Four Point Play: Longhorns prevail over Creighton 72-67 in down-to-the wire win

Not since December 22, 2009 had Texas won a matchup between two top-10 teams in Austin. That changed on Thursday as the No. 2 Longhorns defeated the No. 7 Creighton Bluejays 72-67 as part of the Big 12-Big East Battle.

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Here are four thoughts on the important win for Chris Beard’s program, which arguably boasts the hottest team in the country.

Protecting the basketball

The Longhorns took care of the basketball to an elite degree on Thursday night. Across 40 minutes in a game where the largest lead for either team was only 11, Texas turned the ball over just three times, and none were in the last five minutes of the game.

According to Sports Reference data that goes as far back as the 2010-11 season, that’s the lowest turnover total for the Longhorns since a four turnover game versus Cal in 2019.

Texas relied on its experienced guard corps of Marcus Carr, Tyrese Hunter, and Sir’Jabari Rice to capably lead the Longhorn offense in both the half-court and transition throughout the night. That experience rewarded the Longhorns as that group combined for an 8-to-1 turnover ratio.

It’s rare for any team, let alone Texas in the past decade-plus, to have five or fewer turnovers, let alone just three. It may be the closest Beard’s been to perfection as a Division I coach since a two turnover game with Texas Tech in a loss at West Virginia on January 25, 2021.

Not only did the main duo of Carr and Hunter turn the ball over just once in each player’s 34 minutes on the court, they led the Longhorns’ scoring efforts. Carr scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting, including 2-of-5 from three. Hunter, who had to leave the game for a short amount of time in the second half after knocking knees with a Bluejay, added 15 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

None may have been easier than his final dunk off an inbound play to give Texas a six-point lead with 18 seconds left.

Texas’ hasn’t seen the level of guard play it’s getting from Hunter and Carr at the 1 and 2 in quite some time, and those two plus Rice not only are big reasons’ behind Texas’ win over Creighton, but the Longhorns’ 6-0 overall record.

Poise at key junctures in the second half

Texas entered halftime with a 32-27 lead thanks to a 8-2 run in the final 2:30 of the opening 20 minutes. It carried the momentum that a 10,896-person crowd typically offers.

However, he first few minutes of the second half were extremely frantic for the Longhorns, and the momentum Texas had entered the locker room with quickly was sucked out of the building that had a smattering of Bluejay fans present.

Creighton had a hot start while Texas was out of sorts from the opening possession to the under-16 timeout. What had ballooned to an eight-point Texas lead was cut to just one when Creighton hit two free throws coming out of the media break.

After those freebies, the Longhorns played a style closer to what they had showed entering halftime. Rice hit a three-pointer, then Carr did the same. Christian Bishop then hit a layup in the paint to cap an 8-0 run and force Creighton to use a timeout. Texas would make it an 11-point lead, it’s largest of the night, on the other side.

Texas held the margin around that number until the Bluejays made a late run. Baylor Scheierman, who had started 0-for-10 from the field, hit his last four shots in the last four minutes, including two threes with under 30 seconds left.

In order to win the game, Texas would need to showcase poise on the inbound play and also at the line. Carr and Brock Cunningham calmly stepped to the line after successful passes and ensuing Creighton fouls, and after timeouts called by Beard no less, before nailing all four crucial shots to seal the victory.

Picking poison on defense without one of the best post options full go

One of Creighton’s strengths entering the game was its balanced scoring. The five starters on Greg McDermott’s squad all averaged over 12.0 points per game, with 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner averaging a cool 16.1 PPG.

If Kalkbrenner was the person typically charged with drawing defenders in, then Scheierman’s usual role is to bring defenders out. However, he started 0-for-9 from beyond the arc.

That didn’t make the task of defending Kalkbrenner any easier, though. Beard described UT big man Dylan Disu postgame as “banged up” and only having gone through a “limited week of practice.” The tallest player on the Longhorn roster played three minutes in the second half.

The task of guarding the Creighton 7-footer then fell to the trio of Cunningham, Bishop, and Dillon Mitchell. Their comparative lack of length was punished by Kalkbrenner. He was 4-for-5 from the field and pulled down 10 rebounds in just the second half. Until Scheierman heated up, he was the main source of offense for Creighton.

Texas made life difficult for the big man, often throwing two or three defenders his direction, a gambit that paid off since Creighton managed a paltry 4-for-27 night from behind the arc.

Disu’s status is something to monitor going forward, as the Longhorns need him to maintain a post presence against other vertically gifted players on their schedule. But the salty trio of Cunningham, Mitchell, and Bishop were able to do just enough to help Texas survive Kalkbrenner on Thursday night.

What this means for the current team

-Texas has marquee wins against the top two teams on its early non-conference schedule. The high highs that Gonzaga and Creighton offer may be offset by the low lows of some of the other non-conference opponents. Still, when the selection committee starts making hard decisions on seed-lines, wins like this will stand out, especially with the assumption both the Bulldogs and the Bluejays will have strong 2022-23 campaigns.

-Hunter is the best Longhorn guard since? The answer to that question isn’t quite clear yet. There have been good guards in recent years for Texas, like Matt Coleman, Isaiah Taylor, Avery Bradley, and Cory Joseph. Hunter is only just starting his Texas journey, but he’s showcasing why he was the Big 12 freshman of the year last season with Iowa State and such a valuable addition to the Longhorns for this campaign.

-Even with a 6 p.m. tip and typical Austin traffic, the Moody Center was rowdy and engaged from start to finish. Winning begets winning, and wins on the court will lead to more fans in the stands when the team starts going through the Big 12 slate. Beard even made a point to thank the Corral after the game, as did members of the roster.

–Timmy Allen scored a season-high 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting and also brought down a team-high 10 rebounds. He added four assists for good measure.

-Mitchell scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting and showcased some touch in the midrange.

-Cunningham scored two points, but they were the most important points of the night.

-Bishop was 3-of-6 from the field and had six points against his old team. He calmly led a fast break late to supply Hunter with a bucket leading to his only assist of the night.

-Texas travels to New York City for a game versus Illinois on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden.