Texas basketball's elusive home win places NCAA Tournament within Longhorns' sight | Bohls

Rodney Terry recently received a congratulatory call from a former boss of his. Of sorts.

His one-time mentor wished him well after the second-year Texas coach notched the 200th win of his college head coaching career.

With one caveat, of course.

“He also told me, ‘Don’t ever forget the 100-plus losses you’ve had, too,’ ” Terry related with a chuckle Saturday. “You’ve got 170 on that side as well.”

It’s 172, to be exact. Most of them came from his days as the top man at Fresno State and UTEP.

But four of the setbacks had come in his previous five games at Moody Center.

So Terry didn’t need any extra reminders to stay humble of late. The disastrous home record in Big 12 play more than accomplished that.

But he posted another win on the left side of that ledger Saturday with a dominant 94-58 trouncing of lowly West Virginia that puts the Longhorns back on track to stamp their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.

More: Texas football may be on the verge of becoming the newest NFL assembly line | Bohls

Texas has NCAA Tournament in its sights

At 5-6 in league play now, Texas stands a very reasonable chance of reaching the Big Dance for the fourth consecutive year and 21st time in the past 24 seasons, excepting the pandemic-canceled season.

Not that Terry lets such forward thinking creep into the conversations in the locker room.

“I’ll be honest: Even last year we didn’t talk about” the postseason, Terry said. “We talk all the time about controlling what we can control, living where our feet are, blocking out all the noise.”

And there’s been plenty of outside noise.

Missing the postseason was a very real possibility until this momentum-building win. It was a much-needed salve because Texas was in danger of crippling its NCAA hopes had it fallen to 4-7 in Big 12 action. The Longhorns still have as tough a remaining road schedule as anyone in the country with trips to No. 5 Houston, No. 4 Kansas, No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 23 Baylor. Texas is likely to be an underdog in all four.

But Terry’s crew also has three home games left against unranked opponents Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. Win those three, and I could almost promise you Texas is in.

More: On Second Thought: Why Texas football Steve Sarkisian is obsessed with winning a title

All signs pointing up after key Big 12 win

Given the Big 12’s strength and the fact that ESPN already projects 10 of its teams in the 68-team field, Texas could probably get an at-large invitation even with an 8-10 record. That would require a 3-4 league mark down the stretch. And if the Longhorns play anywhere remotely as they did Saturday, they’d be a lock to get a bid. Heck, Joe Lunardi’s already got ’em penciled in as a 7 seed, playing 10 seed A&M, of all schools.

Admittedly, the Mountaineers are on the lower rung of the league and ranked dead last in both offense and defense. And before a packed house of 10,073 at Moody Center, the Longhorns had an offensive flow that resulted in 17 fast-break points, eight dunks and balanced scoring with five in double figures.

The reliable Dylan Disu was virtually unstoppable, putting on a show with 27 points, 21 of them coming from behind the arc.

“We definitely feel we were locked in from the jump,” Disu said.

We’ll even overlook his one rebound.

More: Texas softball's Mac Morgan throws a no-hitter as Longhorns open season 2-0

An even more encouraging sign was the offensive display by the starting backcourt.

The struggling Tyrese Hunter, who incredibly went scoreless at oh-for-8 in almost 33 minutes against Iowa State, and sure shooter Max Abmas scored 19 points apiece and combined for 16 of the Big 12 school-record 28 assists on 36 buckets.

You can’t get more efficient than that. Getting Hunter out of his season-long funk and letting his defense fuel his offense will be critical down the stretch.

“We just have to come out and be aggressive,” Hunter said. “We don’t overthink it. We know the team we are.”

Or can be.

Texas can be a good team if it gets this kind of offense from Hunter and plays defense with more energy and better rotation, and much of that stems from the frantic play of new starter Chendall Weaver.

“I talked all week about Chendall Weaver and what he’s bringing,” West Virginia head coach Josh Eilert said. “He makes so many hustle plays. His enthusiasm, his tenacity has brought them an edge and to a different level.”

More: Signing day isn't just for recruiting: Texas adds no players to class, talks spring dates

Texas has to get points in transition because it too often gets bogged down in the half court, even with the dynamic Abmas having shifted to the primary ball-handler.

“It’s the hardest thing to do at any level. High school, college, pros,” Terry said of transition offense. “Every night in this league, you’re playing against a good defense, and you need easy baskets to execute your offense at a high level.”

In so doing, the unranked Longhorns served notice that they shouldn’t be such an afterthought quite yet.

Even considering the quality of opponent, they played like the team Terry has expected since the season began. Remember, the Longhorns have four Quad 1 victories, and at 3-2 on the road in league play, they were the only Big 12 team to have that many until Houston got past Cincinnati on Saturday.

More: We're in a new recruiting era, and Steve Sarkisian has Texas thriving in it | Golden

Granted, West Virginia did little for Texas’ strength of schedule, limping in with an 8-14 record and a 3-6 mark in conference play.

Yes, it was healthier with the return of 6-foot-11 center Jesse Edwards, who was still recovering from his fractured wrist when the Mountaineers toppled Texas in Morgantown on Jan. 13.  And this West Virginia team has beaten Kansas at home.

But West Virginia hasn’t won a road game all year. And it was no match for the inspired play by a Texas team eager to change the direction its season had headed.

“A team that plays with a sense of desperation usually comes out hungry,” Eilert said. “And they were certainly hungry.”

Ravenous, even.

If you’re Texas, that has to be the recipe for success moving forward.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas grabs rare win at Moody Center to bolster tournament chances