Latest collapse ‘a gut punch’ for Longhorns
AUSTIN — You’ve probably read this story before.
It’s the one about a college basketball team from Austin coming unglued when it matters most. It’s been written many times, in many arenas. It’s a tale of misery and failure and frustration.
The Longhorns on Saturday looked good, for a time. Great, even. Then they unraveled — right on cue.
The final scrawled across the Erwin Center scoreboard read Texas Tech 62, Texas 57, and that five-point margin doesn’t accurately portray how gutting this loss was. Then again, so were all the others.
“This one really, really stings, because obviously the way that our guys came out and fought and approached this challenge to start the game,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “It’s a gut punch, for sure.”
After a tight opening four minutes for both sides, Texas (14-9, 4-6 Big 12) went on a rampage. Redshirt sophomore guard Andrew Jones drilled a 3-pointer, then finished a slithery Euro-step reverse layup in transition while being fouled by Tech junior guard Davide Morretti for a 3point play.
Then Smart sprinkled in some full-court pressure, and the visitors lost their composure. Tech (15-8, 6-4) could barely escape from its own backcourt, and when it did, freshman big Kai Jones and a tangle of other long limbs were there to disrupt its attack.
Texas even weathered the inevitable 8-0 Red Raiders reply run. Andrew Jones sank both free throws after drawing a shooting foul, and sophomore guard Courtney Ramey sank a bank shot to give the Longhorns a 31-19 lead at the half.
“First half we just couldn’t get into a rhythm offensively,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “Give Texas credit for that. Some of the best defense we’ve seen in the first half. They were switching ball screens, and we didn’t adjust and just had too many turnovers.”
Then came the collapse. Losing starters Kai Jones (ankle) and Jase Febres (knee) within the first five minutes was a considerable blow, and the pair may be out for a while given how severe the injuries looked.
But Tech was poised to punch Texas back even before that bit of misfortune. And keep punching. And only a few Longhorns seemed willing to trade blows.
Junior forward Jericho Sims, a double-double machine who seemed to have shed his docile skin, reverted to last year’s form. He was mostly invisible, taken out by a combination of foul trouble, his own passiveness and an unwillingness by his teammates to force the issue.
Against an undersized Red Raiders lineup, Sims finished with two points on 0-for-2 shooting and four rebounds before fouling out in 19 minutes.
“They were more aggressive than him on a lot of plays when we were trying to get him the ball,” Smart said. “Even when he did get the ball, he wasn’t himself. There were a couple times our guards were imploring him to get big and demand the ball. It wasn’t his best day.”
It wasn’t even Andrew Jones’ best day, despite his 16-point first half.
He was bottled up for the final 20 minutes, scoring just two points on six shots. His prowess in the open court was negated by the Longhorns’ inability to continue creating live-ball turnovers.
Essentially, the latter stages of the second half turned into a duel between junior point guard Matt Coleman and the Red Raiders. His effort was valiant, especially once Tech built a 50-48 lead after freshman guard Jahmi’us Ramsey scored seven straight points.
Coleman (17 points) carved his way into the paint time after time and finished when no other Longhorn could. And his miraculous assist on Ramey’s go-ahead triple — Coleman was floating under the rim, ringed by Tech defenders — gave Texas a final boost with two minutes left.
Still, Texas wilted.
Coleman drove from the top of the key on three straight possessions, only to be rejected by Tech senior forward TJ Holyfield each time.
“We clearly didn’t make as many plays as we need to to win today,” Smart said. “Matt did a great job getting in the paint.
“He’s our guy. We’re going to put the ball in his hands. But absolutely, we needed some other guys to step forward.”
Moretti sank four straight free throws in the closing seconds to cap the comeback.
“I think this is kind of a culture win,” Beard said. “There wasn’t a lot of panic on our bench. We were just disappointed we weren’t playing better.
“But we have a lot of things in our program we believe in, and one of our core values is ‘Play it to the bone.’ ”
Maybe the Longhorns could take a page or two out of Tech’s book. Otherwise, this story will be told again and again.