College basketball is funny. Tuesday morning, Texas was “on the ropes.” If they win today, they’ll be “hot,” and “putting it together at the right time.” There’s some truth to it, but there’s also a lot of overblowing of single games, and both of those things—the overblowing and the fact there’s some truth to it—are funny.
The Game
Texas at Texas Tech
The Time
11:00 AM Texas Time
The Television
CBS
The Opponent
Mac McClung, mainly. But technically the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Beat Texas in Austin right before the Covid outbreak. Sneaky close to the bubble. Like they were last year. But not quite as close as last year. They were really close last year.
What Texas Needs to Do
Win. Get hot. Get the buzz going so when Shaka Smart steers a dominant course through March it ends with him getting extended.
On the Court
Stop Mac McClung. And Terrence Shannon and Kyler Edwards and Marcus Santos-Silva and Kevin McCullar, but it does feel a bit like a don’t-let-McClung-beat-you thing. For morale. After last time.
Texas Tech does struggle, statistically, with perimeter defense, so if the Horns get hot, it could be a fun brunch. Protecting the ball’s gonna be big, though. That, defensive rebounding, and keeping the free throws to a reasonable minimum. Can’t have too many dudes foul out. Not today. (Also Texas Tech has a hard time scoring away from the stripe.)
