Texas Basketball: Brock Cunningham Questionable for Texas Tech
Texas' bad luck on the injury front continued this week with news breaking that Brock Cunningham suffered a twisted ankle in practice.
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound redshirt freshman from Westlake has risen to become a major part of Texas' late-season run.
After playing just 42 minutes in Texas' first 26 games, Cunningham logged 106 minutes of playing time during the Longhorns' five-game win streak, averaging 4.2 points and five rebounds a game.
"What you see on the court is what you see in practice," teammate Andrew Jones said. "I love his competitive spirit."
"(He is) that guy you don't want to play against, but you love playing with," guard Matt Coleman III said.
Should Cunningham be unavailable, Texas will take on the defending Big 12 Champions with only seven healthy players after injuries have decimated the Longhorn lineup.
Texas sits firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble following an up-and-down regular season that included a four-game losing streak, a five-game winning streak and a blowout home loss to an Oklahoma State team that comes into the Big 12 Tournament toiling near the bottom of the standings.
Many college basketball insiders see the game between the Longhorns and Red Raiders as a potential play-in contest for the NCAA Tournament with the loser potentially on the outside looking in for the Big Dance.
“For us, it’s more about focusing on how we can win," Shaka Smart said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday. "What are the things we need to do to be successful? Then putting 100% of our attention into that.”
The Longhorns and Red Raiders tip off at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday morning.