texas Basketball Preview

Tomorrow, we take on #21 texas at 1 PM at Reed Arena. A win would give us a ninth win in conference, put us at 20 wins for the season, and help us solidify a decent seed for the NCAA Tournament. If we are outscored, it will be the first time since the Melvin Watkins Error that we've lost to texas at home.

Let's take a look at texas' team:

The guy who worries me on this texas team is Jordan Hamilton. Damion James is solid, and Avery Bradley is a good young player, but Hamilton is the one I worry about blwoing up on us. I think texas has actually been helped by the loss os point guard Dogus Balbay to injury, simply because I felt he was a liability on offense who couldn't shoot, and they were playng 4-on-5 on the offensive end because fo that. Balbay's absence has forced more of the point guard role onto J'Covan Brown, who is still figuring it out. This is a very talented texas team who has struggled to put it all together this year since conference season began; I think that is more a reflection of youth an immaturity among some players than anything else.

If we can get Bryan Davis, Ray Turner, and David Loubeau going inside, Donald Sloan can slash into the paint, and Nathan Walkup and B.J. Holmes can hit it from outside, we'll have a solid inside-outside game on offense that will give us a chance to win. If the refs call fouls on Dexter Pittman like they should, we'll be able to operate inside; that is a very big if, though. We have been poor from beyond the arc all season; tomorrow would be a good tme for us to start to light it up. I expect this to be a very physica game on defense. Playing at home against our rival, I'm hoping the students will show up in force, and give texas the welcome they deserve.