UT win could be season-saver
AUSTIN — Everything aligned Saturday for a Texas win.
Its opponent was Kansas State, which had lost seven of 10 games and was, according to Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, the worst team in the Big 12. Even better, the Wildcats’ flight from Manhattan, Kan., was delayed several times because of inclement weather — they finally landed in Austin about four hours before the 7 p.m. tip at the Erwin Center.
The Longhorns’ were rightfully desperate, too. At least they seemed to be in the days after Wednesday’s mistake-ridden loss to Oklahoma. Players and coaches said the right things, appeared genuinely distraught by the season’s trajectory, and vowed to correct before veering off course permanently.
So with the odds stacked in its favor, Texas (11-4, 1-2 Big 12) scored a 64-50 win over a Kansas State (7-8, 0-3) team that likely will occupy the Big 12’s basement for the rest of the season. It was a critical victory, one that will keep coach Shaka Smart’s fifth campaign in Austin afloat a while longer.
“They just played with a want-to,” Smart said. “Definitely have had some guys kind of feeling some tensions. We have a lot of guys on our team that want to play better. And certainly we want that, too. But there’s a way to go about it, and it starts with a true commitment to going and getting a basket for Texas and going to getting a stop for Texas.”
Texas at first struggled to pull away. It opened by sinking three straight 3pointers, though two were buzzer-beaters and junior guard Jase Febres was smothered on the other. The shots were more good fortune than good offense.
And the Longhorns again ran cold for far too long early on, especially during one scoreless 5minute stretch that featured six turnovers as Kansas State seized a narrow lead.
The teams went back and forth, both struggling to create on offense. Texas’ guards especially found their pathways into the paint blocked time and again, leading to 11 turnovers on errant passes, unforced errors and shotclock violations.
Sophomore forward Kamaka Hepa ended an otherwise uninspired first half by giving Texas by drilling a 3 from the wing as time expired for a 31-27 lead. That seemed to galvanize the Longhorns as they bounded back to their locker room.
“Coming into halftime we put an emphasis on trying to come out strong,” Febres said. “The past couple games we slipped up on our aggressiveness and attention to detail coming out of halftime. So we all had the look on our faces like we’re going to go out and play as hard as we could.”
The plan worked, as Kansas State missed its first 12 shots of the second half and failed to score until the 12-minute mark. Texas forced five shot-clock violations during that stretch and finally settled into a rhythm on offense.
The Longhorns built their lead to 19 on a steady diet of clean looks from deep and clever ball movement. Sophomore guard Courtney Ramey broke free for a pair of 3-pointers and finished a fast break with a lob to Andrew Jones, who floated it in while airborne.
In fact, UT’s second half was a 20-minute manifestation of the vision Smart laid out before the season began. To truly be competitive, the Longhorns need to be guard-driven, led by Ramey, Jones, Febres and junior point guard Matt Coleman.
In the second half alone, that quartet combined for 26 points, four 3-pointers, six assists, six rebounds and five blocks.
“We’re not satisfied,” Coleman said. “It’s a long season. It did feel good to get a win, but we have to get better, move on and get ready for (the next game at) Oklahoma State.”