Tonight on Longhorn Network, Texas hosts hated rival Oklahoma for the basketball edition of the Red River Showdown. After getting beaten down in Stillwater on Saturday, the Longhorns badly need a rebound victory here.
OU has had a good season so far, and sits at 12-3, 2-1 in conference. Their lone conference loss came against Baylor, where they hung in there, losing by 10 on the road, which is a respectable result. They then blasted no. 15 Iowa State, 79-66. They've taken losses to Butler, Utah State in OT, and Baylor.
I think Oklahoma is probably a ranked win away from being ranked themselves – so they'll be coming out fighting tonight, not simply because it's a rivalry, but because they need another Quad-2 win to improve their resume. A Quad-1 win is defined as a win against a team RPI-ranked 1-30 at home, 1-50 neutral, and 1-75 on the road. A Quad-2 win is defined as a win versus a team RPI-ranked 31-75 at home, 51-100 on a neutral floor, and 76-135 on the road. Texas ranks 55th; Oklahoma ranks 43rd.
A loss here would also knock Texas out of the top 25. To be honest, Texas should probably not be ranked now given their body of work this year, but a win tonight would legitimize this team a bit more. Though it technically wouldn't be a Quad-1 win, because Oklahoma is outside of the top 30, it would still be an important step and would be Texas' best win this year.
Texas is undefeated at home this season, yet all of their toughest games have been road games. They on average beat opponents at the FEC by 27 points per, but this is more an indication of the schedule they've played versus the dominance they've shown.
Here's the Oklahoma starting lineup.
They're led on offense by transfer F Tanner Groves, who is their leading scorer and rebounder. They also get a lot of scoring from guards Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless. Duke transfer Jordan Goldwire leads the team in assists, giving the Sooners a balanced attack offensively.
Here's Texas' starting lineup. Tre Mitchell is in the H&S protocols, so he won't be playing tonight either. It's a big loss for Texas, but Texas has played a few teams down their top players as well. As Coach Beard said in a media availability, they're a "no excuse" culture: you win with who you have.
What I'd like to see from today's game:
• Fewer turnovers.
Texas shot themselves in the foot over and over again against the Cowboys on Saturday, amassing 14 turnovers on offense, one of their worst performances of the year in that category. They gave up 18 points off of turnovers in that game, and got beat in transition several times by a more athletic team. If they're going to win tonight, they have to take care of the ball.
• Getting to the FT line, which means be more aggressive getting into the lane.
Texas shot seven free throws to Oklahoma State's 23 last game, which is an indication that offensively, they were settling for too many jumpers and not taking it to the lane enough. It's not like Texas was being swatted every time they went to the lane, either; OSU only blocked three shots all game. They need to put their foot on the gas and attack the rim tonight so that they can get OU in early foul trouble and get themselves some free points at the stripe.
• Better three-point shooting...if they're capable of it.
Texas went 6/22 from beyond the arc against the Pokes, which is not going to work if you're not also attacking the rim. 27% from three, while the opponent shoots 47%, is going to be a loss every single time. Texas actually had a better overall shooting percentage than OSU did in that game, but with the lacking FT attempts and abysmal shooting from deep, it's not surprising that Oklahoma State won going away. They're going to have to figure something out or they will lose again tonight.
