Having lost two in a row to Iowa State and Oklahoma, Shaka Smart’s Texas Longhorns needed something to get them back on track, to wake up the space, as he likes to say. They got just what the doctor ordered with a home win over West Virginia on Tuesday night.
Against the vaunted Mountaineers’ press, the Longhorns committed just seven turnovers, taking care of the ball during key stretches enough to overcome a second-half rally after leading 45-36 at the half, in Austin.
Isaiah Taylor and Eric Davis Jr. led the way for UT, scoring 23 and 15 points respectively–Davis Jr.’s 4-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc providing a particular spark off of the bench, helping off-set a huge night from WVU reserve Tarik Phillip’s huge night.
With most projections putting UT somewhere in the four-to-six range when talking about NCAA Tournament seeding, we have to wonder what three or five seed (not to mention the one or two seed beyond that) wants anything to do with this group. The Longhorns can score when needed, can compete in a knock-out, drag-out style if needed. Smart has completely changed the psyche of this program in just under one season, which is as impressive as any coaching job this season.
Texas plays host to Baylor later this week, with the Bears coming off of a big overtime win over Iowa State. A win there and the Longhorns are in realistic shape to finish with 20-wins in the regular season, definitely not what we saw coming from this group in the preseason, but maybe we should have.
