Cliffs Notes: Texas absolutely outclassed LSU on Saturday night, running away from the Tigers 89-56 in Baton Rouge.
The Participants: Texas (15-7, 4-5) and LSU (12-9, 1-7)
Pre-Game KenPom Rankings: Texas (No. 34) and LSU (No. 64)
Game MVP: This could have gone to several players, but after getting dunked on in fairly emphatic fashion early in the game, Kadin Shedrick responded with one hell of a performance, finishing with 16 points n 6 of 11 shooting, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
He's Heating Up: True freshman Tre Johnson had one of his best all-around performances of the season, as he led the Longhorns with 18 points and 5 assists, while also grabbing 4 rebounds and creating 2 steals. The future lottery pick just made the game look so easy today. If the Longhorns had needed him to get 35 points tonight, he could have.
Second-Half Dominance: It was obvious very early on that the Longhorns were a different class of basketball team than the Tigers, but Rodney Terry's team played with its food a little in the first half with some questionable shot selections, but Texas got in the groove in the second half and pummeled the Tigers to the tune of 58-33 in the final 20 minutes of action. The Longhorns looked like a Sweet 16 team in the second half.
You Won't Believe It (or Maybe You Will): The Longhorns aren't always a dominant force on the glass, but they finished +12 against the Tigers (35-23), while also finishing +14 in points in the paint (40-26).
Final Shooting Splits: Texas (56.3/47.6/77.8) - LSU (45.1/13.3/66.7)
Up Next: Arkansas comes to town on Wednesday night. It's not a must-win, but it sure would give the Longhorns some added buffer from the bubble line with a series of tougher games against ranked teams looming directly afterwards.
ESPN Bracketology: The Longhorns came into tonight with a little bit of wiggle room while sitting on the bubble fence...