Men's Hoops: Texas might be back on the bubble after an 88-85 overtime loss to Oklahoma

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Fan of the Game said:

May only drop to last four in. Do a couple of wins at the conference tournament sway the selection committee?

I think they've got to win at least one to feel good on Selection Sunday.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "I'm not giving a big picture because there is no big picture. We lost a big game here tonight."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller thought Dailyn Swain wore down by the time Texas got to overtime. He thought OU did a good job of guarding Swain.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said Pope's field goal attempts were elevated tonight because he got stuck with the ball at the end of possessions due to a lack of flow on offense (Pope shot 8-for-25 from the field and 7-for-18 from 3-point range).

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "I thought Oklahoma defended us well. I don't think we defended in the first, maybe, 12 minutes of the second half."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said Texas just didn't get the kind of looks it had gotten throughout the regular season. He credits Oklahoma for guarding the Longhorns tough.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller on the defense: "We're going to keep working to be the best that we can be."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller: "There's not a silver lining or a big picture here. We lost a meaningful game tonight."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said the season is essentially on the line against Ole Miss in Nashville on Saturday. At least, that's how he said Texas needs to approach the SEC Tournament.

[tfoster40]

8 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Miller said once overtime began, Texas missed a wide-open layup, missed two free-throws and wasn't as hard to score against as they were at other times in the game.

Mark missed all of those lol

[Jordan91]

Just now, Jeff Howe said:

Miller: "There's not a silver lining or a big picture here. We lost a meaningful game tonight."

A voice of reason. 

[jkates]

Pathetic display tonight. 

[Jeff Howe]

Miller said the possession when Oklahoma got the putback after Texas went up one is a microcosm of his frustrations with his team on defense. They did everything right and got the stop, but a missed blockout led to OU scoring.

That's the stuff that's driving him nuts. He knows this team has limitations defensively, but they've got to find a way to get critical stops, he said.

[Jeff Howe]

That's it for Sean Miller.

A deflating loss as Texas heads to Nashville looking for a win over Ole Miss to likely lock up an NCAA Tournament bid.

[Jordan91]

4 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Miller said the season is essentially on the line against Ole Miss in Nashville on Saturday. At least, that's how he said Texas needs to approach the SEC Tournament.

That’s Miller trying to find a way to get that into his players heads. 

[Jordan91]

9 minutes ago, tfoster40 said:

Mark missed all of those lol

I will never figure that guy out. 

[horns96]

Given their consistent lapses in effort, you would have a hard time convincing me that many of these guys give a sh*t about this program.

After that awful first half, how do you come out so flat in the second?

This team is really hard to care about.

Sean Miller can call them out for three months, but if he can’t change their play on the court, where are we at?

[selfdm]

seeing Matas in person — gave me fresh respect. it’s hard to put a finger on but he’s a such a handful in the trenches and has this odd skill about him. his limitations are what they are but id always take a guy like that. he would be just what the doctor ordered of someone he could have actually played for Barnes toughness wise. 

[MBHORNSFAN]

Bad loss. 

[MJW2327]

7 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

Miller said the season is essentially on the line against Ole Miss in Nashville on Saturday. At least, that's how he said Texas needs to approach the SEC Tournament.

Game is Wednesday 3/11 @ 6pm CT in Trashville on SECN

[HudGar1922]

we play dumb undisciplined basketball.   our defense and effort in defense is atrocious.   4 players can score the others are waste to even touch the ball.   

[pinkman_90]

Only positive is a ton of bubble teams lost yesterday.  Absolute mess of a game though. 

[Bevohorns]

Need to help miller out with NIL aggy think they have a better coach 

 

 

[MarkInAustin]

I thought Mark was as exhausted as anyone on Texas' team.  He really played hard, if not efficiently.  Lack of depth is showing here in the late season,  and that certainly has been critical since Traore's injury.

Weaver is essentially the power forward when he comes into most lineups now.  That really doesn't bode well.  Codie is quite limited as a backup Center.  Both Swain and Mark are being called upon to play too many minutes at full speed at both ends, play making, ball handling, shooting, rebounding, and defending.

And there is no real choice available.

Next season:

Assuming Miller can keep Matas, he will also have a "phenom"  in Goosby and a situational rotational shooter in Ogden.  His redshirts may provide rotational help and Wilcher is serviceable as a rotational sub.  Even with a couple of other useful freshmen he will need four starting quality portal in-transfers.  1-2 BIGs who can play inside or out [stretch 5s or 4s],  2 combo Wings who can shoot, rebound, defend, and pass, and a true PG or very skilled CG.

Should have a 12 man roster with 9 true rotational players to go deep in the season and 3 developmental pieces, and I don't see that happening with fewer than 4 starting quality in-transfers after Swain, Mark, Traore, Weaver, and Pope are gone.

 

Edited Sunday at 01:48 PM by MarkInAustin

[Hexter]

@Jeff Howe how much improvement can we expect next season? I know we have recruited young talent but how many portal additions do you see as necessary? I know we have the coach now!