Texas takes down West Virginia 80-69

Rebounds.

That was the story in Morgantown, West Virginia, on Monday night. Lots of rebounds. Excessive rebounds. Combined with a much better game defensively and 29 points from Felix/Taylor, the Longhorns had their way with the Mountaineers throughout the entire night.

Texas out-rebounded the Mountaineers 49-30 in a game where West Virginia players were cold as ice shooting the ball. It was hard to believe that WVU had taken a top-fifteen opponent down to the final seconds only two nights before. West Virginia shot 37.7% (26-69) overall, 16% (4-25) from three, and 65% (13-20) from the line. Texas handled WVU defensively, and showed significant improvement from their first few conference games.

Texas also showed offensive competency, which was something that seemed lost on the team only 48 hours before. Texas shot 52.7% (29-55) overall, 44.4% (4-9) from beyond the arc, and 78.3% (18-23) from the free throw line. Everyone contributed in one way or another. Felix led all Longhorn scorers with 19 points, Taylor had 10, Holmes had 9, Lammert had 8, and even Ibeh put the ball in the basket.

I was unable to watch most of the game, but from the looks of what I was able to see, it seemed like Texas was more physical inside and that was a massive advantage for the Longhorns. Ridley was a force inside and Ibeh was Mr. Flyswatter.

Texas will need the momentum to continue all the way through the week, as the Longhorns play host to a top-ten ranked Iowa State basketball team on Saturday night.