Join me at 8:00 Central time as I live blog the Horns visit to Missouri, which will air on ESPN.
2-0 Missouri Missouri sscores first and we're under way. Buckman got schooled inside, leaving his feet.
5-3 Missouri Paulino hits a three and Texas gets on the board. This is starting to look like one of those brutal Big 12 matchups where the offenses struggle and the teams slog it out in a race to 60.
5-5 Tie Did that guy just airball a layup?
5-5 Tie Barnes brings in Abrams at 15:45 in the first half, which is easily the earliest we've seen that move. I still can't figure out what to expect from Abrams. His development this year will be interesting.
7-7 Tie Gibson is going -to- the basket so far tonight, a great sign. D'oh. As I finish typing that sentence he bricks a three.
9-7 Texas Wow, Ron Franklin just informed us that the Bird-Johnson 1979 NCAA Final was the highest rated game in college basketball history. That's amazing. The very fact that Bird took Indiana State to the Finals is amazing enough. Is there anything comparable to that in the modern era? Could it happen again? I don't think so.
9-9 Tie Can anyone tell us what that annoying chant is that the students keep yelling? "Hey-Hey! Ho-Ho!" And then something inaudible. It's a weird chant for a basketball game.
11-9 Missouri The post defense is preetty soft so far tonight. Texas needs to tighten things inside. Ugh. JD Lewis makes an appearance. And Aldridge inexplicably travels. What's going on here tonight? We're flat.
13-12 Missouri Sweet looking stroke from Abrams. I'm with Wiggins here: why is Lewis in the game? Ha, Lewis with the steal as I type this.
14-13 Texas This is a very physical game. Horns are going to be on the line a lot tonight. Need to shoot well at the stripe in games like this.
14-13 Texas Paulino did a great job penetrating, finally, but how obvious was it that our guards don't do that too often? He was schocked when he got past his man and was wide open.
18-13 Texas We have a Mike Williams sighting. And not just running around haplessly on the court! He scored!
18-15 Texas Did I say race to 60? I meant 40.
21-15 Texas Paulino, Williams, and Abrams anchoring the offense. Um...
21-15 Texas When they put Keith Jackson out to pasture, they need to move Ron Franklin to the #1 slot on the big football games. The guy has the voice, he's poised, knowledgeable, he brings the appropriate amount of excitement, etc. And, of course, he lives in Austin.
24-15 Texas Paulino hits another three. Tonight's game hammering home the point we've been making about how many guys Texas has that can beat you.
26-17 Texas Mike "Tim Duncan" Williams hits an 18 footer? Wow. Meanwhile, I've seen at least three felony assaults tonight. Good God this is a physical game. While some of the Big 12 conference games can be tough to watch, I don't think it's an accident that the Big 12 usually fares well in the tourney. Not many teams play this physically.
28-20 Texas (HALFTIME) Well, that was ugly. Nine turnovers for both teams. Missouri is one of the worst shooting teams I've ever seen. Let's see what adjustments Barnes makes at halftime. Mostly, the Horns need to do a better job taking care of the ball.
28-20 Texas Second half under way and Tucker airballs a 12 footer. I think some of Quinn Snyder's hair grease got on the ball. This is ridiculous.
31-20 Texas Aldridge took an entry pass too far out from the basket, but showed why he's a coveted NBA prospect with a disgustingly sweet turnaround jumper.
35-20 Texas Tucker, meanwhile, caught the ball in perfect position deep in the lane, then used his long wingspan to go up and over his defender for an easy score. He's so fun to watch when he's playing well.
38-22 Texas Paulino having an outstanding game. This game doens't have much flow or feel to it, but Texas is getting it done. The defense has been solid, though part of the problem is simply atrocious shooting from the Tigers.
40-22 Texas We win! The Horns get to 40 first, and that should be enough... Tucker playing very, very well in the second half. The team was a little flat to start the game, but are dominating the Tigers now. Around the Big 12: Baylor got its first win in its last TWENTY games. OU beats the Aggies. Speaking of Texas A&M, the loss to them last year was so frustrating. If we lose again this year, in either Austin or College Station, I'm going to be pissed.
44-29 Texas Missouri makes a mini-run but Tucker is just dominating this game right now. Except for a missed layup when he was surprised he was wide open, he's been perfect this half.
46-29 Texas Lewis looks like the guy at the Duke pickup game that nobody wanted on their team. The dork without the talent. Sit him down, Rick. OH MY GOD, DANIEL GIBSON DROVE TO THE BASKET! 48-31 Texas.
48-32 Texas The announcers correctly noting Gibson is a good defender, but inexplicably put up a chart of guys Gibson has been "defending" while failing to mention we're mostly playing zone this year. Lazy reporting there.
50-35 Texas If Missouri is going to make a run, they need to do it now. They don't have the ability to score quickly and close a large deficit late in the game.
60-42 Texas The PJ Tucker show tonight. This one's over.
63-45 Texas Can we get an OVER-RATED chant going here? It wouldn't make sense, but then again, it never does.
63-47 Texas O Lamarcus Where Art Thou? A game after just dominating the Sooners, he's back to the quiet Aldridge. We did a great job of getting Tucker the ball in great position to score - there's nobody better around the rim. But Lamarcus needs to work harder to get good low post position.
66-53 Texas (FINAL) A solid win for the Horns, and validation of Andrew's preview. Note his 65-54 prediction. The Horns improve to 18-3 and remain in first place in the Big 12. Tonight featured a spectacular second half from Tucker and what was, in my mind, AJ Abrams best game of the year. Gibson, Aldridge, and Buckman were quiet, but not needed. We're a good team that's just getting better.
--PB--