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Texas Basketball: Takeaways from Longhorns loss to No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs

By Cooper Watson

SPOKANE, WA - NOVEMBER 13: Andrew Nembhard #3 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs eyes the court during the game against the Texas Longhorns played at McCarthey Athletic Center on November 13, 2021 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Robert Johnson/Getty Images)
SPOKANE, WA - NOVEMBER 13: Andrew Nembhard #3 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs eyes the court during the game against the Texas Longhorns played at McCarthey Athletic Center on November 13, 2021 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Robert Johnson/Getty Images) /
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Marcus Carr Minnesota Golden Gophers (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Marcus Carr Minnesota Golden Gophers (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Lack of ball-movement

The Longhorns had just 11 assists on 26 made baskets on Saturday night. That works out to an assist rate of 42.3%, which would have put them dead last in the Big 12 by a decent margin last season.

One of the major issues is their personnel. The talent is clearly there—Marcus Carr and Timmy Allen averaged 19.4 and 17.3 points per game last season, respectively. Their teams, Minnesota and Utah, both finished with losing records, a combined 26-28 in 2020-21. Carr and Allen had the ball whenever they wanted it and were leaned on heavily to produce points.

As a result, both have a tendency to hold the ball and try to do it themselves. That was evident against Gonzaga. Beard simply has to work that out of them. As the season progresses, each player needs to realize that there is an abundance of offensive talent around them—something that should come as a relief.

Courtney Ramey (12.2 ppg in 2020-21) also played poorly against Gonzaga, posting the team’s lowest individual offensive rating of 64.5, edging out Carr (76.3) for the lowest on the team.

Next. Early Bracketology Winners of Week 1. dark

This Texas team does not need any single player to average 20 points per game. The best version of this team could actually see Carr, Allen, Ramey, Andrew Jones (14.6 ppg in 2020-21), Disu (15.0 ppg), and Mitchell (18.8 ppg) all averaging between eight and 14 points per game. That balanced and versatile scoring attack would be nearly impossible to gameplan against.

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