Longhorns Right at Home in Kansas City vs. Xavier: 'We're Used to Winning Here'
KANSAS CITY, MO. - Texas Longhorns coach Rodney Terry said it himself Thursday.
"Getting back to Kansas City wasn't easy," Terry said. "We had a great experience while we were here. So we're excited about being back in Kansas City."
The road back to Kansas City certainly hasn't been easy for the Longhorns, but they now find themselves in the all-too-familiar territory of T-Mobile Center, the site where they won the Big 12 Tournament title less than two weeks ago on March 11.
The second-seeded Longhorns, who held all three of their opponents to 60 points or fewer in the three big wins to clinch the tournament title, aren't shy to admit that they'll be drawing on this comfort ahead of Friday's matchup against the No. 3 seed Xavier Musketeers in the Sweet 16.
"We're used to winning here and we hope that continues and we take care of business," Texas forward Christian Bishop said.
Longhorns guard Sir'Jabari Rice, who averaged 12.3 points in the conference tournament, has spent less than a year in the Big 12 but is already comfortable with calling Kansas City a second home for the team.
"It's like a home away from home," Rice said. "We took care of business in the Big 12 Championship. We're familiar with the area, getting another win here would be nice ... but we're not satisfied."
Texas forward Brock Cunningham is as comfortable as anyone when it comes to winning at the T-Mobile. He's now got two Big 12 Tournament titles under his belt and followed the theme of comfort and confident that the team is wearing proudly.
"It feels good to be back," he said. "We have good memories and good energy within this gym and certain guys playing well. The familiarity with the area and with the gym is something that's going to make us more comfortable through this next game."
The Longhorns will have the tall task of proving that this comfort gives them an advantage when they tip-off against Xavier on Friday at 8:45 p.m. CT.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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