Junior J'Covan Brown will forgo his senior season at the University of Texas in order to enter the NBA Draft. Brown confirmed his decision Monday morning with the following statement: "I want to thank the fans and everyone at The University of Texas for their support over the last 3 years. I’m not sure anyone really knows how much I love UT. It was always my dream to be a Longhorn, and I have lived that dream and become a better person. There were a lot of reasons to come back to school next year, most importantly getting my degree and being around my teammates every day. But the time has come for me to pursue a career in professional basketball and take care of my daughter, Jordyn. This has been a difficult decision, but it is the best decision for myself and my family. I’ll continue to go to class and complete the spring semester here at Texas, and I will come back to finish my degree in the future."
J'Covan Brown was the undisputed leader of the 2011-12 Longhorns team, utilizing his first year as a full-time starter to increase his scoring average from 10.4 points per game in 2010-11 to a Big12 Conference-leading 20.1 points per game in 2011-12. Brown is a great pure shooter, who routinely hits over 85% of his free throws. He is also adept at driving to the basket and thus creating scoring opportunities for both himself and his teammates. But most importantly, J'Covan is a player who is fearless when it comes to guiding his team through clutch situations. I would compare Brown's NBA prospects to those of current Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Hardin, who by design comes off of the bench to be the sprarkplug his team needs to close out tightly-contested victories.
As for the Longhorns moving forward, Brown's departure ensures that next year's team will be comprised of sophomores and freshmen only. It was quite a relief to hear that point guard Myck Kabongo will return for his sophomore season. And it was also nice to see that incoming freshman Cameron Ridley put up 12 points and 9 rebounds in the McDonald's All-American game last week. Coach Rick Barnes will once again have his work cut out for him managing such a young team, but with all the talent he'll have on his roster, the sky is the limit.
Anyway, thank you, J'Covan Brown for an exciting 3 years of play at the University of Texas. And good luck with your professional career. The Longhorns nation will forever be pulling for you.
The Texas Longhorns concluded their 2011-12 season on Friday by losing 65-59 to the Cincinnati Bearcats in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. For most of the 1st half, it didn't appear that the Longhorns came to Nashville ready to play at all. Texas opened the game missing 13 straight shots from the floor and finished the 1st half shooting a dismal 16%. It allowed the Bearcats to go up by as many as 20 points before the Longhorns mounted a furious 2nd-half rally which tied the game with a little over 3 minutes left on the clock. But that's exactly where Texas fell apart for good, allowing Cincinnati to score on 5 straight possessions down the convincing home stretch. And just like any Rick Barnes-coached team is prone to do, the Longhorns offense went excrutiatingly anemic during those most crucial closing moments. The guards stopped moving to get open and refused to comply with Clint Chapman visibly begging for the ball in the post, which at the very least could have opened up shots on some inside-outside action.
It's become infinitely frustrating to watch these Rick Barnes-led teams fail in the exact same manner over and over and over again. Texas had Arizona in the bag last year, only to have a last-minute collapse cost them their season. And despite the Longhorns already losing multiple games this season the same way, it happened yet again in Nashville. There is no excuse for an offense to come out of a time-out during crunch-time and it doesn't even look as if any play was called, let alone run. And having a confused freshman point guard frantically screaming at his despondent teammates isn't quite the way to set up an open, game-winning shot. It all runs through Barnes and quite frankly, the guy becomes more and more of a joke every time this same exact scenario plays out again and again and again.
All things considered, it's been a pretty good season for the Texas Longhorns. The most commonly cited detail has been the lack of a "signature win", meaning Texas was swept by each of Kansas, Missouri, and Baylor, all top 10-caliber teams, and couldn't beat North Carolina either. But the Longhorns did wind up beating each of Temple, Kansas State, and Iowa State (twice), all top 25-caliber teams. And coach Rick Barnes did a great job avoiding any horrible losses to inferior teams. An overall record of 20-13 really isn't so bad for a team with 6 freshmen in its 9-man rotation.
Junior J'Covan Brown led the Big12 Conference in scoring. That was expected all along. What wasn't expected was senior Clint Chapman successfully playing a prominet role for the Longhorns. Chap averaged 7.3 points per game to go along with a team-leading 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. His 19 point, 14 rebound performance against Iowa State was nothing short of an eye-opener.
Freshmen-wise, the Longhorns carried a full pack. Point guard Myck Kabongo was immediately thrown to the wolves, including an oft-angry coach Barnes, and fortunately steadied his roller coaster ride upon an upward trajectory. Averaging 9.8 points and 5.3 assists per game, Kabongo closes his season as a perfectly servicable sparkplug to a sometimes listless offense. Wings Julien Lewis and Sheldon McClellan proved themselves worthy of all the playing time a limited roster afforded them. With Lewis filling the role of defensive stopper and McClellan kickstarting the offense with 11.3 points per game, the freshmen duo certainly earned their stripes. Forwards Jonathan Holmes and Jaylen Bond did as well, with Holmes scoring 7.2 points and Bond grabbing 4.6 rebounds per game.
So beyond the tough early-season losses to Oregon State and North Carolina State, and then the struggle to remain at least in the middle of the Big12 Conference pack, Texas finds itself in its 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament. Short of J'Covan Brown averaging 30 points per game and Myck Kabongo jumping right out of the gate with a T.J. Ford-like season, the Longhorns achieved all that could realistically be expected of them. And now they travel to Nashville to face the Cicinnati Bearcats, a Big East team with a monumental chip on its shoulder. Having suffered through suspensions stemming from an early season brawl with Xavier, the Bearcats rebounded to come within 6 points of winning the Big East Conference Tournament.
Cincinnati will try to bait Texas into a low-scoring, grind-it-out contest, which Texas must avoid by pushing the tempo at every turn. With Kabongo zipping up the court with the ball off of long rebounds and turnovers, it will be up to those filling lanes to position themselves for quality shots on the run. If any of J'Covan Brown, Julien Lewis, or Sheldon McClellan shoot poorly from the field, it could be a dreary afternoon for the Longhorns. With senior Alexis Wangmene out due to wrist injury, Texas can't afford to have any of its few remaining big men foul out early trying to contain Yancy Gates.
What's actually great about this match-up is that Texas comparably has nothing to lose. There is a chance that it could be the last college game for Brown and possibly Kabongo, but what better an incentive than potential NBA millions for both of them to shine as brightly as possible? Look for the Longhorns to let it all hang out. Barnes knows full well that if his team comes out tight and tentative that they will get crushed. In other words, let those young Runnin' Horns run!
In the semi-final round of the Big12 Conference Tournament, the Missouri Tigers quite easily put away the Texas Longhorns 81-67. The 5th-ranked Tigers shot 52.6% from the field and were simply too much for the Longhorns to handle. J'Covan Brown scored 21 points for Texas, but didn't really get the team support needed to overcome such a top flight opponent. Missouri went on to beat Baylor the next day to wrap up the Big12 Tournament championship. Fortunately for the Longhorns, their season continues as an 11th seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament. Texas, with an overall record of 20-13, will face a 24-10 Cincinnati Bearcats squad on Friday in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thursday night in Kansas City, the Texas Longhorns defeated the Iowa State Cyclones 71-65 to advance to the semi-final round of the Big12 Tournament. J'Covan Brown overcame a subpar shooting night (7-19 overall, 0-5 from the 3-point line) to hit a series of clutch shots down the stretch, including a 3-point play with only 36 seconds to play that iced the game. Down by as many as 11 in the 2nd half, the Longhorns tightened up their defense and went on a 22-4 run that completely changed the complexion of the contest. With senior forward Alexis Wangmene out with a wrist injury, Texas bigs Clint Chapman, Jonathan Holmes, and Jaylen Bond might of been spread thin, but ultimately got the job done, collecting an advantageous 11 offensive rebounds between them. As J'Covan led the backcourt charge with 23 points to his credit, the freshman guard trio of Myck Kabongo, Julien Lewis, and Sheldon McClellan amply complemented his heroics with 29 points netted between them. Coach Rick Barnes had to be pleased with the both the team cohesion and effort exemplified in what was a must-win for the Longhorns. With an overall record of 20-12, Texas is now all but assured an invitation to play in the NCAA Tournament. Tonight will further test their mettle though, as the Longhorns now face the #5-ranked Missouri Tigers who swept Texas in 2 regular season games.
Texas Longhorns guard J'Covan Brown led the Big12 Conference in scoring with 20.0 points per game. The 6'1" junior from Port Arthur had high games of 35 against Rhode Island, 34 against Missouri, 33 against Kansas, and 32 against Baylor. On the season, Brown shot 42.0% from the floor, 37.5% from the 3-point line, and 86.0% from the free throw line.
The undisputed captain of a young Longhorns team, J'Covan Brown was frequently relied upon by Texas coach Rick Barnes to have the offense run through him. Ever willing to take and often make tough shots in clutch siuations, Brown dazzled with both his accurate marksmanship and his uncanny ability to drive and create. Many of the Longhorns' 19 wins were sealed by the capability of Brown to seemingly score at will.
The early-season ankle injury Brown suffered playing Iowa State in Ames had somewhat of a crippling effect on any momentum the Longhorns had built up moving into their early Big12 Conference schedule. Having shot 7-10 from the floor, Brown brought Texas back from a 14 point deficit against Iowa State only to twist his ankle and then watch his team from the bench falter to the Cyclones 77-71.
During the high-water mark of the Longhorns's season, a 4-game Big12 Conference winning streak in February, Brown played a series of spectacular games. J'Covan scored 17 against Texas Tech, 20 against Texas A&M, 23 against Kansas State, and 19 against Oklahoma with a high concentration of those points coming in the 2nd half of tight contests. For the seaason, Brown scored 27.3% of the Longhorns' 73.3 points per game which is a heck of a load for one single player to carry.
With the regular season now completed, the immediate 2 questions on Brown become: 1. How far can J'Covan carry the Longhorns through the Big12 Conference Tournament bracket with even higher hopes on a chance to make an appearance and possibly even a run in the NCAA Tournament? and 2. Will the 2011-12 Big12 scoring champion return to Texas for his senior season or make like so many former Longhorn stars and opt out early for the NBA Draft?
Saturday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, the Texas Longhorns gave it all they had but fell short 73-63 to the #4-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. National Player of the Year candidate Thomas Robinson ran roughshod over the Longhorns defense, scoring 25 points and grabbing 5 offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, Jayhawks point guard Tyshawn Taylor poured in 22 points on 7-11 shooting from the field. Fortunately for Texas, J'Covan Brown yet again proved himself as a lethal marksman, scoring 33 points and making 14 of 15 free throws along the way. But with fellow starters Myck Kabongo and Sheldon McClellan combining to shoot only 2-17 and Alexis Wangmene going down for the remainder of the season with a wrist injury, it was an uphill battle for the Longhorns to say the least. Now, unsure whether their 19-12 regular season record will get them into the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns will face a tough Iowa State squad in the 1st round of the Big12 Tournament.
Wednesday evening at the Erwin Center, the Texas Longhorns won their most crucial contest of the year 72-64 against the Oklahoma Sooners. Had the Longhorns lost last night, only an unlikely victory at Kansas this Saturday could put them back in the running for the NCAA Tournament. With last night's win against Oklahoma, Texas is likely in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in Lawrence or in the Big12 Tournament to come. Improving their Big12 Conference record to 9-8 and their overall record to 19-11, the Longhorns can rest a little easier as they look forward to their 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Texas guards Sheldon McClellan and J'Covan Brown scored 24 and 22 points respectively, helping the Longhorns win despite trailing the Sooners for the first 33 minutes of the game. While outgoing seniors Clint Chapman and Alexis Wangmene failed to fortify their Senior Night farwells to the home crowd with significant performances (7 points and 8 points combined), key roles were thankfully filled by freshmen Myck Kabongo (9 assists), Jonathan Holmes (6 points and 7 rebounds), Jaylen Bond (9 rebounds), and even Sterling Gibbs (8 points), who saw increased playing time due to Julien Lewis sitting out the game with a sore back.
In a must-win situation, the Texas Longhorns barely eked out a 71-67 overtime victory against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Lubbock Saturday afternoon. Leading by 4 with only 21 seconds left in regulation, the Longhorns tried their darndest to give the game away. Back-to-back turnovers gave Texas Tech's Jaye Crockett a chance to win the game, but fortunately his open 20-foot jumper missed its mark as the buzzer sounded. The Red Raiders jumped to a quick 6-point lead during the overtime period, but 4 straight turnovers of their own handed the game to the Longhorns. Julien Lewis led Texas in scoring with 15 points, followed by 14 from J'Covan Brown, and 12 a piece from Clint Chapman and Myck Kabongo. Attempting to build its resume for an NCAA Tournament appearance, the Longhorns frankly played an ugly game against a bad Red Raider team. Securing the win certainly helps their cause, but Texas just might have proven that even if it gets the bid it's shooting for, it might be wasted on a young team that is certainly not yet ready for prime-time.
Monday night at the Erwin Center, the Texas Longhorns suffered a heartbreaking 77-72 loss to the Baylor Bears. Up by 10 points at halftime, the Longhorns once again proved themselves unable to close a contest against a ranked opponent. Baylor's Quincy Acy played the game of his life, hustling his way to 22 points and 16 rebounds. With J'Covan Brown hitting on 6 of 9 3-point attempts and Clint Chapman and Sheldon McClellan putting on a dunk-fest, Texas still couldn't manage to outscore Baylor. So what were some of the things that caused the Longhorns to lose this one?
1. The Longhorns are horrible at defending the 3-point shot. It's been something that has been plaguing them all season and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Myck Kabongo is especially weak at pressuring on the perimeter, and when Baylor's Brady Heslip hit a trio of 3-pointers within the 1st 5 minutes of the 2nd half, it signaled the end for Texas.
2. How many times can the ball possibly pass through the hands and legs of either Alexis Wangmene or Clint Chapman without them holding on to it? These guys are seniors and they still wind up looking like amateurs every other time a pass or rebound comes their way. Texas yielded 14 offensive rebounds to Baylor and I would guess that at least half of those were at first looking like either Wangmene or Chapman would grab them only to have them snatched away. Really Chapman, how do you play 21 minutes and not collect a single rebound?
3. Down the stretch, the Longhorns half-court offense went into its usual funk. I don't know what coach Rick Barnes does at the end of games, but just about every time out his players end games by standing unproductively still on the offensive end, leaving it to single players to drive 1 on 5 against their opponents. In this game, late turnovers by Myck Kabongo and J'Covan Brown killed any momentum the Longhorns had going.
4. Other teams just want it more. Last night, Baylor was the team that scratched and clawed and connived its way to victory. Bears coach Scott Drew isn't really known as a tactician, but paired against Rick Barnes, he looked like Sun Tzu. How the Longhorns manage to collapse at crunch time, time and time again, has to fall on a coach incapable of motivating his team to be more calculated when it most counts.
Now with a Big12 Conference record of 7-8 and an overall record of 17-11, Texas is at this point on the outside looking in at its NCAA Tournament possibilities. Beating Baylor at home was essential and now that Texas has failed at it, it will take an unlikely win at Kansas and/or a deep run in the Big12 Tournament to put the Longhorns over the top.
Saturday afternoon in Stillwater, the Texas Longhorns were defeated by the Oklahoma State Cowboys 90-78. Cowboys guard Keiton Page completely owned the Longhorns, scoring 40 points on the game, including hitting on all 20 of his 20 free throw attempts. The Texas defense had an infrequent off performance overall, allowing Oklahoma State to shoot 51% from the field to go along with being out-rebounded, out-blocked, and out-stolen. Longhorn point guard Myck Kabongo led Texas with 22 points on 8-12 shooting, inlcuding 3-4 from the 3-point line. J'Covan Brown and Sheldon McClellan added 20 points and 15 points respectively. Meanwhile Longhorn bigs Clint Chapman, Alexis Wangmene, and Jonathan Holmes each found themselves in foul trouble, with Chapman and Holmes ultimately fouling out before all was said and done. Texas really could have used a road win here in order to better its chances of being selected for the NCAA Tournament. But considering a prior 4-game win streak, it would have been greedy to expect the Longhorns to have won such a tough match-up in Gallagher-Iba Arena. Next up for Texas is a Monday night game at home against #14th-ranked Baylor.
Tuesday evening in Norman, the Texas Longhorns defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 69-58. It's the 4th win in a row for the Longhorns who improved their Big12 Conference record to 7-6 and their overall record to 17-9. J'Covan Brown scored 19 points, including 15 in the 2nd half, to lead Texas back from a 5-point halftime deficit. Freshmen Myck Kabongo and Sheldon McClellan scored 13 points a piece and for the 2nd game in a row, the Longhorns vastly outscored their opponent from the free throw line. As Oklahoma only went 5-8 from the charity stripe, Texas hit on 24 of 29 free throws. The Longhorns offense has been exhibiting a renewed aggressiveness to go along with the team's well established prowess at rebounding and defense. Coach Rick Barnes deserves much credit for righting the ship as of late, making the necessary adjustments to finish games strong enough to secure victories. Texas next plays at Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon the 18th.
Saturday afternoon at the Erwin Center, the Texas Longhorns captured what may go down as their most defining contest of the season with a 75-64 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats. Down 42-27 early in the 2nd half, the Longhorns went on an incredible 48-22 run to close the game and pull their conference record up to a respectable 6-6. J'Covan Brown played an amazing 2nd half, scoring a pair of clutch 3-pointers and wowing everyone with his ability to drive the lane in spectacular fashion, on his way to 23 points for the game. Informed by referees before tip-off that they'd be calling things tight, Texas coach Rick Barnes advised his players to continually drive Kansas State defenders toward the rim in order to pick up fouls. And the strategy paid off in spades with the Longhorns going 35-48 from the free throw line. Senior Alexis Wangmene enjoyed a career outing, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, while freshmen Myck Kabongo and and Sheldon McClellan chipped in admirably with 24 points between them. This, the Longhorns' 3rd straight conference win, puts Texas in a much better position to make the NCAA Tournament. With only 6 games remaining on the schedule, 3 more wins should seal the deal.
Monday night in College Station, the Texas Longhorns defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 70-68 in their last scheduled Big12 Conference match-up before the Aggies leave for the SEC. J'Covan Brown dropped 20 points and 7 assists on the A&M defense, leaving no doubt that when ESPN's Brent Musburger calls Brown an "assassin" that he knows what he's talking about. Shooting 4-4 from the 3-point line and hitting the pair of last-minute free throws that sealed the victory, Brown shined brightest in the clutch, scoring or assisting 10 of the Longhorns' final 12 points. But the game ball might actually need to be given to Jonathan Holmes, who provided a much-needed spark off of the bench by scoring 9 points in a 5-minute stretch midway through the 2nd half. Fellow freshmen Sheldon McClellan (15 points) and Jaylen Bond (8 rebounds) also made important contributions and coach Rick Barnes actually drew up a few nice looking offensive plays to close out a tightly-contested ballgame. Suddenly with an overall record of 15-9, Texas can feel a little better about its post-season hopes. With 7 games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Longhorns might still manage to slide into the NCAA Tournament by winning as few as 3 of them in a conference stacked enough to support sending even its mediocre teams to the Big Dance.
Saturday evening at the Erwin Center, the Texas Longhorns cruised to a 74-57 victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Senior Clint Chapman had a stellar night, scoring 20 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and blocking 5 shots in 32 minutes of play. J'Covan Brown and Sheldon McClellan each scored 17 points as the Longhorns led the Red Raiders the entire game. Up by as many as 25 in the 2nd half, effective defense and rebounding made the contest a rare cake walk for Texas, now 4-6 in Big12 Conference play. The Longhorns next play Texas A&M in College Station on Monday night.
Monday night at the Erwin Center, the Texas Longhorns again put themselves in position to win an important Big12 Conference game against a ranked opponent, but ultimately the Missouri Tigers escaped Austin with a 67-66 victory. Down by 1 point, the Longhorns had the ball with a bountiful 27 seconds remaining in the game. Bringing the ball up court after a full time-out, the Texas offense became visibly flustered by the surprise 2-3 zone defense installed by Missuori coach Frank Haith. Freshman Myck Kabongo managed to fire up a makeable jumper with 5 seconds on the clock, but the potential game-winning shot missed its mark. Why Horns coach Rick Barnes didn't use another time-out once it was recognized that his called play was mismatched against the zone remains a mystery to many fans and commentators alike. And how a team can look so entirely discombobulated on such a consistent basis when trying to close out games has become the thorn in the side of this team's progress. Wasn't the Arizona collapse in last year's NCAA Tournament enough to teach Barnes a lesson? Can't the Longhorns run a viable, well-organized, well-executed play when the game is on the line?
J'Covan Brown led the Longhorns with 20 points scored on 7-18 shooting from the field. Julien Lewis chipped in with 12 points and Myck Kabongo added another 10. Jonathan Holmes got the start in yet another forever-unsettled Barnes line-up shake-up only to balance a fine rebounding night (9 total, including 4 offensive) with an inordinate number of turnovers (5) for a player who is not a primary ballhandler. Sheldon McClellan was again nowhere to be found (2 points on 1-4 shooting from the field) which is a recent trend that has really been hurting his team. McClellan always puts up a great effort, so it's not his heart that is in question, just his ability to put the ball in the basket with any consistency. The Longhorns are now 13-9 on the season, including an ugly 3-6 in-conference record. While Texas has proven time and time again this season that it can run with the big boys, the Longhorns have yet to prove that they can actually beat any one of them.
Saturday afternoon in Waco, the Texas Longhorns dropped a tough one 76-71 against the #7-ranked Baylor Bears. Down by 9 at the half, the Longhorns rode the 2nd half shooting of J'Covan Brown all the way to only being behind by 3 points with the ball in hand with 19 seconds on the clock. But at the 10 second mark, Brown hoisted a potential game-tying 3-point attempt that sailed wide left of the rim, allowing Baylor to twart the rally and emerge as victors. Brown finished with 32 points, with 20 of those coming in the 2nd half, on 11-22 shooting from the field. Aside from Myck Kabongo playing a decent game, collecting 12 points and 5 assists but missing on 4 of 8 free throws, hardly a Longhorn filled in to help their team-leader Brown steal a much-needed road win. The Longhorns were outrebounded 37-24, with the Longhorns' trio of big men, Clint Chapman, Alexis Wangmene, and Jonathan Holmes, accumulating more fouls (13) than rebounds (7) between them. Meanwhile, wings Julien Lewis and Sheldon McClellan combined to shoot 0-9 from the 3-point line and 3-13 overall.
Coach Rick Barnes is unfortuntaely finding himself with very little to work with on the court, as his players take turns disappearing in clutch situations. Too much is riding on J'Covan Brown and every opponent knows it enough to throw everything they have at him when it's time for him to play team savior. Brown's last second shot in this case came off of a screen, but still managed to look awkward against an overplaying defense. I suppose it's some consolation that this time he at least got a shot off, but such is a standard that has been vastly lowered as this young Longhorn team insists on learning its lessons the hard way. Things get no easier for a now 13-8 Texas as #4-ranked Missouri visits the Erwin Center Monday evening.
Tuesday night at the Erwin Center, the Texas Longhorns were able to successfully avenge a January 4th loss at Iowa State by defeating the Cyclones 62-55. With J'Covan Brown continuing to struggle shooting from the floor, this time going 3-16, a full-fledged supporting cast for the Horns stepped up to ensure an ever-important conference victory. While freshmen guards Myck Kabongo and Julien Lewis finished with 13 and 12 points a piece, significant frontcourt contributions from Clint Chapman and Jaylen Bond put Texas in the driver's seat. For once, not having to overcome a double-digit deficit allowed the Longhorns to coalesce into the complete team it needs to be in order to win ball games.
Credit head coach Rick Barnes this time out for his plan to yield shots to Iowa State's Royce White in favor of having him drive the lane in order to set up open 3-point shots for his teammates. The Cyclones shot only 33.3% from the field and the Longhorns duly took advantage, proving their ability to adjust in the name of correcting former mistakes. After coming so close against Kansas and now beating a strong Iowa State squad, the Longhorns just might be salvaging what was quickly becoming a season of unfulfilled potential. As teams continue to lock down J'Covan Brown with their most tencious defender, it will be up to the lesser known Longhorns to determine whether this season will be forever cited as a transition year or yet another feather in the hat of a winning program.
Saturday afternoon at the Erwin Center, the Texas Longhorns provided themselves a great chance to upset the #7-ranked Kansas Jayhawks but ultimately failed down the stretch in a 69-66 loss. Down by as many as 15 points in both halves of the game, the Longhorns stormed back late earning themselves a 4 point lead with only 3 minutes left in the contest. But while Kansas looked like a well-oiled machine to secure the win in crunchtime, Texas looked utterly disorganized as J'Covan Brown put up a series of ill-advised, forced shots that in 3 chances all eluded the bottom of the net. Brown ended the game with 24 points, but again shot poorly, this time to the tune of 7-26 from the field.
Point guard Myck Kabongo suffered his 2nd consecutive miserable game, limited to 3 points and 4 assists as he battled with foul trouble and a coach that lacks confidence in Kabongo's ability to adequately run the offense. This may come as news to some for Rick Barnes to be upset over such a thing when at the end of the game with J'Covan Brown shooting aimlessly, there didn't to be any sort of offensive scheme at work, period. This has been a recurring theme for a Rick Barnes-coached team, the complete lack of a coherent offensive flow in clutch situations, yet Barnes keeps calling Kabongo out in his post-game press conferences as if it's up to Kabongo to not only run an offense, but actually conceive of one on the fly. Barnes apparently has no problem allowing J'Covan Brown to play one-on-five against a team already double-teaming him. But if Kabongo misses one single pass to say an Alexis Wangmene who is likely going to just fumble it out of bounds anyway, it becomes time to call in the national guard.
What this team lacks is leadership. Barnes has put the whole season on J'Covan Brown's shoulders, but Brown is more of a streaky assassin than a player who can effectively run a team and get everyone involved on his own. Kabongo should not be floundering right now, and much of the blame must be put on Barnes who frankly isn't doing a very good job managing his freshman phenom. The move to accentuate Clint Chapman has been a wise one as of late, as has the shift to playing Sheldon McClellan more frequently than Julien Lewis, so Barnes is in certain areas still showing his smarts as a coach. But it's been 3 games in 2 weeks now that the Longhorns have had a great chance to win only to let them each slip away. Someone needs to step up and inject a killer instinct into this squad, and with teams game-planning against the predicatability of J'Covan Brown having to do it all himself, Barnes needs to come up with alternative ways of manufacturing wins.
The Horns are now 12-7 on the season and 2-4 in Big12 Conference play. Texas certainly gets credit for hanging in there with Kansas, but something big needs to happen for this team, and it needs to happen soon. Iowa State visits the Erwin Center Tuesday at 8 pm, so look for it as a chance for Texas to turn its season back toward the positive.
Wednesday night saw the Texas Longhorns put up a scrappy fight against the Kansas State Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas. Unfortunately, a late Texas rally fell short on a last-second, botched hand-off between Myck Kabongo and J'Covan Brown, causing Kansas State to win the game 84-80. Down by 2 with the ball and no time-outs, with 12 enormous offensive seconds on the clock, Kabongo and Brown managed to cross themselves up right across the half court line. Resulting in a brutal turnover, leading to a Kansas State dunk on the other end of the court, the backcourt mishap negated a valiant struggle for the Longhorns to erase what was once a 15-point Wildcats' lead.
J'Covan Brown both took us out of the game, then brought us back into it with his streaky shooting. Brown's rough 8-28 shooting night singlehandedly dragged his team's overall percentage down from an impressive 61% to a losing 46%. But of course it was Brown at the end of the game hitting a pair of clutch baskets to put the Longhorns in a position to steal the road win. In this case, the highly inconsistent wing duo of Sheldon McClellan and Julien Lewis impressed by combining to shoot 9-15 from the floor. Kabongo scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting and played his heart out, but managed to tarnish his 10 skillful assists with 6 sloppy turnovers. And Texas definitely missed scoring opportunities from Jonathan Holmes who fouled out of the game in only 9 minutes of scattered play.
This, our 3rd loss out of 5 Big12 conference games so far this season, was an especially hard one to swallow. All that effort to set up the potential game-clinching, closing possession, and with ample time on the clock, the Longhorns couldn't even get a shot off. With nothing but ordinary defensive pressure applied by the Wildcats, the Horns barely even got the ball past half-court. Of course, people will just shrug their shoulders and say something about "freshmen" and I suppose that's true and this game will ultimately get chalked up as a learning experience. But right this moment, we are on the bubble when it comes to the NCAA tournament. We desperately need a quality win, as we haven't had one since Temple and really that might have been our only quality win so far this season. And it only gets more difficult beyond Manhattan. #7 Kansas is next on the schedule, then an Iowa State team that has already beaten us, then #3 Baylor, and then #5 Missouri. Yikes, but at the same time, hopefully the stage is set for not just a quality win, but a signature win.
Saturday afternoon in Columbia, Missouri, the Texas Longhorns fell to the Missouri Tigers 84-73. Despite 34 points from J'Covan Brown, the Longhorns were unable to put together the complete team game that it would have taken to overcome the 9th ranked Tigers. While the turnover margin between teams was comparable at 13-9, Missouri managed to consistently score off of Texas turnovers as the Longhorns completely failed to capitalize on mistakes by the Tigers. And while Texas freshmen Myck Kabongo (12 points, 10 assists) and Jonathan Holmes (10 points, 7 rebounds) played admirable games, fellow freshmen Sheldon McClellan and Julien Lewis combined for yet another horrendous shooting display (3-18 from the floor). Additionally, allowing Missuori to shoot an impressive 53.7% for the game indicates a break-down on the Texas defensive end. The Longhorns, now 12-5 on the season, next play at Kansas State on Wednesday night.
Wednesday evening marked the final time the Texas A&M Aggies were scheduled to play against the Texas Longhorns in Austin as members of the Big12 Conference. Over 21,000 fans packed the Erwin Center for what was throughout the game a tightly-contested, hard-fought match-up. Longhorn freshman Julien Lewis scored 16 timely points to put Texas in the position to win 61-51, but it was J'Covan Brown who sealed the victory with 2 key assists and 10 straight free throws made within the final 4 minutes of the game. The senior tandem of Clint Chapman and Alexis Wangmene logged quality minutes, finishing with 16 points and 9 rebounds between them. And freshman Sterling Gibbs just might have made the play of the night with a steal and a lay-up to put Texas up by 6 with 10 minutes to play. Myck Kabongo for the most part suffered a miserable individual game to the point that Head Coach Rick Barnes had to bench him for long stretches. But aside from bidding farwell to the Aggies with an important home win, Wednesday's game will most be remembered for a series of colossal dunks provided by each of Wangmene, Chapman, and Sheldon McClellan. The Longhorns are now 12-4 and 2-1 in Big12 play with a tough road game to come against Missouri on Saturday.
The Texas Longhorns ground their way to a 58-49 victory over the Oklahoma State Cowboys Saturday evening at the Erwin Center. Despite shooting a dismal 30% from the floor, the Longhorns followed through on coach Rick Barnes' pre-game prescription of tight defense, aggressive rebounding, and ball security to close out the Cowboys. Texas point guard Myck Kabongo led all scorers with 15 points, making 8 of 11 of his wisely earned free throws. But it was a hobbled J'Covan Brown who came off of the bench 12 minutes into the 2nd half who ultimately rallied his team to victory. Brown's 3-pointer at the 8:48 mark gave Texas a lead it would not relinquish, and his driving lay-up and then assist to Kabongo with under 2 minutes left put the punctuation mark on the Longhorns' 1st Big12 Conference win of the season. While freshman Jonathan Holmes played an exceptional game, shooting 4-5 from the floor to go along with 4 offensive rebounds, fellow freshmen Julien Lewis and Sheldon McClellan continued their shooting woes, combining for 6-26 from the floor including 1-8 from the 3-point line. Texas, now 11-4 overall, face Texas A&M in Austin on Wednesday night, in what will be yet another must-win for the Longhorns.
In foreboding fashion, the young Texas Longhorns dropped their first Big12 game of the season against IowaState in Ames Wednesday night. Considering match-ups against even tougher Big12 squads including Kansas, Baylor, and Missouri yet to come, this was a game that Texas really needed to win. Unfortunately, IowaState came out of the gate on fire from the 3-point line, hitting 9 of 12 in the first half on the way to a 10-point halftime lead. The Longhorns made a serious run in the 2nd half, with junior J’Covan Brown practically carrying his team on his back. But Brown rolled his ankle on a slicing drive to the basket and the wheels pretty much fell off from that point on for the Longhorns.
There was a crucial moment late, when Texas cut the Cyclones lead to 6 with about 2 minutes to play. Freshman point guard Myck Kabongo had the ball at the top of the key, wide open for a very reasonable 3-point shot attempt, and inexplicably he passed it up. It led to a sloppy Clint Chapman turnover and basically a loss for the Longhorns. Evidently, Kabongo’s once-flourishing confidence has fallen by the wayside via Coach Rick Barnes and his archaic insistence on teaching by way of negative reinforcement. With all respect due to Coach Barnes, he has in recent weeks manufactured yet another disaster in which his players get completely bogged down by his heavy-handed approach to discipline.
The way IowaState was sagging on defense against Kabongo the entire game, it’s as if they knew beforehand that Kabongo would be playing as if handcuffed by a curmudgeon. For some odd reason, Barnes also decided that this would be the game where the entire offense would be run through Clint Chapman, who responded well with a career game of 19 points and 14 rebounds, but who also threw in his usual share of off-plays and crucial blunders. Meanwhile in his second start of the season, Jaylen Bond did absolutely nothing in 11 minutes of play, a poor performance rivaled only by the even more worthless 10 minutes of off-the-bench play from Alexis Wangmene.
Wangmene perfectly illustrates the most glaring deficiency of Barnes as a coach, in that Alexis has been with the team 4 years now and has failed to show any significant signs of improvement. Wangmene’s hands are so bad that he is a gross liability on offense and even at his strong suit as a defensive rebounder, he all too often flubs the ball right back into the hands of an opposing offensive player. And did you see Wangmene trying to guard IowaState’s Royce White out on the perimeter? Wangmene might as well have only been waving a white napkin at White as he continually drove around Alexis at will.
Freshmen Sheldon McClellan and Julien Lewis had poor shooting nights, going a combined 4-19, and that’s just going to happen sometimes, especially on the road. But what in the world is Barnes doing with Jonathan Holmes, who at this stage of the season should be a much more prominent contributor? Yes, Holmes has a tendency to reach on defense, which leads to fouls. And no, he’s not the best rebounder on the planet. But Holmes is exactly who Barnes should be developing right now instead of thinking that Clint Chapman is going to somehow instantly transform himself from an inconsistent mop-up man to the focal point of the offense.
Obviously, I just don’t get it with Barnes. He has said in the media before that rather than being out to win championships at Texas, his job is to prepare individual Longhorns for future careers in the NBA. And that statement does indeed speak volumes to his methods. But to essentially sabotage his team’s success year in and year out over nitpicky nuances that he seems to think only overbearing, drill-sergeant tactics can cure simply frustrates me to no end. By now, it should be clear to anyone that Barnes needs to rethink his approach. And short of calling for his job, the time has come for UT Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds to really get at Barnes not just for his teams’ underperformance but for the lack of fan support that comes from so much disappointment. We can cite that this year’s Longhorns team is far too freshman-heavy to warrant top flight expectations. But is that how a freshman-laden team is evaluated at a Kentucky or a North Carolina? No, their freshmen are expected to excel, and quite often do in both consistent and spectacular fashion.
Myck Kabongo is infinitely talented. There is no reason for him to be negatively motivated into a mere shell of his full potential. Jonathan Holmes doesn’t need to be yanked out of the game every single time he makes a less than fatal error. And if Barnes ran a more structured offense, it wouldn’t be so much up to Sheldon McClellan and Julien Lewis to create shots off of whimsical tangents. These fine players that Barnes has recruited to Texas are currently regressing right before our eyes. Of course, it is ultimately up to each one of them to improve on their own accord, through hard work and the awareness to actually learn from their mistakes, but Barnes needs to be helping that process instead of hindering it.
The Longhorns are now 10-4 on the season, with tough home games against OklahomaState and Texas A&M scheduled within the next week. All is certainly not lost for Texas, but now is the time for the Horns to get their butts in gear, or this may wind up the first NCAA Tournament appearance that has eluded Texas in quite some time.
The Texas Longhorns pulled away late to defeat the Rice Owls 73-59 Saturday afternoon at the Erwin Center. Texas coach Rick Barnes shook up his starting line-up by choice, replacing Alexis Wangmene and Jonathan Holmes with Clint Chapman and Jaylen Bond, and by necessity as well. Earlier in the week, Julien Bond injured his hand in a car door and thus Sheldon McClellan started in his place. With all of the changes in effect, J'Covan Brown stayed the course as his team's undisputed leader by pouring in 23 points despite turning the ball over 6 times. McClellan made the most of his starting cameo by scoring 19 points, and Sterling Gibbs came off of the bench to hit 3-3 three-point shots. Myck Kabongo, following up a miserable performance at North Carolina, finished with 9 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers. Rice, who had recently won their game at Texas A&M, narrowed the Longhorns' lead to 2 with as little as 11:17 left in the 2nd half, but Texas went on to win by 14 and improve their record to 10-3 on the season.
