Texas Longhorns hit the road to face Kansas State
The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are on the hot seat this week starting Monday at Kansas State in a key Big 12 match before heading to face Connecticut on Saturday.
One of my biggest complaints about sports these days is the inequity in schedules with television so often dictating the slates. Tthe imbalances can have a big say in final standings.
In this case, however, the schedule-makers for college basketball got it right. Perhaps they just got lucky, but I'm not about to argue with the results regardless of how they came about.
The No. 1 Texas Longhorns travel to Manhattan on Monday to take on the Kansas State Wildcats, the first of two tough road games on tap this week for Rick Barnes' top-ranked club. K-State, after being ranked No. 12/13 in the two polls last week, could rise back into the Top 10 when Monday's new polls are released.
When the No. 1 team plays in any sport, it's a big game and naturally draws interest. But what makes this one even more intriguing is the common opponent both the 'Horns and Wildcats faced last week, my own Texas Aggies. In both cases, Kansas State and Texas were at home when they caught A&M on the Big 12 schedule. But that is where the similarities in the two games end.
The Aggies went into Bramlage Coliseum last Tuesday at a bad time. The Wildcats were in a bad mood coming off a loss at Missouri, and Texas A&M has always struggled in Manhattan, never winning at Bramlage.
That trend continued with K-State taking the contest in an 88-65 rout as a nine-point favorite. Most of the game was played at the charity stripe with the teams combining for 70 free throws, KSU sinking 24 of 31 and A&M dropping in 23 of 39. That was to be expected from two teams that score a ton from the line. The Wildcats lead the nation with 22.5 points per game via free throws with Texas A&M 10th in the country at 19.5 per contest.
The Aggies' poor shooting was not limited to the free throw line as they were able to convert on just two of 17 three-point tries and made only 36.4 percent of all field goals.
How much the Aggies might have been looking towards their Saturday showdown in Austin against the Longhorns isn't known. But judging by the game Texas A&M played against the Longhorns, it's safe to say the Ags were indeed up for the battle.
Up by nine at the half and by 10 in the second half, A&M never trailed Texas in the contest...until overtime. Listed as 14 ½-point underdogs the Aggies missed a great chance to beat a No. 1 team for the first time in school history, eventually falling 72-67.
You can bet that Kansas State head coach Frank Martin has looked at the film from the A&M-UT game to see just how the Aggies were able to shut down the big man in the middle for the Longhorns, Dexter Pittman. The senior center's four points in the game all came from the line with Pittman missing all five shots he took from the field. He was, however, still a force on the defensive end with six blocks.
Texas and Kansas State split their two meetings last season with the Wildcats upsetting the Longhorns in Austin during the regular season, 88-81, as 9 ½-point underdogs. The answer Martin and KSU had for that win was one Denis Clemente who lit up the scoreboard with a career-high 44 points that included a perfect six-for-six from long range.
The Longhorns won the rematch at the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City, 61-58. Texas was favored by three in that one to give bettors the push, and it was the Pittman show with the big guy leading the 'Horns with 19 points while pulling down a whopping 20 boards. Clemente was well off in the second game, hitting just four of 20 from the field (two of eight behind the arc) for a 10-point day.
Neither team can focus on one player, and at the same time neither can afford to let one player beat them. As A&M found out on Saturday, the Texas roster is deep. The Aggies shut Pittman down, but Damion James beat them up with a season-high 26points and 12 rebounds, his 10th double-double of the year. If Texas focuses too much on Clemente, Jacob Pullen could beat them. Pullen leads the Wildcats with 19.7 points per game.
Just as I felt Jamar Samuels was the key for KSU last week against the Aggies, the 6-foot-7 soph is going to be a big key for them in this one. He will find himself taking on both James and Gary Johnson in this one.
Just how close is this game expected to be? Pinnacle opened it as a pick 'em while Bookmaker and TheGreek started it with Texas the one-point favorite. Bookmaker's line dropped to pick almost immediately.
If you're into history, K-State is 7-1-1 ATS the last nine meetings between the schools, including that Big 12 tourney contest from a year ago. However, the ATS record is 1-1-1 the last three meetings, and Texas is 3-2 straight up at Bramlage since Rick Barnes took the reins.
One thing in Barnes' favor should be that the quick turnaround from Saturday's escape against A&M. That should make it easier to keep his team focused on this game instead of looking ahead to its Saturday date in Storrs against a slipping UConn squad. Sorta' strange to think that Texas is going to be smaller chalk against K-State than it will likely be at the Huskies.
ESPN has this broadcast with the tip slated for 9 p.m. (ET).
The No. 1 Texas Longhorns are on the hot seat this week starting Monday at Kansas State in a key Big 12 match before heading to face Connecticut on Saturday.
One of my biggest complaints about sports these days is the inequity in schedules with television so often dictating the slates. Tthe imbalances can have a big say in final standings.
In this case, however, the schedule-makers for college basketball got it right. Perhaps they just got lucky, but I'm not about to argue with the results regardless of how they came about.
The No. 1 Texas Longhorns travel to Manhattan on Monday to take on the Kansas State Wildcats, the first of two tough road games on tap this week for Rick Barnes' top-ranked club. K-State, after being ranked No. 12/13 in the two polls last week, could rise back into the Top 10 when Monday's new polls are released.
When the No. 1 team plays in any sport, it's a big game and naturally draws interest. But what makes this one even more intriguing is the common opponent both the 'Horns and Wildcats faced last week, my own Texas Aggies. In both cases, Kansas State and Texas were at home when they caught A&M on the Big 12 schedule. But that is where the similarities in the two games end.
The Aggies went into Bramlage Coliseum last Tuesday at a bad time. The Wildcats were in a bad mood coming off a loss at Missouri, and Texas A&M has always struggled in Manhattan, never winning at Bramlage.
That trend continued with K-State taking the contest in an 88-65 rout as a nine-point favorite. Most of the game was played at the charity stripe with the teams combining for 70 free throws, KSU sinking 24 of 31 and A&M dropping in 23 of 39. That was to be expected from two teams that score a ton from the line. The Wildcats lead the nation with 22.5 points per game via free throws with Texas A&M 10th in the country at 19.5 per contest.
The Aggies' poor shooting was not limited to the free throw line as they were able to convert on just two of 17 three-point tries and made only 36.4 percent of all field goals.
How much the Aggies might have been looking towards their Saturday showdown in Austin against the Longhorns isn't known. But judging by the game Texas A&M played against the Longhorns, it's safe to say the Ags were indeed up for the battle.
Up by nine at the half and by 10 in the second half, A&M never trailed Texas in the contest...until overtime. Listed as 14 ½-point underdogs the Aggies missed a great chance to beat a No. 1 team for the first time in school history, eventually falling 72-67.
You can bet that Kansas State head coach Frank Martin has looked at the film from the A&M-UT game to see just how the Aggies were able to shut down the big man in the middle for the Longhorns, Dexter Pittman. The senior center's four points in the game all came from the line with Pittman missing all five shots he took from the field. He was, however, still a force on the defensive end with six blocks.
Texas and Kansas State split their two meetings last season with the Wildcats upsetting the Longhorns in Austin during the regular season, 88-81, as 9 ½-point underdogs. The answer Martin and KSU had for that win was one Denis Clemente who lit up the scoreboard with a career-high 44 points that included a perfect six-for-six from long range.
The Longhorns won the rematch at the Big 12 tournament in Oklahoma City, 61-58. Texas was favored by three in that one to give bettors the push, and it was the Pittman show with the big guy leading the 'Horns with 19 points while pulling down a whopping 20 boards. Clemente was well off in the second game, hitting just four of 20 from the field (two of eight behind the arc) for a 10-point day.
Neither team can focus on one player, and at the same time neither can afford to let one player beat them. As A&M found out on Saturday, the Texas roster is deep. The Aggies shut Pittman down, but Damion James beat them up with a season-high 26points and 12 rebounds, his 10th double-double of the year. If Texas focuses too much on Clemente, Jacob Pullen could beat them. Pullen leads the Wildcats with 19.7 points per game.
Just as I felt Jamar Samuels was the key for KSU last week against the Aggies, the 6-foot-7 soph is going to be a big key for them in this one. He will find himself taking on both James and Gary Johnson in this one.
Just how close is this game expected to be? Pinnacle opened it as a pick 'em while Bookmaker and TheGreek started it with Texas the one-point favorite. Bookmaker's line dropped to pick almost immediately.
If you're into history, K-State is 7-1-1 ATS the last nine meetings between the schools, including that Big 12 tourney contest from a year ago. However, the ATS record is 1-1-1 the last three meetings, and Texas is 3-2 straight up at Bramlage since Rick Barnes took the reins.
One thing in Barnes' favor should be that the quick turnaround from Saturday's escape against A&M. That should make it easier to keep his team focused on this game instead of looking ahead to its Saturday date in Storrs against a slipping UConn squad. Sorta' strange to think that Texas is going to be smaller chalk against K-State than it will likely be at the Huskies.
ESPN has this broadcast with the tip slated for 9 p.m. (ET).
