(3) TEXAS VS. (14) ABILENE CHRISTIAN
8:50 p.m. Saturday;TV: truTV
AUSTIN — When Courtney Ramey starts rolling, the hoop feels as wide as Lake Travis.
Last month, the junior guard scored 15 of Texas’ 29 second-half points in an 84-82 loss to No. 13 West Virginia. He hit 7 of 8 3pointers (five in the second half) in a game that would’ve spiraled out of control if not for Ramey.
Ramey has made at least two 3s in 14 of 25 games this season; Texas is 10-4 when he does. The losses were to No. 12 Villanova by four, West Virginia by two, No. 15 Texas Tech by two and No. 2 Baylor by 14.
The Baylor loss aside, when Ramey enters that zone the Longhorns (19-7) elevate to another level. So his sputtering in Kansas City, scoring just three points on 1-of-14 shooting in two Big 12 tournament games, is a troubling sign for No. 3 seed Texas heading into Saturday’s firstround matchup with No. 14 seed Abilene Christian (24-3) at Lucas Oil Stadium
“I think on the offensive end him just, you know, understanding when to attack, when to shoot,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said Wednesday from Indianapolis. “I think he’s passing shots up that I would like him to shoot. He shot the ball really, really well this year.
“He’s our guy. We’re going to continue to have the ball in his hands when he’s out there and have him attacking. I think just playing with confidence is the biggest thing.”
Ramey and senior point guard Matt Coleman are the team leaders. They often hang in the background of the other’s Zoom media sessions for moral support or just to goof around and inject levity. A high school-aged Ramey even asked for Coleman’s blessing before committing to play for Texas.
But Texas needs the pair aligned on the court, too. Right now Coleman, the Big 12 tournament’s most outstanding player, is the one sizzling, and Ramey is the one searching for that enigmatic hot zone.
Still, Ramey, a 42 percent 3-point shooter, has proven resilient.
He resurfaced from a scoreless outing against Oklahoma State to record 18 points in an 84-59 road drubbing of No. 3 Kansas
on Jan. 2. He followed a 2of-10 shooting outing against Iowa State by drilling 7-of-11 shots in a twopoint road win over West Virginia on Jan. 9. And following a six-point, 1-of-10 shooting dud in a 68-59 loss to Texas Tech, Ramey averaged 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 61.5
percent from 3-point range as Texas finished 3-0 to close the regular season.
Even when Ramey’s offense is off, as it was in Kansas City, he finds ways to contribute.
“For Courtney, you know, his game is so unique,” Smart said. “I thought he did a really good job on the defensive end for us (in the Big 12 tournament). In both of these games, really all year long, you have this statistic where it’s called points allowed, and he has consistently been below the number that we want to allow individually.”
Ramey is intense. He seethed when last season’s Big 12 and NCAA tournaments were canceled and could barely stomach watching Texas face Oklahoma in January while sitting alone in COVID-19 quarantine. That all-ornothing passion is what drives the St. Louis native, and sometimes he can careen off the road.
Teammates had to separate Ramey and Andrew Jones during a timeout after the former called out the latter for a sluggish defensive effort in the midst of a second-half meltdown against West Virginia. Jones harbors no ill will after what happened — the two were grooving together and throwing mid-air shoulder bumps in KC. And when Ramey properly harnesses that raging desire to win, Texas usually does.
“Man, he’s our guy,” Smart said. “And we’re gonna need him big time moving forward. And it doesn’t necessarily mean a number of points or anything like that. It’s about just continuing to contribute to the team, as he’s done all year.”
For Ramey to rediscover that elusive zone, he has to be in better position to fire off cleaner looks.
Six of his nine misses were tightly contested by Oklahoma State defenders in the Big 12 championship game. And while Ramey can still be effective when firing away with a high degree of difficulty, it would make life easier on Texas if defenders weren’t in position to closeout and harass.
“I just think it’s picking my spots,” Ramey said. “I see another guy has it going, I’m gonna try to get him shots. But I also know that me being aggressive is a big key for our team.”
Texas captured its first Big 12 tournament title even after Ramey’s shot abandoned him. If he’s able to rediscover that feathery touch and be a two-way factor, the Longhorns will become one of the toughest outs in the field.