Carr, Texas fall short at home, 66-65, against Smith, K-State

As No. 23 Texas’ contest with Kansas State wound down to the final seconds, it was evident the game was going to be placed in Marcus Carr’s hands.

After all, Carr scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half. From the 11:59 mark with the game tied at 47 to his final score with 4:30 left, Carr scored 12 of Texas’ 16 points.

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“I was noticing that I could draw fouls, get to the free throw line, and from there confidence just started building,” Carr said postgame. “I just wanted to keep making plays.”

But note where that final score took place, with 4:30 left. Carr had the ball with Texas down one with just under a minute remaining and an opportunity to score or pass to Timmy Allen. However, K-State forced the ball to Texas’ third option and it resulted in a miss.

The Longhorns earned a stop on the other end, meaning they had one more opportunity to steal the victory. Still down one, Carr dribbled right and tried to hit a fadeaway at the buzzer. His shot was off the mark, and Texas dropped the Big 12 contest at home, 66-65.

“I thought K-State came in here tonight and they turned the game into a street fight,” Texas head coach Chris Beard said. “And were willing, able, and capable, and more than excited to be in a street fight. We had some players who looked like they got punched in the face a few times. We’ve got to be a lot more aggressive.”

Carr delivered a big game, shooting 6-of-13 from the field, 2-of-5 from three, and hitting 11-of-12 free throws. But his play was matched by K-State’s Mark Smith. The Wildcat guard scored 22 points, 12 in the second half, and brought down eight boards.

Texas’ also received double-figure scoring from Timmy Allen, who added 15 points in 37 minutes. He was the only other Longhorn with over 10 points, while Kansas State received 16 points from Nijel Pack and 13 points from Mike McGuirl.

Smith, Pack, and McGuirl combined to shoot 10-of-17 from the field in the second half and 20-of-35 for the game.

Carr’s miss was a deflating end to an exciting second half. In front of an announced 11,498, easily the most active and involved crowd of Beard’s tenure, Texas played quality defense on a number of second half possessions. Following the game, Beard credited the crowd for their energy and apologized for not being able to get the win.

Texas also had defensive miscues. Just ahead of the under-eight timeout, the Longhorns knocked the ball out of bounds with two seconds left on the shot clock. When play resumed, KSU inbounded to Smith in the corner, who hit a deep three-pointer to take a 55-53 lead.

“We just had some untimely mistakes,” Beard said. “Give them credit. They forced our mistakes, but we have to play a lot better with our assignments, all the way down to the out of bounds play with two seconds left on the clock. We know the exact play they’re going to run, we’re supposed to switch that screen and just didn’t do it.”

The Longhorns went on a 6-0 run following that basket that gave them a 59-55 lead. But McGuirl hit another three to make it a one-point game.

Carr responded with another three, countered by two Smith free throws, countered by an Allen layup and a Carr free throw to make it 65-60 Texas.

The defensive lapses that affected Texas most and decided the outcome came in the last four minutes of the game. Pack hit a jump shot with 3:13 just before the last media timeout. Allen missed both free throws on the next Texas possession after the stoppage, and KSU responded with two on the other end to cut the Texas lead to one. Andrew Jones then missed a jumper, which led to the go-ahead bucket on the other end with 1:13 left.

And in that final 1:13, Texas failed to score. But the Longhorns also failed to get to the line.

“You’ve got to get to the free throw line in the last four minutes of the game,” Beard said. “We the two or three fadeaway shots. We’ll just continue to work on that.”

The defeat drops Texas to 3-3 in Big 12 play, with the competition only getting more difficult from this juncture. Kansas State ranked No. 64 in KenPom’s rankings entering Tuesday’s game, good for tenth in the ten-team Big 12. In NET, which the NCAA selection committee uses as “the primary sorting tool for Division I men’s basketball,” the Wildcats also ranked last.

It won’t get any easier going forward with games versus Oklahoma State, at TCU, versus Tennessee, and at Texas Tech next in line for the Longhorns.

The Cowboys are round seven in what Beard calls an 18-round Big 12 fight. In his postgame press conference, he mentioned he can’t get too high or too low as a result. He has to prepare for the next game, but he’ll do so with disappointment from Tuesday’s result.

“Nothing gets under my skin, I just have a responsibility to coach this team,” Beard said. “That’s what I’m doing. Players will keep trying hard, and we’ll just keep working.”