Prior to Saturday's massacre in Stillwater, I pointed out that Texas had absolutely dominated Keiton Page and Oklahoma State for going on three seasons, so you can understand why I'm terrified of saying anything about tonight's huge match up against the Baylor Bears. I seriously contemplated a reverse jinx post:
Scott Drew is, once again, overachieving in the regular season. Armed with the least talented team in the Big 12, Drew has nevertheless found a way to get this group to an impressive 9-5 mark in conference play, and they almost got to 10 wins on Saturday but narrowly missed the upset in Waco against Kansas State, falling 57-56. I never cease to marvel how a coach can so consistently get so much out of so little talent, but year in and year out, there's Scott Drew and Baylor, knocking on the postseason door with a team that has no business winning any games.
Fortunately, my brilliant colleague Reggieball has treated us to an excellent primer on the Bears personel, so I'll just tiptoe around anything resembling a prediction and just file a quick note on the huge stakes tonight.
A profile of Longhorn commit Tyrone Swoopes and the small Texas town that has helped shape him, from Horns Nation writer Max Olson.
It's a piece worth reading, as it provides perspective on Swoopes and the type of kid that he is.
Texas struggled in all three phases of the game on Sunday, managing just two runs on five hits while giving up five runs of which only two were earned thanks to two more errors by the infield. Taking the weekend as a whole, Texas fans should always be satisfied with a series win. If the Horns do this every weekend from now until the end of June they'll be national champs. But Texas cannot be happy with the offense's inability to breakthrough against Duke's Sunday pitching, and the difference between taking two of three every weekend and sweeping a series every now and then is the difference between hosting a regional and hosting a superregional.
A quick look at the good, bad and ugly of this weekend after the jump.
With Texas' important match-up against the Baylor Bears coming tonight, I thought it would be interesting to put together a statistical scouting report of five of the key players for the Baylor Bears. In going through this exercise, I think I can summarize the major points:
1) Pierre Jackson is probably the guy who worries me the most. He isn't the best player on Baylor, but he is pretty good, and clearly does much of the damage for the Baylor offense. He can get to the basket and create opportunities for himself and others, and he can knock down three point shots. He will be a major challenge for Texas. The Texas guards will have to keep Jackson out of the lane.
2) The Baylor big men are good. They are much more dangerous when they can catch a pass from a driving guard or crash the offensive glass. Both Perry Jones and Quincy Miller have nice looking jump shots (particularly Miller), but they both have a tendency to settle for shots from mid-range, which are seldom efficient shots even for the very best shooters. Texas will want to get Jones and Miller into settling mode.
More details, after the jump.
Texas was busy this week. After not landing a single commitment at the First Junior Day Texas got on a roll landing Jake Oliver, A'Shawn Robinson, Tyrone Swoopes and Kyle Hicks in consecutive days. All 4 were Texas' top targets at their respected positions. Texas is far from slowing down. RSJ is expected to commit to the Horns on Wednesday afternoon.
Talking points:
* Texas ends the QB debate, and signs Tyrone Swoopes. Huge get, but is the staff done at the position? J.T. Barrett is expected to be at JD2.
* A'Shawn Robinson pulls the shocker and commits to Texas early.
* Jake Oliver picks Texas. Darrell Wyatt is cashing in.
* Kyle Hicks went from a possible DB evaluation to a Texas' top RB target. How did the fast rising junior get here?
* The Second Junior Day looms large. Favorites for offers, Bill's Guys. I have an updated list.
* The County Fair is in swing. I'll share my thoughts. Spring ball begins February 28th.
"Theo:"So Kareem rebounds, right? Feeds Worthy on the break, over to A.C., to Magic, then back to Worthy! Right? "
[Karl shoots and kills the desk guard with a perfectly timed aim]
Oh that Theo.
Fire away Citizens.
Leadoff hitter Mark Payton had a big day offensively, going 3-4 with 2 RBI Saturday evening to give the Horns just enough offense to win the nightcap 5-3. Starting pitcher Hoby Milner gave up 3 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings and the Horns got excellent relief work from freshman Parker French (3 IP, 2 H, 2 K, 2 BB, 0 runs) and a perfect inning from Corey Knebel who picked up his second save on the young season. The Horns fell behind 2-0 early but responded immediately with 3 runs and never trailed after that. French picked up the game's biggest out, a bases loaded strikeout in the top of the 8th, which should be an encouraging sign for Longhorn fans everywhere.
We'll see another freshman pitcher on the mound today at noon as John Curtiss makes his Texas debut. Through two games the Horns have had 25 base runners but scored just 9 runs (sound familiar?), although the emergence of newbie Brooks Marlow and strong play of both CF Tim Maitland and RF Mark Payton suggests the Horns may have more offensive weapons than we were led to believe.
The Horns look to sweep Duke beginning at noon today on LHN. This'll be your open thread.
Sunday, Feb. 19, 2011 - 12 p.m. Central
Texas: RHP John Curtiss (Freshman)
Duke: RHP Robert Huber (4-1, 4.37 ERA)
Just two weeks ago, Arlington Martin running back Kyle Hicks wasn't even really on the Texas radar, even though he was coming off a productive junior campaign after making the move to running back following his sophomore season. At the first Texas Junior Day, he received his Texas offer and nearly committed, but opted to hold off until Hookem.com broke the news of his commitment on Saturday.
A lifelong Texas fan, Hicks ended his burgeoning recruitment despite increasing national attention (recent offers from Arkansas, Michigan, and Notre Dame), becoming the fifth commitment in the 2013 Longhorn class and the fourth in four days, helping to consolidate the recruiting momentum established by pledges from Dallas Jesuit wide receiver Jake Oliver, Fort Worth Arlington Heights offensive lineman/defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson, and Whitewright quarterback Tyrone Swoopes.
In the overall narrative, it's been known since the commitment of Aledo star Johnathan Gray last spring that recruiting would become difficult at the running back position due to the depth on campus. Florida native Keith Ford of Cypress Ranch is the top running back in the state and Pearland Dawson back James White has Texas connections with former teammate Kennedy Estelle set to enroll in the summer, but running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator Major Applewhite zeroed in on Hicks recently and continued his stellar run on the recruiting trail by quickly securing his commitment.
Coming off of four straight wins, it looked like a Texas basketball team was finally peaking at the right time to take some momentum into March and secure a tournament bid that had been in serious jeopardy prior to those victories. A career-high 40 points from Oklahoma State senior guard Keiton Page and a massive advantage at the foul line (56 to 18) helped the Pokes kill any and all Longhorn momentum with a crushing, infuriating, frustrating, disappointing, unacceptable 90-78 loss on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.
Silly, senseless fouls helped the Cowboys bury the 'Horns in the first half behind 27 points from Page, who had scored only 21 in the previous five games against Texas and had, in fact, not scored a single basket from the field in the friendly confines of GIA since 2009. But the 'Horns fouled Paige three times on jumpshots in the first half, including two behind the arc when big men left their feet in ill-advised attempts to impact the diminutive guard's shots and another two trips to the line when Page was fouled off the ball.
Combine that with a defensive breakdown from Texas guard Julien Lewis early in the game that allowed Page an easy look at the basket to increase his confidence and Page was on his way to a career night.
