After what he saw in the Marquette loss, Rodney Terry wants more toughness from Texas
Effort. Want-to. Grit.
Those three words came up often when Texas men’s basketball coach Rodney Terry discussed Wednesday’s 86-65 loss to Marquette in one of the few marquee nonconference matchups for the Longhorns. And they came up often when Terry addressed what his team needs to do to close, which begins with a home contest against Houston Christian at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“I’ve watch the (Marquette) game numerous times, and I obviously have had a chance to watch it with our guys as well,” Terry said. “A thing that really stuck out in that game is that I've got to do a better job myself really instilling in our guys how hard we have to play. That was the glaring thing.”
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True to his philosophy, Terry said that starts with defense. He wasn’t overly concerned about his team’s 41.7% shooting against Marquette, which included a combined 11-for-35 from the floor by players other than Max Abmas (25 points) and Chendall Weaver (10 points). He downplayed an 0-for-6 night from point guard Tyrese Hunter
“We have to get back to the basics of trying to establish that we want to be a team that plays really hard on defense,” he said. “You don't have to play perfect, but you’ve got to play really hard.”
The Longhorns (6-2) have already lost to the two ranked foes — Marquette and UConn — on a rather drab nonconference schedule, and they’ll probably drop from a lofty No. 12 ranking in the current Associated Press poll. KenPom.com, a valued tool in projecting NCAA tournament teams in March, currently predicts Texas will go 19-12 on the season and 8-10 in Big 12 play.
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But Texas still must make one final journey in arguably the toughest conference in the nation before leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in the summer. There will be plenty of opportunities to get quality wins against conference foes such as Kansas, Houston, Baylor, BYU and Oklahoma, which are all ranked in the AP Top 25 this week.
“I mean, Houston Christian is the next big game because it’s the game right in front of us,” Terry said. “But there are lessons that we can take away from every game to get us ready for the Big 12. We had an incredible opportunity up there (at Marquette), but we just have to learn from it. It’s about the 50-50 balls, them playing harder than us, us executing and getting paint touches and not settling for jump shots.
“Houston Christian, they're not going to be intimidated by coming in and playing us here in the Moody, so we need to outcompete these guys and play harder than them.”
Saturday's game
Houston Christian at No. 12 Texas, 2 p.m., Moody Center, LHN, 1300
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas basketball coach Rodney Terry wants to see more toughness
