After home loss to Texas Tech, what's next for the Texas men's basketball team?
One game into its Big 12 schedule, the Texas men’s basketball team is already approaching crisis mode.
What happened to the Texas defense in a 78-67 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday at Moody Center? What happened to the bench? And what, exactly, will happen when a conference heavyweight such as Kansas or Houston visits the madhouse at Moody if the Longhorns (11-3, 0-1) can’t hold serve against a solid Tech program that's not expected to contend for the Big 12 title?
A calm and collected Rodney Terry didn’t have the answers during his postgame press conference Saturday. But he knows the questions can change on a game-by-game basis in the Big 12, which tipped off Saturday with a wild Kansas win over TCU, Cincinnati upsetting BYU and Baylor surviving Oklahoma State in overtime.
“The Big 12 is going to be a gantlet every night,” Terry said. “You’ve got to bring your A game whether you're at home or on the road. But that's what you want. That's what you signed up for. You can only keep these games with you for one night, whether you win or lose, because the next game is going to be another big game for you.”
That next game will come quickly for Texas, which makes a two-game road trip into the Big 12 hinterlands with Tuesday’s visit to Cincinnati and a Saturday game at West Virginia. The Longhorns won’t play at Moody Center again until they face Central Florida on Jan. 17, when they’ll try to recapture what had been close to an air of invincibility on the still-sparkling new court. Before the loss Saturday, Texas had dropped only one home game over the first two seasons of playing in Moody, which opened in the spring of 2022.
More: Big 12 play is here, but Texas coach Rodney Terry wants a better nonconference home slate
Winning in Austin always appreciated by in-state foes
Before Saturday, Texas Tech had won just four times in its previous 27 trips to Austin. The victory was especially gratifying for first-year Tech coach Grant McCasland, who grew up in Irving and played for Baylor in the 1990s as a scrappy, 5-foot-9 walk-on. He recalled his first game in Austin at the Erwin Center, the Horns’ longtime home, which is undergoing a slow-motion demolition.
“One of my first times going in a game was actually at the Erwin Center, and Tom Penders was the coach,” McCasland said. “I went in the game, and, obviously, I wasn't on the scouting report because coach Penders goes, ‘Who the blank is that?’”
McCasland grinned at the memory, especially since Penders made an appearance at Moody on Saturday to watch the program he coached for a decade in the late 1980s and 1990s. McCasland also recalled a rare victory that Baylor had in Austin during his college days, when the celebration matched the raucous party in the Red Raiders' locker room.
“I was blessed to be on a team that had a win (here) one year, and we celebrated as much in this locker room as we did in any win ever,” he said. “I told the (Texas Tech) guys that it’s just what it is in the state. Obviously, a ton of respect for the program here, (and) it’s always big to win here.”
More: Breaking down Big 12 basketball: How did the teams fare in nonconference play?
How did Texas Tech win, and what does it mean for the season?
The Red Raiders controlled the game behind an efficient offense and a defensive focus on guarding the paint. Embattled Texas Tech guard Pop Isaacs scored a game-high 21 points while playing under the shadow of a civil lawsuit accusing him of sexually assaulting a minor earlier in the season on a team trip to the Bahamas. Veteran guard Joe Toussaint had 15 points, and big man Warren Washington added 15 points and stellar interior defense against Texas forwards Dylan Disu and Kaden Shedrick.
Overall, Texas Tech shot nearly 53% from the floor and became just the second team this season to hold Texas under 70 points.
“We knew if we got stops, our offense would flow right,” Washington said. “So naturally, our only focus was on clamping down and just getting stops.”
Texas guard Max Abmas, the team’s leading scorer, had 18 points but endured some rough moments on defense. At times, Texas Tech seemed to target the 6-foot graduate transfer from Oral Roberts.
“We’ve got to play with that effort,” Abmas said. “Coaches watch a lot of film and put together a good game plan. For us, we've got to go out there and be better on the defensive end.”
Texas also has to be better off the bench. Terry played a tight rotation with only six players seeing double-digit minutes. Guard Ithiel Horton, who came off the bench for 13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over UT-Arlington on Jan. 1, didn’t score a point in nine minutes. Energizer guard Chendall Weaver also played just nine minutes, and reserve big man Ze’Rik Onyema didn’t see any action for the second consecutive game.
Terry said “fouls and matchups” dictated his substitution pattern against Texas Tech, but he still expects his bench to be a strength this season.
“For the better part of the year, our bench has been really good in terms of coming in and scoring the ball for us and giving us a lift, and they'll continue to do that,” Terry said. ““We've had rotations where we’ve played nine, 10 guys all year long. We've had great production from our bench all year long, and we've had a next-man mentality all year long in terms of guys getting the opportunity to come in and be factors in the game.
“We're still a work in progress, and I'll do a better job coaching our guys in getting the urgency that we need to have from a defensive standpoint, that we have to have every night in the Big 12.”
The Longhorns’ only other loss at Moody Center came in last season’s Big 12 opener against Kansas State. Texas rebounded nicely while finishing second in the 2022-23 conference standings and winning the Big 12 Tournament. Could the team follow a similar pattern this season?
Guard Tyrese Hunter, who had 20 points against Texas Tech a game after recording a season-high 23 points against UT-Arlington, knows the challenge ahead.
“Putting yourself in a hole, it's going to be tough, but it’s the Big 12,” he said. “Every game is going to be a dogfight.”
Tuesday's game
No. 20 Texas (11-3, 0-1) at Cincinnati (12-2, 1-0), 6 p.m., ESPN+, 1300
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: What's next for the Texas men's basketball team after loss to Tech?
