Cliffs Notes: In a game against the worst team in the Big 12 and the only team in the league with a losing record, the Longhorns suffered a resume-hurting 76-73 loss on the road in Morgantown.
The Participants: No. 25/NR Texas (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) and NR/NR West Virginia (6-10, 1-2 Big 12)
Pre-Game KenPom Rankings: Texas (No. 34) and West Virginia (No. 143)
Game MVP: Max Abmas carried the Longhorns in the final minutes of the game, finishing with 32 points on 9 of 17 points, including 17 points in the final 2:29 of the game
Key Moment: With the lead cut to 68-65 with less than a minute to go, Texas allowed Noah Farrakhan to dribble penetrate into the lane where he dished it off to Akok Akok for a dunk to extend the lead back to 70-65 with 45 seconds left in the game. The Longhorns never got closer than 3 the rest of the game.
Key Stretch: Disu made a lay-up with 8:37 left in the game to cut West Virginia's lead to 52-49 and the Longhorns didn't score again until Disu made a three-point shot with 5:29 left in the game, but the Mountaineers had gone on a 7-0 run during that stretch. The lack of any offense for more than 3 minutes in the final 10 minutes of the game proved to be a very big deal.
Big 12 Screw-job?: Since the start of Big 12 play last weekend, the Longhorns have been called for 65 fouls, while its opponents have been called for 38.
An Hour of Our Lives We'll Never Get Back: Forgive me, but I have zero desire to really discuss the first half. Somehow, the Mountaineers came away leading 30-28 at halftime and I'm still dismayed that both teams combined to score 58 points because they combined to shoot 38.9% from the floor (which feels about 10% too high) and 27% from 3-point land, while committing 22 turnovers. At one point when neither team scored a field goal for 4:01 on actual game-time, it basically felt like the score stayed 15-14 for a week. Disu scored 2 points on 1 of 2 shooting. Let's never discuss it again.
Thing You Need to Know: The Longhorns committed a season-high 22 turnovers on Saturday night. Every starter other than Brock Cunningham committed multiple turnovers, with Tyrese Hunter and Dylan Disu each turning it over 4 times and Abmas turning over 5 times.
Tracking down History: After moving into 4th place on the NCAA' all-time 3-point shots made list last week, Abmas knocked down 7 of 13 shots from downtown tonight to move within 34 of third-place Travis Bader (Purdue 2010-14).
Half-time team triple splits: Texas (38.5/30.0/83.3), West Virginia (39.3/25.0/62.5)
Full-time team triple splits: Texas (45.3/40.9/76.2), West Virginia (44.7/41.2/65.9)
ESPN Bracketology: In the updated Bracket from this morning, the Longhorns are still on the outside looking in.
Box Score: Read it and weep.
The Participants: No. 25/NR Texas (12-4, 1-2 Big 12) and NR/NR West Virginia (6-10, 1-2 Big 12)
Pre-Game KenPom Rankings: Texas (No. 34) and West Virginia (No. 143)
Game MVP: Max Abmas carried the Longhorns in the final minutes of the game, finishing with 32 points on 9 of 17 points, including 17 points in the final 2:29 of the game
Key Moment: With the lead cut to 68-65 with less than a minute to go, Texas allowed Noah Farrakhan to dribble penetrate into the lane where he dished it off to Akok Akok for a dunk to extend the lead back to 70-65 with 45 seconds left in the game. The Longhorns never got closer than 3 the rest of the game.
Key Stretch: Disu made a lay-up with 8:37 left in the game to cut West Virginia's lead to 52-49 and the Longhorns didn't score again until Disu made a three-point shot with 5:29 left in the game, but the Mountaineers had gone on a 7-0 run during that stretch. The lack of any offense for more than 3 minutes in the final 10 minutes of the game proved to be a very big deal.
Big 12 Screw-job?: Since the start of Big 12 play last weekend, the Longhorns have been called for 65 fouls, while its opponents have been called for 38.
An Hour of Our Lives We'll Never Get Back: Forgive me, but I have zero desire to really discuss the first half. Somehow, the Mountaineers came away leading 30-28 at halftime and I'm still dismayed that both teams combined to score 58 points because they combined to shoot 38.9% from the floor (which feels about 10% too high) and 27% from 3-point land, while committing 22 turnovers. At one point when neither team scored a field goal for 4:01 on actual game-time, it basically felt like the score stayed 15-14 for a week. Disu scored 2 points on 1 of 2 shooting. Let's never discuss it again.
Thing You Need to Know: The Longhorns committed a season-high 22 turnovers on Saturday night. Every starter other than Brock Cunningham committed multiple turnovers, with Tyrese Hunter and Dylan Disu each turning it over 4 times and Abmas turning over 5 times.
Tracking down History: After moving into 4th place on the NCAA' all-time 3-point shots made list last week, Abmas knocked down 7 of 13 shots from downtown tonight to move within 34 of third-place Travis Bader (Purdue 2010-14).
Half-time team triple splits: Texas (38.5/30.0/83.3), West Virginia (39.3/25.0/62.5)
Full-time team triple splits: Texas (45.3/40.9/76.2), West Virginia (44.7/41.2/65.9)
ESPN Bracketology: In the updated Bracket from this morning, the Longhorns are still on the outside looking in.
Box Score: Read it and weep.
