Texas Basketball Faces BYU: Game Thread and Notes

This will be an interesting game.

After beating Mercer, South Alabama, Stephen F. Austin, and Houston Baptist, the Texas Longhorns travel to Kansas City to face their toughest challenge yet. BYU is a top 40 program, and as detailed on this blog earlier in the day features one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation.

Rick Barnes' men better be ready to run.

For BYU, speed is the name of the game. The Cougars' average possession lasts 13 seconds. After grabbing a defensive rebound, they push the ball up the floor and shoot quickly.

The Texas guards -- particularly players like Isaiah Taylor, Demarcus Holland, and Javan Felix, who are best in transition -- will be relied upon to match the Cougar tempo. An up and down game perhaps best suits the Longhorns, who are short on first tier offensive talent, but long on depth and athletes.

Or maybe I am all wrong about this. Either way, we are about to find out.

From my perspective, I am hoping that Rick Barnes lets them run, as he has through the first four games of the season. Up-tempo basketball is fun, and the Longhorns have been efficient in transition this year, with an effective field goal percentage of 57 percent on early offense.

It is clear that BYU is the favorite, but Pomeroy's model gives the Horns a chance of pulling the upset. Look for a game in the 80s-90s. The upside potential for this game is this: if Taylor can turn the game into a layup line, Texas can possibly hang with BYU, and make things tight down the stretch.

The downside potential is that the Longhorns get run off the floor by BYU.