Big 12: Texas peaking at the right time

Rick Barnes is on the verge of bringing his second Big 12 Conference regular-season men’s basketball title to Austin in the past three years.

Texas’ nationally televised 74-65 victory over Kansas State on Monday night in Manhattan, Kan., made that practically inevitable. The fifth-ranked Longhorns take a one-game lead over preseason league favorite Kansas into the final three games of the regular season. Unless they slip up Saturday at Texas Tech or at home next week against Nebraska or Oklahoma State, UT will have its third league championship in 10 years under Barnes’ leadership.

But after watching Texas (24-4, 11-2 in Big 12 play) reel off eight straight victories and win 11 of its last 12 games, it’s time to consider the Longhorns a threat to more than just the Big 12. They might also have what it takes to reach the Final Four and win the conference’s first national title this April.

“They can go beat anyone anywhere right now the way they’ve played the last two or three weeks,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, even before Texas handed Kansas State its first home loss of the league season. “They’re peaking at a great time.”

When the season started, the list of the national championship contenders included North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA and Kansas. Duke and Tennessee have played their way into the discussion over the past few months.

None is playing as well as the Longhorns, who just completed a perfect February for the first time since 1962-63. Yet Texas hasn’t generated nearly as much hype.

Many pundits viewed the Longhorns with skepticism earlier this year, particularly because they were replacing Kevin Durant, the national player of the year and No. 2 pick in the NBA draft. How, many wondered, could Texas be better off without Durant?

Any converts the Longhorns made with their 11-0 start had lapses of faith just as quickly when they lost three of five games, including their Big 12 opener at Missouri 97-84 on Jan. 12. Barnes’ team fell as far as 19th in the Associated Press poll after that loss.

Texas started climbing back to the top by stringing together three straight victories, but its ascent was interrupted by an 80-63 loss at rival Texas A&M on Jan. 30, the same night Kansas and Kansas State battled in Manhattan, Kan. By then, everyone was expecting those two teams to have it out for the conference title.

No one expected the Longhorns to run off eight straight victories, including a 72-69 win over Kansas on Feb. 11 in Austin and Monday’s nine-point road win over the Wildcats.

Barnes’ team is doing it with defense — something it struggled with last season with a freshman-laden lineup, even if one of those freshmen was Durant. Over the past eight games, Texas is limiting opponents to an average of 62.1 points on 35.7-percent shooting from the field.

The Longhorns held Kansas State to 32.8-percent shooting on Monday to become the first visiting Big 12 team to win inside Bramlage Coliseum this season. The Wildcats’ Bill Walker went 0-for-14 from the floor and had one point only two days after he scored 31 against Baylor. Even phenom Michael Beasley, who scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, was below .500 (10-for-21) from the field.

“They have everything we want — ball pressure, big bodies, shot blockers,” Beasley said of Texas’ defense when talking to reporters after the game. “They have everything you need.”

That’s true at both ends of the floor.

The Longhorns can claim the nation’s best point guard in sophomore D.J. Augustin, who’s second in the Big 12 in scoring (19.3 ppg) and first in assists (5.9 apg).

They have a dead-eye shooter in junior guard A.J. Abrams, who made four 3-pointers in the second half against the Wildcats and is averaging more than three long-range makes per game while shooting 37.9 percent from beyond the arc.

They have a rugged rebounder in sophomore forward Damion James, who is second in the Big 12 on the boards (10.5 rpg) and also gives the Longhorns and player capable of scoring inside or out.

They have the Big 12’s best shot-blocker in junior center Conner Atchley, who is averaging 2.0 blocks per game. In addition to anchoring the defense, the 6-foot-10 Atchley, who might be the Big 12’s most improved player, has been a difficult matchup at the offensive end because of his ability to step out and shoot from beyond the 3-point arc. He’s provided timely scoring, including 14 points on 6-for-6 shooting against Kansas State.

Texas has also developed a little depth with sophomore guard Justin Mason and freshman forwards Gary Johnson and Alex Wangmene all filling complementary roles.

“I think as the season progresses, we’ve gotten better at defense, no doubt about that, and now we know that we can get the ball inside and score, whether it’s through our post players or guards,” Barnes told reporters after Saturday’s 62-45 victory over Oklahoma. “I think as a team, we’re much more comfortable throwing the ball in there. We’ve gotten better with our patience when we do that. We’re better in that area as well, so we don’t have to rely on the fact that we have to shoot the ball well to win games.”

More than any other team in the country, the Longhorns have proved they can win against top competition. Their 24-4 record was built against the nation’s third-toughest schedule, and they rank fourth in the RPI rankings. But most impressive is the fact that Texas is 3-1 against the current Top 10 with wins against No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 UCLA and No. 6 Kansas. The Tennessee and UCLA wins came away from the Longhorns’ home floor, and their only loss was by a point against No. 10 Wisconsin on Dec. 29.

You can bet the Badgers — or any other team — won’t want to see Texas again come March.

Rising Team: Oklahoma State

The Cowboys are the Big 12’s hottest team other than Texas. They’ve won four in a row, including a 61-60 upset over Kansas on Saturday in Stillwater, Okla., and a 75-73 win at Missouri on Tuesday. Oklahoma State (15-12) has climbed into a four-way tie for sixth place in the Big 12 standings with a 6-7 league mark, not bad for a team that lost six straight conference games earlier this season. Junior guard Byron Eaton has led OSU’s turnaround, averaging 20.8 points in the past four games. He had a career-high 26 in the win over Kansas, going 16-for-18 from the free-throw line, and he had 15 points, including the game-winning bucket with 1.7 seconds left as the Cowboys edged the Tigers for their second straight road win after a 19-game losing streak. The recent run should take some of the heat of second-year coach Sean Sutton.

Falling Team:  Kansas State

The Wildcats have lost three in a row and four of their last five to see their Big 12 title hopes disappear, and they now have to visit sixth-ranked Kansas on Saturday afternoon. Kansas State has been done in by defense (or lack thereof). Its last three opponents have averaged 79 points per game while combining to shoot 49.4 percent from the field. Frank Martin’s team should be able to get things back on track next week against Colorado and Iowa State, but its NCAA Tournament seed won’t be nearly as high as it would like.

Player of the Week: D.J. Augustin, G, Texas

Augustin averaged 21.5 points in wins against Oklahoma and Kansas State. He scored 19 points in the win over the Sooners, then two nights later played 40 minutes against the Wildcats, scoring 24 points on 9-for-19 shooting and also had five assists and four steals.

Freshman of the Week: Michael Beasley, F, Kansas State

Beasley notched his 23rd and 24th double-doubles, tying, then surpassing Carmelo Anthony’s NCAA freshman record. He scored a league-record 44 points and had 13 rebounds in a loss to Baylor on Saturday, then followed up with a 30-point, 15-rebound performance against Texas, also in a loss. He has scored 30 points or more in 11 games this season, tying the Big 12 single-game record, and he needs one double-double to tie former Kansas star Drew Gooden’s single-season record.

Stats of the Week

0-for-14: What Kansas State freshman Bill Walker shot from the field in Monday night’s loss against Texas. It was the most shot attempts without a make anyone has had in college basketball this season. Walker finished with one point after scoring 31 two nights earlier in a loss to Baylor.

14-for-24: What Oklahoma State shot from beyond the 3-point arc in Tuesday’s 75-73 victory over Missouri. The Cowboys went 6-for-12 in the first half, 8-for-12 in the second to stun the Tigers, who had been holding opponents to a Big 12-leading 28.9 percent from beyond the arc.

27, 18, 3, 12-for-13: The stat line for Missouri junior forward Leo Lyons in Tuesday’s loss to the Cowboys. Lyons scored a career-high 27 points, grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, matched a career-high with three blocked shots and shot 12-for-13 from the field. Lyons leads the Big 12 in field-goal percentage, shooting 62.4 percent on the season.

75: The number of points Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley and Bill Walker combined to score in a loss to Baylor on Saturday. The rest of the team only had 11 as the Wildcats fell 92-86 in Waco, Texas.

They Said It

“We stunk. We stunk in large part because of OSU and in large part because of the crowd too. We didn’t play with much poise.” — Kansas coach Bill Self when talking to reporters after Saturday’s 61-60 loss at Oklahoma State

“D.J. was great, but then D.J.’s always great.” — Texas coach Rick Barnes after watching All-American guard D.J. Augustin score 24 points, hand out five assists and pick up four steals in a win at Kansas State

“They made some shots from way deep. I always tell our guys, ‘If they make them from 23 (feet), you’ve got to make them shoot from 25, 26.’ But I think they made one from 25.” — Missouri coach Mike Anderson after watching Oklahoma State shoot 14 for 24 from 3-point range in a two-point victory over the Tigers

Key Upcoming Games

Saturday, March 1
Texas A&M at Oklahoma
This one might qualify as a must-win for the Sooners, who have lost two in a row after Wednesday’s 63-45 loss to Nebraska. It was the second straight game Oklahoma was held to 45 points. Jeff Capel’s team has fallen into a four-way tie for sixth place in the Big 12 standings, putting its NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy. The Aggies were in similarly dire straights before Wednesday’s 98-54 pummeling of visiting Texas Tech. They’ve still dropped three of their last four and could use a win to feel more secure about their place in March Madness.

Kansas State at Kansas
The Jayhawks need a win to keep alive their fading hopes of catching Texas and claiming a share of the Big 12 title. They also could be looking to make a statement against the team that handed them their first loss of the season on Jan. 30 in Manhattan, Kan. That game snapped Kansas’ 24-game road winning streak against its in-state rivals. But it’s the Wildcats for whom this game is most important because they’re limping into March after losing three in a row.

Wednesday, March 5
Texas A&M at Baylor
The last time these two teams met, it took five overtimes to decide the winner. Do I hear six? Depending on what happens Saturday against Oklahoma, the Aggies’ NCAA hopes could rest on this game. The Bears have to feel more secure about their postseason chances after winning back-to-back games against Kansas State at home and Colorado on the road.

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