No. 7 Bluejays offer a tough test
AUSTIN — The No. 2 team in the country has made winning look so easy this season.
Texas has breezed from one blowout to the next, stomping four overmatched foes and one Final Four aspirant with equal nonchalance. That's not to say the secondranked Longhorns (5-0) aren't breaking a sweat —more so, they're burning so bright so early that leads build and build until the inevitable outcome crystalizes with plenty of time still left on the clock.
Texas has played 200 minutes of basketball this year. It's held a lead for 186 minutes, 23 seconds. It's trailed for 6 minutes, 39 seconds, all in the first half. It has won every game by at least 15 points and owns the nation's fourth best scoring margin.
Any way you slice it, coach Chris Beard's team has been imposing, ruthless and surprisingly electric playing a more uptempo style than last year's occasionally ponderous group. And while the Longhorns' 19-point home win over then-no. 2 Gonzaga provided some early-season validation, it lacked any semblance of drama.
Texas' next opponent should be able to offer some genuine resistance, though.
No. 7 Creighton (6-1) is coming off a statement trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational. The Bluejays downed No. 21 Texas Tech and No. 9 Arkansas before falling to No. 14 Arizona 8179 in the title game.
Junior 7-foot-1 center Ryan Kalkbrenner averaged 15.7 points on 69.2 percent shooting, six rebounds and two blocks in that tropical tournament. And every single Creighton starter is averaging at least 12 points per game for an offense producing 114.7 points per 100 possessions, the ninth-best mark in the country.
“Creighton's as good as
advertised,” Beard said Tuesday. “At this point, I probably watched everybody in college basketball at least a couple of times. Obviously, watched Creighton a lot more than others because we're about to play against them.
“I think all championship-quality teams have an identity and Creighton definitely has one. Coach (Greg) Mcdermott's teams are explosive offensively. His team's balance is always very noticeable. They put a lot of pressure on you defensively.”
Just as the Nov. 16 matchup with Gonzaga did, Thursday's 6 p.m. game at the Moody Center will pit Texas' elite defense against an elite offense.
Texas doesn't have anyone
who can match Kalkbrenner's size. Senior forward Dylan Disu will give up four inches in that matchup, though the Longhorns will employ baseline traps and have wings dig down on Creighton's towering center as they did against Zags big Drew Timme.
The 6-10 Timme finished with 18 points on 7of-10 shooting against Texas, but he committed five turnovers and was neutralized before the game turned into a rout in the second half.
“Texas is gonna be the best defensive team we've played,” Mcdermott said Tuesday during a local media availability. “And I don't think it's really close. Texas can run a lot of guys
at you. They're very physical at the point of attack with the ball. They're waiting for you in the paint.”
This game will also feature two of the best point guards in the game in Longhorn sophomore Tyrese Hunter and Bluejays sophomore Ryan Nembhard.
The 6-foot, 170-pound Nembhard flits across the court setting up teammates and sniping in 3s when the ball swings back around. He has 40 assists against nine turnovers through seven games and has hit 11 of 26 3s (42.6 percent).
"Nembhard's one of the best point guards in college basketball," Beard said. "We look forward to
the challenge."
Adding Hunter this past offseason vaulted Texas to national contender status. The 6-foot Iowa State transfer has morphed into a more aggressive, versatile and efficient scorer with the Longhorns, leading the team in scoring average (16.2) while shooting 56.6 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from 3 and 92.3 percent from the freethrow line.
Hunter's ability to direct the offense or play off super senior guard Marcus Carr (14.8 points, four assists per game) has had a significant ripple effect on the offense. The 3s aren't falling at a solid clip yet (30.1 percent, 290th nationally), but overall Texas is shooting 50.3 percent from the floor and generating good looks with Hunter and Carr at the center of it all.
“We can get points from a lot of different guys and a lot of different positions on our team,” said graduate transfer guard Sir'jabari Rice, averaging 11.4 points and 3.4 assists in as Texas' sixth man. “I think we just go out there trying to do everything the right way, trying to make the best decisions for not only ourselves, but for our teammates and for the team.”
Being able to stamp another top-10 win on the resume heading into next week's tilt against No. 16 Illinois in the Jimmy V Classic would do wonders for Texas' chance of landing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
It's all "very exciting," Rice said, but for now, the Longhorns are staying focused on a dangerous Creighton team knowing they've got "a big target on our back."