Longhorns' Chris Beard Sees Bout vs. Gonzaga as Win-Win: 'We Don't Lose These Games'
AUSTIN — Texas Longhorns coach Chris Beard knows that a win on the scoreboard over the No. 2 Gonzaga Bulldogs Wednesday night will be easier said than done.
While a victory could launch No. 12 Texas into the conversation as a potential title contender by taking down one of the country’s top programs, Beard sees the meeting with the Zags as a win-win regardless of the final score. But for a coach whose words speak volumes, his latest comments following Texas' 82-31 win over the Houston Christian Huskies Thursday could easily get taken out of context.
"The way I look at these games is, you know, we don't lose these games," Beard said. "We win the game, we maybe run out of time. But we're not going to lose Wednesday night. It's just too big of an opportunity for us to get better."
Last season, Beard and the Longhorns fell 86-74 to Gonzaga in Spokane in what was his second-ever game as Texas' head coach. The Horns led early but trailed by as many as 22 in game that never felt close in the second half.
But Beard feels his team grew after that early-season test.
“Our team got better last year at Gonzaga,” Beard said. “Wish we would have played better but give them a lot of credit.”
It's the same kind of "win" he's looking for this time around.
"We'll try to win on the scoreboard too,” he said.” But as he talked about because Gonzaga is really really good and we'll have to play really well to beat them this time of year.”
Texas (2-0) and Gonzaga (1-0) tip-off from the Moody Center on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. CT.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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