Longhorns make a late push
NCAA standing lifted as Iowa State awaits in Big 12 tournament
AUSTIN — As soon as the buzzer sounded on Texas’ 8779 overtime victory over 20thranked West Virginia on Saturday, Kerwin Roach broke into a wild windmilling motion with each of his arms, flailing about the Erwin Center court like some punchdrunk boxer.
It was an oddly appropriate look considering how the Longhorns spent Friday night.
Shaka Smart wanted to imbue his undermanned team with the necessary blend of confidence, desperation and scrappiness ahead of a game it needed to win. His tool of choice was the first bout from a bloody early-2000s trilogy of fights between Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti.
“They both were just neversay-die underdog fighters and scrappers,” Smart said. “I showed the guys about 10 minutes of it last night. Our theme for this game was, we’re going to have to play 10 four-minute rounds and we’ve got to win a majority of those rounds. Turned out we had to play more than that, but I thought our guys took a real good fighter’s mentality.”
The Longhorns (18-13, 8-10 Big 12) absorbed all of the Mountaineers’ blows during Saturday’s Erwin Center matinee, teetering but never toppling. Even without Mo Bamba (sprained toe) and Eric Davis (held out), UT stayed on its feet — because it had to. Smart praises team
The triumph didn’t guarantee the Longhorns a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but according to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index BPI), they have a 98 percent chance of receiving a bid. That’s better than the alterative.
“I think it shows competitive character on the part of these guys,” Smart said. “When you get in situations where you know what you have to do and you know it’s going to be hard, then guys that are not good competitors shrink and they’re not who they need to be in that moment. I thought for the most part our guys were.”
Jericho Sims seemed especially taken with Smart’s impromptu Friday fight night, based on the way he opened the game. Checked by shot-blocking force Sagaba Konate, Sims flashed the slightest ball fake, rocketed left and exploded off two feet, finishing on the defender’s head with a slam that caused the backboard to quake.
“My teammates are encouraging me to do that,” said Sims, who finished with a season-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds. “Konate is such a good shot-blocker, and I was just trying to get revenge from last time we played them.”
The backcourt reveled in its own potent blend of revenge. Freshman Matt Coleman and junior Roach outplayed West Virginia’s senior backcourt of Jevon Carter and Daxter Miles, a key to victory Smart identified after both struggled in a 35-point loss to the Mountaineers (22-9, 11-7) this season. Coleman and Roach combined for 44 points — a career-high tying 22 apiece — and 11 assists, compared to 16 and seven for the visiting duo.
“I told Matt and Snoop that they’ve got two senior guards that have been doing this longer than anybody and they’re tough and they’re aggressive,” Smart said. “You guys are going to have to outplay those or at least play even with them for us to have a chance to win. And I thought their approach was terrific, just the mentality they had.”
It helped that the Longhorns shot the ball as well as they ever have since Smart arrived. UT connected on 11 of 19 3-pointers and shot 57 percent overall, figures attained through patience, penetration and a communal approach.
And still, Texas nearly fell. West Virginia’s unrelenting press and focus on attacking the offensive glass kept the Mountaineers around even after they endured two second-half shooting slumps.
With six seconds remaining in regulation, Carter broke away from Roach and streaked the length of the court for a gametying, overtime-forcing layup. Roach hung his head, but Smart implored him to clear his mind and “move on, man.” Overtime surge Roach and his teammates did. The Longhorns opened the extra round on an 11-2 run. A gutsy 3-pointer from Jacob Young sent the crowd into a frenzy with two minutes remaining, and Coleman’s drive and finish 20 seconds later put the game out of reach.
On Wednesday night, Texas will face Iowa State (13-17, 4-14) in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. It might still be without Bamba and Davis. And it might need to overcome the Cyclones for a third time to convince the selection committee of its worthiness. But it will have a fighter’s chance, and that’s all Smart can ask for at this stage.
“We thought we could win if we could be the best Texas we could be,” Smart said. “And, by the way, it’s not over. We have to have an unbelievable sense of urgency when we get on that plane and regardless of who we play, we’ve got to focus again on being the best version of ourselves.”