Shaka Smart has one of the youngest teams (and starting lineups) of any Power Five conference school, and yet the Texas program is expected to take a step forward. The agile No. 23 Texas Longhorns came into 2016-17 stacked with long and lean talent, equipped to run Smart’s vaunted “havoc” – a stifling, pit bull brand of defense, involving picking up and trapping from anywhere on the court.
Sophomore guards Kerwin Roach Jr. and Eric Davis Jr. are expected to be coaches on the floor. It’ll be critical for the duo to progress into higher percentage three-point shooters, to go along with their apparent leadership and defensive doggedness. Tevin Mack (17.0 ppg, 55% 3p%) and Kendal Yancy are taking steps forward from the wing. As potential lottery picks, both the explosive guard Andrew Jones and center Jarrett Allen have had their way with lesser competition to start the season.
Smart’s desired defensive effect seemed to have taken hold. Off to a much better start than last year’s 2-3 stumble, the Horns were trending in the right direction, now. They’d yet to have a true measuring stick at this early juncture, not having faced any bigger, more skilled teams on the road. That changed on Monday night.
Coming off dominating back-to-back 20-plus-point wins over Louisiana-Monroe and Eastern Washington, they squared off against their best competition on Monday night, bullied into a 77-58 loss to (former Duke Blue Devil) Chris Collins-led Northwestern Wildcats at the 10th annual Legends Classic at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The tourney’s Big 10 representative, expected to be middle of the pack of their conference, brought physicality and pushed the Horns around from tip – quickly building a 10-1 lead to start, and closed the first half with a 9-0 run. Particularly effective in the paint, Northwestern shot well – 48% FG, 42% 3p%, and 13-16 from the line. Junior guards Scottie Lindsey and Bryant McIntosh scored a combined 36 points, going 5-14 from three.
Aside from a respectable performance by sophomore Tevin Mack, who led with 18 points off the bench, Texas’ guards typically found themselves pounding the ball in isolation, and then usually drove into the chests of Wildcat defenders. Other times, Texas wasted possessions by casually walking through sets and forcing post-ups with burly senior forward Shaquille Cleare and super frosh Jarrett Allen, who were mostly ineffective from the low blocks. Spacing became an issue, as Northwestern lacked respect for Texas’ long-range shooting. Not helping themselves when they drew fouls, Texas made only 13 of 27 free throws.
Lacking Smart’s brand of connectedness, Texas struggled defensively for large stretches, playing tight, feet in quicksand. Smart suggested his young squad played like a team not quite ready for the prime time. “I was a little bit concerned this morning because sometimes you can feel when guys get in the bright lights, you can tell they’re playing a little bit away from what really goes into it,” Smart said. “It’s natural. I think we were a step off with a lot of things we know how to do.”
This article appears in November 25 • 2016.
