Quick thoughts from No. 10 Texas’ 72-70 win over Texas Tech

It took a while for the No. 10 Texas Longhorns to find their footing on Saturday, but they did in the second half, outscoring the Texas Tech Red Raiders by 11 after the break to win 72-70.

Here are a few quick thoughts’ from Texas’ comeback win.

This is a resilient group of Longhorns under Rodney Terry. Once again, Texas trailed by double digits in the first half — as many as 12 this time around — and once again, Texas won. To be sure, the unfortunate fact that Texas digs itself into the holes and begins games so out of sorts is a problem that absolutely needs to be addressed because sooner or later, it’s going to start costing them games, but for now, the Longhorns continue to overcome. With this win, Texas is 4-1 under Terry after trailing at the half, with wins over Rice, Oklahoma, TCU, and Texas Tech. More so, since losing their former head coach Chris Beard, the Longhorns are 8-1 and have remained a top 10 program.

Marcus Carr. Timmy Allen. Sir’Jabari Rice. That’s the three for Texas. In seemingly every big moment for Texas, it’s the three vets who take control and make the key plays, and tonight against Texas Tech was no difference. Carr and Allen came alive offensively in the second half, with Carr igniting thee comeback and Allen finishing things of with some huge points in the final minutes. And, per usual, Rice just makes winning play after winning play on both ends of the floor. All told, Carr, Allen, and Rice, scored 55 of Texas’ 72 points and 40 of the 47 Texas scored in the second half, all in addition to dishing out nine assists. These three alone won’t be enough on a consistent basis — more on that below — but assuming this is a NCAA Tournament team, Texas appears to have a hell of a veteran trio leading them and making big plays when they need to be made.

Texas needs more from the other guys. As of late as the Longhorns have had to gut out some close wins, it seems their only real contributions have come from the aforementioned trio. Others have has a notable performance here or there, but for the most part, the depth that was a strength entering the year seems to have disappeared. Tyrese Hunter is the best example of that — he was scoreless tonight — and excluding his 29 point explosion against Kansas State, he’s totaled just 18 points in Texas’ other six games since Christmas. Dylan Disu was also held to zero points, Christian Bishop didn’t play especially well, and Dillon Mitchell’s presence wasn’t really noticeable at all. All this to say, as the Big 12 schedule grinds on, Texas’ top trio isn’t going to consistently be enough. Texas has talent and depth, but that hasn’t been evident lately. And when it’s not, as was the case against Texas Tech, games are more difficult than they need to be.