Maybe it was the lack of almost any atmosphere because of the pandemic. Maybe it was ‘Texas State’ across the opposing team’s jersey with Baylor looming and three previous games against Indiana, North Carolina and Villanova. Maybe it was all the different lineups and the choppy play in the first half. Whatever it was, tonight felt like an exhibition game for the burnt orange and white. The No. 13 Longhorns (5-1) were challenged in the second half, and eventually handled their business against Texas State with a 74-53 win.
Here are 10 postgame thoughts:
1) Shaka Smart said Monday he told his program tonight’s game would be a statement about them as much as any game because games like this in the past have resulted in poor habits rearing their ugly heads down the road or in some cases losses. Smart kind of backed off that statement some by saying they simply want the players to take each game as seriously as the big ones.
“We wanted to make sure they understood that if Indiana was, If North Carolina was, if Villanova was then you know, Texas State should be,” said Smart about the statement message to the team prior to the game. “And I give our guys credit for the way they prepared. You know, human nature is such that if you play those last three opponents that we played, and then your next game after tonight is Baylor. It's certainly, again, normal human nature to you I guess, let up a little bit, but the best teams don't do that. The best players don't do that.
“I thought Matt and Courtney did a really good job of leading our team with just aggressive effort, energy. Those guys really played to win that it certainly didn't play perfect. It wasn't their best games, but they got their hands on a basketball on defense. And they played to win the game, which is the foundation of what you want to be.”
But if we’re into statements from tonight, here are a couple:
--- Texas showed its potential with a dominant start in the first half, fueled by nine dunks and overpowering defense, and dominant close after Texas State cut the second-half lead to seven with 11:26 remaining. But did the Longhorns play a good game for 40 minutes? No. They still have a ton of work to do.
--- Matt Coleman and Courtney Ramey’s vocal leadership and intensely competitive body language in the second half strongly suggested they’re undoubtedly the leaders of this team, and carry a different presence on the floor than last season.
2) Let’s start with the good. Considering Texas won this game by 21 points, it’s probably unfair to start with the bad. Besides the occasional lapses, Texas’s first-shot defense was often really good. I say first-shot defense because the Bobcats didn’t lack second-chance opportunities.
Initially, Texas did a great job of flying around, and in particular Matt Coleman’s on-ball defense in the second half helped set the tone when Texas State threatened to get all the way back into the game. Early, the Longhorns threw a block party in the paint as Texas turned the game into a chaotic, up-and-down contest. In the second-half’s more half-court affair, Texas adjusted to what Texas State was doing with better ball-screen defense with the occasional hard hedge leading to a disruptive trap deep beyond the arc.
Texas State (3-2) scored just 0.78 points per possession and finished with eight assists compared to 16 turnovers
3) Now the bad…
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