Texas Poised to Steal Big 12 Title

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

The Texas Longhorns (10-2) were selected to finish third in the Big 12 conference by the coaches before the season.

Texas returned four key players in Gary Johnson, J'Covan Brown, Dogus Balbay, and most importantly Jordan Hamilton. Hamilton was looked to fill the void of departed senior Damion James, and has done just that.

Freshman Tristian Thompson, and Cory Joseph only added to the star power and the Longhorns are looking great headed into conference play.

Last year, after an undefeated non-conference slate of games, and No. 1 ranking, Texas lack of a true point guard came back to hunt them.

Heading into Big 12 play this time around, Texas has enough star power to finish atop of the tough Big 12 conference.

Head Coach Rick Barnes has key wins over ranked teams such as Illinois, North Carolina and a huge win on the road against Michigan State.

Frosh Joseph has shown maturity by stepping up and making key plays down the stretch. With the game on the line against North Carolina, Josephs nailed what would be a game winner over Dexter Strickland with 1.4 seconds left.

Coach Barnes has always wanted freshman Josephs to be assertive in the offense, and since stepping up against the Tar Heels, he has become a totally different player.

He averages 11.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assist per game. He is also a great on-ball defender, and can make garbage plays on both ends of the floor.

His counterpart Thompson hasn't been short from magnificent either. Thompson currently leads the Longhorns in rebounding with eight per game, while chipping in 11.2 points.

Thompson's 17 points, and 15 rebounds helped Texas come up with a huge win on the road against the Spartans. Texas managed to finally hand Michigan State its first loss in 53 tries.

Once James graduated and took his talents to the NBA, coach Barnes immediately turned to his sophomore Hamilton to fill the void. Hamilton has been magnificent for Texas this season, and has shown signs of departed James.

Hamilton has been the biggest success story after being sidelined with injury for most of last year. Hamilton leads Texas in scoring with 19.5 points, while also adding 7.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assist per game.

In the past two games against worthy opponents, Hamilton has chipped in a total of 45 points, and 18 rebounds.

The x-factor this season is 6-foot-6 senior Johnson. All season, Johnson has come alive on the glass grabbing 7.3 boards per outing. He isn't shy in the scoring column either chipping in 11.8 points per game as well.

Texas latest win over Michigan State helped solidify its dominance as a basketball power. The Longhorns understand who their superstars are and the ball always seems to find them in late game situations.

The Longhorns are currently on a 4-game winning streak that highlights wins over North Carolina, and Michigan State.

Before the Longhorns can even think about a Big 12 title, they'll have a to win it through Kansas and Kansas State. Both of the two are very impressive Big 12 opponents, and could end up with the title when its all said and done.

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No. 22 Texas Longhorns Upset No. 16 Illinois in OT

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

The No. 16 Illinois Fighting Illini (3-1) came into the game with a huge advantage of having depth over the No. 22 Texas Longhorns (3-0).

Texas also had the advantage in the frontcourt averaging almost 50 rebounds per game.

The game was better than advertised. The see-saw affair needed more than 40-minutes to decide which team would play the No. 4 Pittsburgh Panthers in the championship game.

 Two freshman, Jereme Richmond and Corey Joseph both nailed shots to tie things up before the buzzer.

In overtime, Texas came out the gates with an 8-0 run that virtually put the Longhorns in the driver seat.

Despite two big three-point field goals by Illinois Bill Cole that pulled the game within three, the Longhorns hit two free throws in the final minute to pull away in the final seconds 90-84.

Tristian Thompson led all scorers with 20 points, seven rebounds, five blocks, and four assist. Jordan Hamilton continues to lead to the Longhorns in scoring with 25-points, with seven rebounds and three steals.

Gary Johnson (16), and Corey Joseph (10) were the other Longhorns in double-figures on the night. Despite their blemish at the free-throw line, shot 25-44 from the line, the Longhorns made key turnovers on defense to help pull away from the Illini.

Illinois picked up their first loss on the season, and that could have been a result to frontier force Mike Tisdale fouling out only picking up seven points and rebounds apiece.

Richmond also picked up his fifth foul in overtime, and that didn't help the Illini out either. Not to mention, the Illinois shot a daunting 37 percent from the line.

However, what doesn't show up in the stat book is Dougus Balbay's defense on McCamey. Balbay on finished with five points, eight rebounds, and three assist, but his defense is what sent the Longhorns to the winners circle.

Balbay played tough defense on one of the top guards in the nation, and did not let him touch the ball in key situations.

This is one of the reason why Texas could overcome a 22 point, eight assist, five rebound and two steal performance by the talented guard McCamey.

The Illini did not get much of a lift from their bench in the second half, although two reserves were in double-figures on the night; both Richmond with 11, and Brandon Paul with 12.

D.J. Richardson also checked in with 15, but the defense of Texas was too tough to overcome in overtime for the Illini. Texas moves on to face No. 4 Pitt in the championship, while Illinois will play Maryland in a third place game.

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