Texas takes on Arkansas–Pine Bluff at the Moody Center (Noon tipoff, LHN)
Today, the Texas Longhorns take on Arkansas–Pine Bluff at the Moody Center at noon, broadcast on the Longhorn Network. The 3-7 Golden Lions have yet to beat a D1 team this season, though earlier on in their campaign, they got close to knocking off two separate Big 12 teams on the road – TCU and Oklahoma.
Against TCU, APB lost at the end due to the late-game heroics of Mike Miles Jr., who hit a three with 0:51 left in the game to give the Horned Frogs a late lead which eventually held. The eventual result was a 73-72 win by then-14th-ranked TCU in a game where they were 33.5-point favorites.
The Golden Lions then went to Norman and played the Sooners tight – Oklahoma held a 56-48 lead with about six minutes to play before APB made a run, making it just a two-point game with 2:36 left. The Sooners ended up pulling away at the end, winning 66-58, but it shows that APB has the ability to play close games with decent teams. They also had a halftime lead against Nebraska, up 39-36 going into the break. They ended up losing by 24 points, but still, you can tell from these kind of performances that they have some competitive fire.
Solmon Bozeman, head coach of the Golden Lions, has some experience living in Austin – he played for the Austin Toros of the NBA Developmental League in 2011-2012 after an illustrious college career playing for Arkansas–Little Rock. He also shares some coaching DNA with Chris Beard, having been an assistant at his alma mater the year after Chris Beard left to be the HC at Texas Tech.
Here's Arkansas–Pine Bluff's starting lineup.
What to watch for.
• Three-point shooting (again).
In the loss to Illinois, Texas had another tough night from three, hitting just seven of 22 attempts from deep. Even against lower-level competition, they still haven't shot it well, as they are, on the season, ranked in the bottom 30 in the country in three-point percentage (29.1%), including being ranked 242nd in NCAA basketball in threes made per game a shade under seven per. I don't know how to stress this, but if this team is going to win games in March, this has to improve. Their defense is obviously impressive, and they shoot an excellent percentage inside the arc, 58.3% (good for 23rd in the nation), but they really need to become at least competent from deep. As of right now, they've taken a significant step back from last year in this category, where they hit 33%. Getting it up to this number would be a major improvement.
• Opponents' shooting percentage.
The Golden Lions are one of the worst teams in the nation from the field, shooting just 38.8% overall, which is 350th out of 358 teams in division-one basketball. To make things worse for them, Texas' defense is 23rd in the nation in opponents' FG percentage at 37.1%. This does not bode well for APB, who has struggled to score the basketball this season – they're 339th in the country in scoring per game at just 63 points per. Even with a really good scorer and shooter in Shaun Doss Jr., they will have trouble getting the ball in the basket today against an elite defense.
• Forcing turnovers.
Texas this season has given up just 64 assists while forcing 128 turnovers, giving them a +6.6 turnover margin per game. The Longhorns are forcing 18.3 turnovers per game while only turning the ball over 11.7 times. This is another major advantage Texas has over its opponent today, because the Golden Lions have had trouble this year with taking care of the ball, coughing it up almost 16 times per game. APB has a negative turnover margin of -0.8. The no middle is designed to create turnovers on drives, so look for Texas to play an excellent defensive game against a struggling offense.
• Quick note: Christian Bishop nears 1,000 career points.
Senior Christian Bishop has 996 career points coming into today's game, meaning he will likely break the 1,000 point mark. This would be a major accomplishment for a player that has brought a lot to the Longhorns since his transfer to Austin last season.
• Best bet.
Texas -19 1H