I agree with the assessment that the world did not end.  Our push in the final 3 minutes was really fun to watch. Had we played solid D with about :42 seconds left we might have had a shot to tie/win at the buzzer.

It would be nice to win the big 12 championship outright, though.

Way to go, Pat. Career victory number 3 or whatever.

Horns need to bounce back and defend the Drum.

Hook 'em.

For hose who complain (namely, Bill Simmons) about Barnes' lack of offensive coaching prowess, this game seemed like a good piece of evidence. There were too many plays in which there was no passing, either into the post or around the perimeter. Even the a few of the good plays (Mason's layup drive and a couple of DJ's acrobatic "Steve Nash" fadeaways) were of this fashion. It's not rocket science; if players aren't getting touches, it's harder for them to get into an offensive rhythm.

For all of DJ's strengths, the one key weakness I see in him (and this is something I've brought up before) is his inability to make the entry pass into the post (this, if you remember, was Simmons' biggest complaint...that Durant always seemed to get his touches 25 feet in the basket, despite his ability to post up just about anybody). It's normally not a huge issue, because him and Mason (and even Abrams, to the extent of his floater falling) are quite adept at getting into the paint for a shot or a pass. However, in situations where the outside shot isn't falling, some dedication to the post play would be nice.

Granted, DJ doesn't have the best weapons for this. Connor (besides the sky hook) doesn't have any post moves, and Gary Johnson's shot wasn't falling today. But this is an area where I think the young guys can help out. Granted, it seems that everytime Johnson or Pittman check in, Barnes runs an immediate entry pass to the post for them. But it after that first posession, it becomes primarily a dribble-penetrate offense for the Longhorns And yes, I noted that DJ did throw an entry to Wangmene, whereupon Wangmene promptly traveled. I honestly think that with our shooters, more post play through Johnson, Pittman and the two freshmen would be beneficial. It would a) boost confidence, b) give Augustin a chance to rest, c) free up shooters, and d) most importantly, shake up our offense a little.

In particular, I'd like to see Damion James catch the ball anywhere but 18 feet from the basket at the top of the key. It just doesn't look like he's getting in the flow of the offense, besides seemingly fighting and pulling down every other potential offensive rebound. Yes, I know he wants to play the perimeter, but he's got the body and the ability to bang around inside, so why not take advantage? Those inside the arc jumpers just aren't falling for him right now, so get him inside a little.

Ok, mini rant over. I thought it was a hard-fought game by Texas, and they just couldn't get their shots to fall enough to win the game. They're still in good position to make a run through the Big XII tournament and through March, so let's keep rooting for our boys. Hook 'em!

If it wasn't for James fouling out, he would not have played at all in the entire 2nd half. I think he knew he wasn't going to play the rest of game, and that might be why he was out of it (and fouled when he didn't need to).

Then later on when he went for a jump hook, did he even jump? He was stuffed by the rim.

I have a bad feeling about his ankle.

I think anything less than a share of the Big 12 regular season championship would be a disappointment. This loss gives us a much needed sense of urgency for our remaining two home games.

Nebraska has been playing some great ball recently (other than today) and has a big guy in Maric. We need our big guys to step up defensively and not get in foul trouble.

I'm going to call it right now: Texas A&M will beat Kansas at home. When A&M is motivated at home in front of a hostile crowd, we know what they can do. They kicked our ass and they just beat this Tech team by a million. If KU can lose at Oklahoma State, it's not unreasonable to say that they can lose @ A&M.

but if they got to play every game at home, they'd probably be a Sweet 16 type of team.

Even if we somehow forced OT, keep in mind that James and Abrams had already fouled out, and DJ, Mason, Johnson, and Atchley all had 4 fouls.

The value of playing at home is unbelievable and simply unquantifiable.

Here are the locations of all the 2 seed games:

East - Raleigh
West - Anaheim
Midwest - Washington D.C.
South - Omaha, Nebraska

If you're the committee and you want to reward Kansas, wouldn't you want to put them in Omaha as a 2 seed in the South regional? Shit, we may not end up in the South regardless of our seed.

This means that we really need to win our conference (at least share), and we probably need to beat KU in the Big 12 tournament (but doesn't the committee basically ignore the Big 12 championship game?).

We need to persuade the committee to reward us over KU. We need to win out the rest of the way and hope KU loses @ A&M and/or loses in the tourney. Hopefully there's credibility within the committee and they don't reward KU over UT (even if we win out) because they're a basketball power with a bigger tradition.