one of those things that’s going to be exploited at some point, but maybe Texas is ready for that and willing to adjust. Or maybe they’re still learning. Regardless, KenPom has the Longhorn defense as the second-best in the country, so maybe I should shut up and not look for an ‘other shoe’ when it might not be there.
