Texas Basketball: How to Watch Texas vs. Texas Tech
Texas blew a double-digit lead at home in the first meeting, then survived a knock-down, drag-out donnybrook in Lubbock to even the series, now the rubber match between the Longhorns and Red Raiders might be for an NCAA Tournament berth.
In a contest that is being called a "play-in game" by many in the national and local media, Texas and Texas Tech meet in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday morning.
Texas head coach Shaka Smart understands the stakes but has his team focused on the task at hand.
“It’s not like if we write that on our whiteboard that all of a sudden our guys are going to play harder,” Smart told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram."
The Longhorns' roller-coaster season has included a four-game losing streak followed immediately by a five-game winning streak capped off by an embarrassing blowout home loss to Oklahoma State in the regular-season finale.
The underlying key to the ups and downs seems to be on defense. More particularly the 60-point mark. In their last ten games, the Longhorns are 5-1 when holding opponents under 60 points with the lone loss coming to then No. 1 Baylor. They are 0-4 when their opponents topple the 60-point mark.
All of this means the Longhorns will likely have to get gritty to beat the 2019 national runner up and they may have to do it without one of their grittiest players in Brock Cunningham, who suffered an ankle injury in practice this week.
That means guys like Kai Jones, Royce Ham Jr. and Will Baker will have to pick up the slack in the paint.
On offense, Texas needs a couple of guards to be on when it comes to shooting the ball. The Longhorns triple-headed guard rotation of Matt Coleman III, Courtney Ramey and Andrew Jones are all capable of lighting it up from beyond the arch in the right situation
Texas vs. Texas Tech
11:30 a.m. Central Time
Watch: The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Radio: The Longhorn IMG Radio Network will carry the game. Check www.TexasSports.com for a list of affiliates.