Texas Basketball: Longhorn guards overwhelm ‘Press Virginia’
Texas basketball is cut out for the rigors of the Big 12 with Shaka Smart at the helm.
Texas was supposed to be destined for an average year in the Big 12 after they fired Rick Barnes and hired Shaka Smart, who was expected to need a year or so to implement his system and bring in a new cast of players. Isaiah Taylor
Instead, the Longhorns continue to crush that narrative as they improved to 17-9 overall and 8-5 in the Big 12 with a 85-78 win over West Virginia at the Frank Erwin Center. Smart’s unit now has three AP Top 10 victories and have a sweep of a Mountaineers team that is one of the more physically imposing squads in the country.
On Tuesday night, the Longhorns were led by Isaiah Taylor (23 points on 5-of-12 shooting), Eric Davis Jr. (15 points on four threes) and Javan Felix (11 points) while Tevin Mack came off the bench to add 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
The Mountaineers received strong production from Devin Williams, who finished with a double-double, and Tarik Phillip, who put up 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting and four threes. Jonathan Holton added 10 points and eight rebounds for Bob Huggins.
West Virginia may have been without Daxter Miles Jr. (hamstring) and had to deal with their leading scorer, Jaysean Paige, suffering an ankle sprain, but this game proved that the Longhorns are the real deal despite being overlooked in a conference that features Oklahoma and Kansas.
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There’s nothing like great guard play
The Mountaineers are known for their relentless full court press that wears down opposing teams over the course of 40 minutes. But it surely didn’t have much of an impact on the Longhorns, as West Virginia had only three steals and the home team only turned the ball over seven times.
To put that in perspective, the Mountaineers average a Division I high 10.4 steals per game and also lead the country in turnovers forced with 19.08 per game.
That’s a pretty darn good performance from the Texas guards.
Cousins, Felix, Davis Jr. and Kerwin Roach Jr. are all confident with the ball in their hands and each guard can attack off the bounce. Cousins is one of the quickest players in the nation, Felix is a senior who doesn’t get overwhelmed and Roach’s athleticism is off the charts. Add in Davis’ swagger and the Longhorns are in perfect position to break any pressure that face.
Smart also did a tremendous job of matching personnel as he placed Tevin Mack at the four and let the three other guards attack the defense in transition. While the Longhorns have played Mack as a small ball four throughout the season, the production with the creative line
up was more evident on Tuesday night.
When your three best guards combine for 57 points and just five turnovers, you know something is going right.
Prince Ibeh is developing
When Cameron Ridley went down due to a broke foot, Ibeh was thrust into the starting lineup and now the 6’10” senior center is playing at another level. While he only scored two points and will never be a true offensive juggernaut, the big man is a load to deal with in the paint.
Ibeh battled foul trouble against the Mountaineers but when he was on the floor he made his impact felt on the defensive end. The Garland, TX native blocked six shots and altered multiple other layups at the rim, forcing the road team to fire from the perimeter.
How’s this for an improvement? Over the last six games, Ibeh is averaging 10 points and eight boards. He only averaged four points and 6.4 rebounds in his first seven Big 12 games this season.
Don’t ever give up
Texas led by double digits for the majority of the night, but one strong takeaway for West Virginia is their never-give-up attitude. Even though they didn’t possess the guards to match up with the Longhorns (especially with Miles and Paige out or banged up), they battled back and put a scare into the home crowd.
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The Mountaineers trailed by five with 38 seconds remaining thanks to a rugged effort on the offensive glass. Williams and Holton are unstoppable, combining for nine of West Virginia’s 18 offensive rebounds. This is not a team to overlook in March by any stretch of the imagination.