» Schaeffer, UT ready to shine.
AUSTIN — Texas’ gameday walkthrough is going to feel peculiar on Monday.
There’s no court availability ahead of the sixth-seeded Longhorns’ NCAA tournament first-round matchup with No. 11 seed Bradley, so they’ll instead ride elevators to the team’s hotel ballroom, move some tables around and use tape to create a makeshift court. Such is life amid a pandemic.
“We’ll put some tape around and have a ball,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said Sunday. “Actually we have balls with us, so we’ll take a ball in there and go through out of bounds plays, half-court sets, just like we would on game day. We just won’t get any shots.”
On Sunday, Texas (18-9) got 90 minutes on one of the practice courts situated inside the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The day before it got 90 at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, where the Longhorns and Braves (17-11) will play Monday night at 7 p.m. in a Hemisfair Region matchup.
And Schaefer spent much of their time at that venue focusing on getting up shots, trying to acclimate the team to the surroundings.
“Consequently I spent a lot of time on shooting, just making sure we were accustomed to the background and those types of things in that arena,” Schaefer said. “So, you know, again, I think my staff, the veterans that we are, we’ve been able to adjust and we’re ready.”
Speaking of shooting, stopping Bradley’s longrange bombers will be vital for Texas in its first tournament appearance under Schaefer, who led Mississippi State to a 16-5 record in the NCAA tournament from 2015 through 2019.
Among all Division I teams Bradley ranks 23rd in made 3s (214), 30th in attempted 3s (612) and 39th in 3-point percentage (.350). The Braves shot a combined 24-for-50 from 3-point range in the Missouri Valley tournament semifinals and championship game, proving how lethal they can be when the stakes are raised.
Senior guard Gabi Haack, junior guard Lasha Petree and guard Tatum Koenig are the trio to watch — they combined to hit 169 3s this season.
“From what we’ve seen they typically have about four shooters on the court, sometimes five, at all times,” Texas junior Audrey Warren said Sunday. “So you kind of compare them to like an Iowa State because of how well they can shoot the ball. We’re really trying to focus on transition defense because you don’t find shooters early they’ll find them, they know what they’re looking for.”
Bradley doesn’t have any lone player who can grapple with Texas star center Charli Collier. To be fair, not many teams do.
Collier is a constant source of double and triple
teams. And Bradley, which averaged a Missouri Valleybest 4.9 blocks per game, will likely try to keep the 6foot-5 Longhorn uncomfortable all evening.
Even with all that attention, Collier has the potential to dominate in her first taste of NCAA tournament action since 2019, a 15-minute outing during a firstround loss to No. 10 seed Indiana. And if guards Celeste Taylor, Joanne Allen-taylor and Kyra Lambert can continue their spacing and distributing, Texas will be in
solid position to advance to the second round for the first time since 2018.
“You know, we’ve struggled shoot the ball from the perimeter at times this year,” Schaefer said. “So consequently, Charli’s had two, three people hanging on her a lot of nights, So it’s really amazing what she’s been able to do. And realizing that is so hard to do at this level against the quality of competition and the quality of coaching that we go against every night. And I’m just really proud of her.”
Taylor, Allen-taylor and Lambert averaged a combined 47.5 points, 13 assists and eight 3s in two Big 12 tournament games. Collier is averaging 20.1 points on 51 percent shooting and 11.7 rebounds this season. If all four can get rolling at once, Bradley might find itself in serious trouble.
But nerves could play a factor on both sides.
This is the Braves’ first NCAA tournament appearance. Lambert and Warren are the only Longhorns aside from Collier with any experience. Warren played 21 minutes in Texas’ 2019 first-round loss to Indiana.
In 2017, Lambert played 10 minutes in Duke’s firstround win over Hampton, but tore her ACL and missed the next two seasons.
“I don’t think there’s any question our kids will take it seriously,” Schaefer said. “My concern is not , are we going to take it seriously? My concern is bright lights, big moment. I need to make sure our kids are loose and playing freely. That’s my concern and I want them to go out there and turn it loose and just go enjoy the moment and play.”