Sims finding his groove as Horns face ranked foe
AUSTIN — As thrilling as Texas’ start to the season was, it wasn’t enough to fully overshadow the malaise of senior big man Jericho Sims.
The Longhorns looked good — potentially NCAA Tournament second-weekend good, at least — even with Sims languishing. He logged 14 minutes in a 66-44 winover Indiana and played just13 in the Maui Invitational championship game, a 69-67 win over then-No. 14 North Carolina.
Before Texas departed last Friday for Lawrence, Kan., Sims was averaging 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and0.7 blocks. Even worse, he’d been outplayed by sophomore Kai Jones, emerging freshman star Greg Brown and plucky senior forward Royce Hamm Jr., who played with the type of physical, frenetic energy Sims couldn’t, or wouldn’t, muster.
“Jericho is such a nice guy, it’s like sometimes you have to light that fire for him, get him going,” junior guard Andrew Jones said last month. “I try to talk to himall the time like, ‘Jericho dunk on him. Jericho (I’m going to) get you the ball. Jericho be assertive.’ Because sometimes he’ll just fall in the mix and he’ll get lost in the crowd.
“When Jericho’s lockedin and moving fast and playing with urgency, he’s probably one of the fastest guys in the country and probably the strongest guys in the country. You’ll see that when he’s blocking shots, his hands above the rim, disrupting pick-and-roll situations and not giving up no underneath the rim.”
A refocused Sims deplaned in Kansas lastweekend. It seemed he used all positive reinforcement and tough love from teammates like Jones, Courtney Ramey and Matt Coleman as kerosene to reignite a fire that had dwindled to embers.
Knowing the key to sparking Sims is early offensive touches, coach Shaka Smart had the team look to him early.
About a minute into the game against then-No. 3 Kansas, Coleman bounced an entry pass to the broadshouldered 6-foot-10 forward. He spun, faced up, ripped through and glided along the baseline past 250pound Jayhawks big David McCormack, drawing a foul while forcing in a two-handed dunk.
Texas outscored Kansas by 22 in Sims’ 27 minutes as he recorded his first doubledouble of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Three days later, Sims played 26 minutes and posted10 points, eight rebounds (four offensive), one steal and one block in a 78-72 win over Iowa State at the Erwin Center.
“I just feel like everything is opening up now as we get into league play,” Sims said Tuesday after beating the Cyclones. “And I remember this time last year I really started to take off as far as playing better.
“I’m just doing the little things. I’m getting out ofmy screens a lot quicker. I think that’s really helped, getting the right angles. And just getting lost in rebounding, you know, that’s one thing that I take pride in, and I’m doing a better job now. And if I can get to the rim and make a lot of people collapse on me, then that really opens up the rest of the floor for everybody else.”
Sims has always felt like the Longhorns’ skeleton key. He’s not the most talented or most integral member of No .4 Texas (9-1,3-0 Big 12), but when his level of engagement and production is dialed up, this team becomes even more threatening.
Sims is as close to a “true big” as there is on this roster, and Smart needs him to grapple with the assortment of talented forwards and centers occupying the Big12. And he’ll only grow in importance as Texas sprints toward the Big 12 tournament and March Madness, which will feature towering monsters like Iowa’s Luka Garza and West Virginia’s Derek Culver.
And Texas is set to tussle once again with Culver (13.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 1.2 blocks) and the 14th-ranked Mountaineers (9-3, 2-2) Saturday at WVU Coliseum. Even after the surprising mid-season transfer of sophomore forward Oscar Tshieb we (11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds in 2019-20), coach Bob Huggins’ team remains a physical force.
This is sort of game where Texas needs Sims to shine. Otherwise, the Longhorns might suffer a repeat of last season’s disastrous trip to Morgantown, W. Va., when they lost 97-59. Sims fouled out in 13minutes that day.
But if Sims can maintain his level of play, Texas might inch even closer to a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
“Jericho has been really good the last couple of games,” Smart said. “I thought he was the best player on the floor up in Kansas from either team. He’s back to shooting a really high percentage these last couple games, and he’s rebounding the ball really well. And he’s always been a good defender for us and a big anchor there.”