Missouri 67, Texas 66

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.