Quick React: Longhorns Survive in Lubbock

by awiggo on Feb 20, 2010 3:40 PM CST in Texas Longhorns Basketball

Whew, that was way too close. Texas led out of the gates 8-0, by as many as 15 points in the first half, by seven at halftime, and by as many as 14 points in the second half. However, the Longhorns needed a stop on Texas Tech's last possession to escape Lubbock with a much needed victory.

The 71-67 victory puts the 'Horns at 7-5 in Big XII play and still alive, albeit a longshot, for a top four finish in the conference.

Texas won despite losing Dogus Balbay in the first half to what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Texas won despite Damion James being limited to just five minutes in the first half with two fouls. Texas won despite Dexter Pittman getting knocked out of the game in the first half by an inadvertant right cross from James and then playing limited minutes (14 min) because of foul trouble before eventually fouling out.

With the injury and foul trouble, Texas needed the bench to step up. Gary Johnson more than stepped up--he was the best player on the floor this afternoon. Gary was a beast on the glass and was clearly the 'Horns' go-to player on offense. Johnson scored a career-high 22 points, grabbed at eight boards, and sank 7-of-8 from the line. With all the struggles this season, it has been easy to overlook Gary's play. Other than James, Gary has been our most consistent player in conference play.

Matt Hill and Clint Chapman also both responded with solid minutes off the bench.

Other quick notes:

Justin Mason played nearly the entire game (38 min) and most of it after the Balbay injury at the point guard spot. Mason battled all game on the glass and on defense and should be applauded for his efforts. That said, Barnes was probably asking too much of him. Justin is far from a true point guard and is too limited laterally to turn the corner on offense or stay in front of his man on defense.

J'Covan Brown barely played. He definitely struggled in Columbia on Wednesday, but must have really played poorly in practice on Thursday and Friday to receive so few minutes today. With Balbay's return looking unlikely, Texas will desperately need solid play from J'Covan to go anywhere in the Big XII or NCAA tournaments.

In addition to the strong play from Johnson, Texas won this game on the defensive glass. Texas outrebounded Tech 44-30 and limited Tech to just four second chance points.

Last point, I will never ever be dissatisfied with a road win in conference play. This definitely wasn't the prettiest game and ended up being much closer than it should have been. There are clearly areas that still need to be improved (clutch free throw shooting, finding shooters in the halfcourt, running our offense against a zone, limiting turnovers, etc). However, it was a win. A road win. A road win in conference play. Those are to be celebrated.

Post your own thoughts here. Txtwstr will be around later with more analysis.

Box Score

NEXT GAME: vs. Oklahoma State -- Wednesday, February 24th 8 PM ESPN2

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Comments

Jai Lucas

Where is he?

by Longhorns84 on Feb 20, 2010 3:46 PM CST reply actions

Jai

He turns the ball over to much, and doesn’t pass. The play where it was 3 on 1 and he tried for a lay up against a much taller player where he should have dished it off and had an assist and a slam dunk.

by Ryan2907 on Feb 20, 2010 3:59 PM CST up reply actions

yeah

but don’t all the PG’s turn the ball over too much? I was hoping he’d be the answer, but I was wrong so far.

by Longhorns84 on Feb 20, 2010 11:18 PM CST up reply actions

J Ham making my head EXXppLLLooDDEE

1-8 FGs
7 Rebounds
2 TOs

Against MIzzou he wasnt so bad. Cant seem to figure him out. When hes on fire I want to hug him. When hes 1-14 (@ OU) i want to strangle him

Also, what happened to feeding Big D the ball in the paint? Did barnes eliminate that part of the offense?

by MJY6087 on Feb 20, 2010 3:50 PM CST reply actions

I think most fans are satisfied with winning

but are looking for improvement that’s just not showing up consistently with this team. Also, i cannot overstate how good the Big 12 is this year. I have never seen our conference have this many decent bball teams. I think this is one important element that was missing from PBs excellent 3.5 write up. Part of our struggles are due to the fact that we play in the toughest men’s bball conference in the NCAA this year.

by feltgod on Feb 20, 2010 3:53 PM CST reply actions

QUESTION

DId anyone else notice on that last desperation 3 how Mason basically fouled the shooter and it should have been called? Jesus, its a 2 possession game and our guys are still playing with 1.5 seconds left? come on Barnes!!!!!!

Also, per Shaggybevo who per twitter:

Anybody else see this on Twitter?

LonghornRdTrip – Tech’s PA announcer asked fans to stay off the court after the game. They were losing by four with two minutes left at that point…

"We'll be baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!"

by greenspointexas on Feb 20, 2010 3:56 PM CST reply actions

Mason

he had his arms out trying not to foul when the player tried to shoot the ball into him

by Ryan2907 on Feb 20, 2010 4:00 PM CST up reply actions

No one noticed that in the game because it didn't happen.

by billyzane on Feb 20, 2010 4:41 PM CST up reply actions

Didn't notice any "should-have-been-called" foul on Mason

And yeah, the announcer did ask everyone not to rush the court. They were ready to. Tech fans are goofy and honestly, a bit flaky. It was very loud and then silent often. Pretty sure they would have stormed with a win.

by Infield Elephant on Feb 20, 2010 5:01 PM CST up reply actions

Brown

Practice or not, I don’t get why he didn’t play more. Esp when Balbay went down.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Feb 20, 2010 5:21 PM CST reply actions

We Turned an 11 point lead with less than 4 mins.

into a potential loss.Agree a road win is hard to do.

Johnson got his carrer best scoreing game thank goodness.

Can’t figure Hamilton out either sometimes he looks like a pro and other times he looks like he’s back on the playground.

How can James step up and miss two FTs?We were at70% and then went South.

OSU beat Baylor today so we still may get a good seed in the conf. tourney.Can we beat Baylor and A$M at thier house?Not the way we have been playing.

by TCB Orange Dino on Feb 20, 2010 5:22 PM CST reply actions

Unreliable

thats just how James rolls.

If you're so sure of what it ain't, how about telling us what it am!

by circa1015 on Feb 20, 2010 5:38 PM CST up reply actions

Too late for critique

Justin is far from a true point guard and is too limited laterally to turn the corner on offense or stay in front of his man on defense.

I think it’s a fool’s game to try and critique Justin Mason at this point. Varez is gone, Balbay is probably done, J’Covan is inconsistent, Jai doesn’t get it yet. You have to put your most experienced guy out there and I think it’s a bit late in the season to expect more “lateral quickness”.
If Barnes isn’t going to play J’Covan, then what are his options?
Some one a lot wiser than me once said, “You have to dance with the one who brung you.”

"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo

by run Bevo run on Feb 20, 2010 5:58 PM CST reply actions

Agree on Mason

Today was a tough game and this season is starting to take shape as a tough season at the point. The Ward injury hurt but hurt even more as the season progressed and Brown wasn’t able to step up quickly and Balbay became a glaring liability on the offensive end.

I have no problem with Mason playing today. He battled the entire game.

I was more pointing out that he is incredibly limited at the point. For those fans who believe that a Barnes offense can’t thrive w/o an elite point guard who can create, Mason at the point isn’t going to get there.

If Balbay is out for the rest of the season, then it’s up to Brown to step up. If Mason becomes the guy at the point, our celing just got a lot lower.

--AW--

by awiggo on Feb 20, 2010 6:09 PM CST up reply actions

Defense

Let’s say Balbay is done: we need to see the rest step up their game tremendously on D. Not so sure Brown has the gusto.

by Infield Elephant on Feb 20, 2010 6:16 PM CST up reply actions

yep

it’s brown or bust at this point. We know the ceiling with Mason at the point.

by silky51 on Feb 20, 2010 6:16 PM CST up reply actions

Keeping Balbay in my prayers tonight.

I hope he has not suffered a season ending injury. He goes 150 mph for the Horns and will be sorely missed for however many games he is out.

"Football is an incredible game. Sometimes it's so incredible, it's unbelievable." - Tom Landry

by TXStampede on Feb 20, 2010 6:23 PM CST reply actions

Tempo, Tempo, Tempo

When we were playing fast and full court we were killing…

Then it seemed like at the end of each half we took our feet of the gas and Tech closed really quick.

Im fine not playing fast when Dex is in the game, but otherwise we need to go UpTempo more, even if that means Chapman, Hill and Lucas get in the game. Chappy actually look alright when the game was going up and down.

by HornsUpInLA on Feb 20, 2010 8:43 PM CST reply actions