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Texas Basketball: 3 keys for the Longhorns against Purdue

By Jason Burgess

AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Shaka Smart of the Texas Longhorns reacts as his team plays the Citadel Bulldogs at the Frank Erwin Center on November 16, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Shaka Smart of the Texas Longhorns reacts as his team plays the Citadel Bulldogs at the Frank Erwin Center on November 16, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Shaka Smart of the Texas Longhorns gestures during the championship game of the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament against the Michigan State Spartans at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Michigan State defeated Texas 78-68. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 23: Head coach Shaka Smart of the Texas Longhorns gestures during the championship game of the 2018 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament against the Michigan State Spartans at the Orleans Arena on November 23, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Michigan State defeated Texas 78-68. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

Texas plays host to Purdue on Sunday in a key non-conference game. What do the Longhorns need to do to come away with a win? Here are three keys.

TV Schedule: Sunday, December 9th, 6:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2

Arena: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas

On Sunday, the Texas Longhorns play host to the Purdue Boilermakers and after knocking off No. 7 North Carolina in the Las Vegas Invitational, Shaka Smart’s squad has struggled, getting beat by Michigan State, upset at home by Radford, and VCU.

In the win over North Carolina, the Longhorns got 32 points from senior guard Kerwin Roach II who leads the team in points (14.9) and assists (4.1) and is 2nd on the team in rebounding (5.6) and forced the Tarheels into 17 turnovers. Creating turnovers is something Texas excels at, forcing 17 per game and in the loss to Michigan State, the Spartans turned the ball over into 24 times, the issue was Michigan State shot 51% from the field, where Texas usually allows opponents to shoot 39.7%.

That coupled with the fact that Texas shot just 34%, below their 40.5% average on the season. In the loss to Radford, Texas forced a season-low eight turnovers and were held to a season-low 59 points and shot just 35% from the field.

Like Texas, Purdue has also struggled of late. After a four-game winning streak to begin the year, the Boilermakers have won just twice in their last five games. Junior guard Carsen Edwards is the unquestioned leader of the Boilermakers, with 23.9 points and 3.9 assists. Edwards has been the clear focal point of Matt Painter’s offense, having taken 169 shots, the next closest number is 98 by guard Ryan Cline.

In order to right the ship, the Longhorns have to get back to what made them successful early in the season. Here are three keys to Texas defeating Purdue.

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