Big 12 Notebook: Brown, Longhorns make late push
Joshua Parrott, Big 12 Columnist
Two weeks ago the season appeared to be slipping away for Texas basketball.
The Longhorns, who lost all five starters in the offseason, opened Big 12 play with a 3-6 record. Their highly regarded six-man recruiting class lacked consistency alongside junior G J’Covan Brown. It seemed unlikely the program would make a 14th-straight trip to the NCAA tournament under coach Rick Barnes.
Then Texas (17-9, 7-6 Big 12) won four games over a 10-day span. On Tuesday, the Longhorns rallied from an eight-point deficit to knock off Oklahoma, 69-58, behind Brown’s 19 points.
“We came out flat in the first half,” said Texas freshman G Myck Kabongo. “It’s unacceptable for a team that’s trying to improve every day.”
Barnes is hoping for more complete efforts moving ahead. Texas struggled early in the past three games and had to overcome second-half deficits.
“That’s the toughest thing this time of year,”
Barnes said. “You like to know what you’re going to get
every single night out and coming in.”
Now the Longhorns still have work to do to ensure an NCAA tourney berth with five games left in the regular season. The two biggest remaining matchups are against No. 10 Baylor on Feb. 20 and at No. 5 Kansas on March 3.
ESPN.com college basketball Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi currently has Texas as a No. 12 seed in his most recent predictions. Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com, meanwhile, has the Longhorns as one of the first four teams to be left out of the NCAA tournament.
Leading the Longhorns this season is Brown, who is the Big 12’s top scorer at 19.7 points per game after averaging 10.4 last season. Senior F/C Clint Chapman (7.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.8 bpg) leads the squad in rebounds and blocks.
The Longhorns are also getting strong contributions from their talented newcomers, namely Kabongo (9.9 ppg, 5.2 apg), G Sheldon McClellan (11.1 ppg), F Jonathan Holmes (7.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and G Julien Lewis (7.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg).
Kabongo knows Texas can’t slow down now if the Longhorns want to play in the NCAA tournament.
“For us to take a step forward,” he said, “you can’t take a step back.”
Barnes photo courtesy Matt Hempel/UT Athletics
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Required Reading
ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil offers a closer look at first-year Missouri coach Frank Haith and his Tigers.
CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman sheds some light on how Kansas C Jeff Withey became one of the Big 12’s top big men.
***Austin American Statesman columnist Cedric Golden writes the success of former Texas players won’t help coach Rick Barnes as much as you’d think.
Three Things I’ve Learned
1. Even with their flaws, Missouri and Kansas are a tier above Baylor right now. The Tigers and Jayhawks win in different ways but have shown the toughness to beat Baylor twice apiece this season. The Bears were outrebounded by substantial margins in three of those four losses, and that’s just not going to cut it if they want to be an elite team. It starts for Baylor with sophomore F Perry Jones III.
2. Kansas State needs to catch a break having lost four of their past six games. The only wins for the Wildcats in that span were against Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Their next three games will be huge for with back-to-back road contests against No. 10 Baylor and No. 3 Missouri before coming home to face Iowa State. Kansas State is still in the NCAA tournament as of now but must avoid a late collapse to get there.
3. There’s so much to like about Iowa State F Royce
White, who is averaging 13.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.8
assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks. The sophomore can do so many
things well. The downsides are he can get sloppy with the ball (4.0
turnovers per game), struggles on free throws (49.4 percent) and
can be too unselfish. White must play smarter and be willing to
take what the defense gives him. (Photo courtesy Iowa
State Athletics Communications)
Stat of the Week
4: Number of incoming Big 12 student-athletes selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American High School Game, the second-most of any conference in the nation. Baylor (F/C Isaiah Austin), Kansas (F/C Perry Ellis), Oklahoma State (G/F Marcus Smart) and Texas (C Cameron Ridley) were all represented.
Thumbs up
***Kansas C Jeff Withey was selected as the Big 12 Player of the Week for games from Feb. 7-12 and also honored as the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week. Last week Withey had a career-high 25 points in a win at No. 8 Baylor and added a career-best 20 rebounds, 18 points and seven blocks in a win over Oklahoma State.
***Iowa State G Chris Allen was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week after a pair of 20-point efforts. He had 22 points against Oklahoma State and a career-high 25 points against Texas A&M.
***Missouri (24-2, 11-2) made 14-of-28 shots of its 3s in a Feb. 11 win over Baylor. It was the ninth time this season the Tigers made at least 10 baskets from behind the arch.
***Kansas (21-5, 11-2) has won at least 21 games for the 23rd straight season.
***Texas A&M beat Texas Tech, 47-38, on Tuesday. Those were the fewest points allowed by the Aggies in a conference game since 1959.
***Iowa State (18-8, 8-5) has lost two of its past three games but has reached the 18-win mark for the first time since 2005.
***Texas G J’Covan Brown is averaging 21.8 points in the last six games, while Oklahoma State G Markel Brown is averaging 19.2 points in his past five contests.
Thumbs Down
***Texas Tech (8-17, 1-12) earned its first conference win of the season by beating Oklahoma on Feb. 11. But the Red Raiders have still lost 12 of their past 13 games under first-year coach Billy Gillispie, who added 10 newcomers in the offseason while attempting to rebuild the program.
***Things have gone downhill for Oklahoma since beating then-No. 24 Kansas State on Jan. 28. The Sooners (13-12, 3-10) dropped their fifth straight game in Tuesday’s 69-58 loss to Texas. It won’t get easier with OU playing four of its final five games of the regular season on the road.
***Oklahoma State (12-14, 5-8) had to settle for an appearance in
the NIT last season after missing the NCAA tournament. The Cowboys
are threatening to finish with the program’s first losing
record since 1988 under fourth-year coach Travis
Ford. (Photo courtesy Oklahoma State
Marketing)
***Since scoring 22 points in a near upset of Missouri on Feb. 6, Oklahoma G Steven Pledger has a combined 22 points on 10-of-26 shooting in the past two games.
***Texas A&M (13-12, 4-9) is suffering through a tough first season under coach Billy Kennedy. After starting 8-1, the Aggies have gone 5-11.
***Iowa State F Royce White had a season-high seven turnovers in Monday’s loss at No. 10 Baylor.
***Kansas State G Angel Rodriguez, a freshman, was 0-of-8 from the floor with zero points and seven turnovers in Monday’s loss to Kansas.
Games to Watch
***Kansas State (17-8, 6-7) at Baylor (22-4, 9-4), Saturday: Baylor has lost two of its last three games – at home to Kansas and at Missouri. Kansas State needs some relief having dropped four of its past six.
***Texas (17-9, 7-6) at Oklahoma State (12-14, 5-8), Saturday: There’s still hope for Texas to make it into the postseason after winning four straight. Oklahoma State is having its worst season in more than 20 years.
***Missouri (24-2, 11-2) at Texas A&M (13-12, 4-9), Saturday: Missouri is 14-0 this season at home but will be challenged on the road. The defensive-minded Aggies are 11-4 this season on their home court.
Parrott’s Perspective
Kansas coach Bill Self entered the season wondering who would become the team’s leaders after F Marcus Morris and F Markieff Morris left for the NBA. Now he has no doubt. Junior F Thomas Robinson (17.8 ppg, 12.0 rpg) became a starter and turned into a double-double machine. G Tyshawn Taylor (16.9 ppg, 5.1 apg) has been a consistent playmaker and scorer. The surprising third option has been C Jeff Withey (9.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.4 bpg). With the way Robinson and Withey are playing right now, Kansas has the best one-two inside punch in the country.
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