Game Thoughts: UT 75, Stanford 73
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Cam Ridley. (Will Gallagher/IT)[/caption]
Overall Game Thoughts: Texas 75, Stanford 73
For the Horns, the game fit a familiar format. They jumped out to a decent lead but allowed Stanford to hang around, hang around, hang around as the Cardinal built some momentum late with some deep shot making and some help from Texas at the free throw line (also familiar).
Another thing that’s become familiar for Texas over the last six games? The Longhorns found a way to pull it out as Taylor’s floater with 1.1 left was just enough to give Texas a nice road win.
Offense:
It was the Isaiah and Kerwin show. Texas’ point guard duo were both locked in attack mode against a Stanford team that struggles with overall athleticism and help defense. Time after time both Taylor and Roach were able to turn the corner on ball screens or find penetration angles into Stanford’s zone. They turned those lane touches into 40 points on just 24 combined shots (Roach was a sizzling 6-7 overall).
The rest of the Longhorns were customarily solid. Ridley did a nice job of staying patient as Stanford shifted to a zone at the end of the first half and through much of the second. Mack was confident in looking for his shot and as a ball mover. Lammert was quiet as a scorer, but had four assists (two to Ridley in the paint that kept the big man engaged, which is key).
The struggles tell the familiar tale. The Longhorns shot only 4-10 from the foul line (including an 0-5 performance from the freshmen). Not much to say about that other than it will be a welcome time when the fish feel comfortable enough with the scale of the game to actually knock those down, confidently.
Then the turnovers were also a problem. Some of that stems from how aggressive Taylor and Roach were, but both Isaiah (three) and Kerwin (four) had some troubles with careless mistakes that led to giveaways.
You take the turnovers because it came when the Longhorns were taking the action to Stanford. The foul shots just suck balls.
Defense:
The numbers will look not great, but Texas executed their game plan expertly. The key is to keep Stanford out of the lane and make them execute from the three point line and on foul shots. Texas did both of those things.
The problem was that Stanford did some unfamiliar things to keep themselves in the game. For the season, the Cardinal had some 64% from the foul line as a team. In this game, they were 19-22 (86%). For the season, the Cardinal were averaging only 14 perimeter attempts per game. In this game, Stanford shot 19 and tied their season high for makes with 10.
Texas got what they wanted (well, some of the fouling away from the basket wasn’t what you want, but the aggressiveness on the ball kept Stanford out of the lane in their sets). Stanford, for their part, just shot very well, and against their season norm.
Sometimes that happens. That’s how North Carolina felt against us.
The difference is that Texas gets the added benefit of coming away with the win.
A Look at the Numbers:
Stanford shot 41.5% (22-53) overall, 52.6% (10-19) from three, and 86.4% (19-22) from the line.
Texas shot 54.2% (32-59) overall, 35% (7-20) from three, and 40% (4-10) from the line.
The statistical battles were as close as the game as both teams had 31 rebounds while Texas had one more assist (13-12) and Stanford had one less turnover (12-13).
Star of the Game: Isaiah Taylor
It was quite the homecoming for the Bay Area native (Isaiah lived in Hayward, CA, which is straight across the bay from Palo Alto, before transferring to the Village School his junior year of high school).
Taylor shot the ball well (11-17, including 3-3 from the line and 1-3 from deep). He was relentless at attacking the paint and even racked up six assists while sharing point guard time with Kerwin Roach.
And the game winner was just icing on the cake for Texas leading scorer (26 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound and 1 steal).
Great game for Taylor.
The Endgame:
Stanford’s not going to light the Pac 12 on fire. It’s not some huge win over a Power 5 juggernaut.
What it is, though, is a sixth straight win and a first one in a true road environment against an opponent that had their best shooting night of the season from both the three point line and the foul line. It felt like a conference game in that regard. Texas was the better team, but Stanford just wouldn’t go away as they took more and more momentum from their crowd as the game tightened late.
Texas now has one more game before Big 12 play begins (a home game against Connecticut between the holidays.
The Longhorns have a 10 day break between games and will look to keep their win streak intact before roughing through arguably the toughest conference in America.
Not the most beautiful of wins, but a terrific one for a program that certainly seems to be building in the right direction.
Cam Ridley. (Will Gallagher/IT)[/caption]
Overall Game Thoughts: Texas 75, Stanford 73
For the Horns, the game fit a familiar format. They jumped out to a decent lead but allowed Stanford to hang around, hang around, hang around as the Cardinal built some momentum late with some deep shot making and some help from Texas at the free throw line (also familiar).
Another thing that’s become familiar for Texas over the last six games? The Longhorns found a way to pull it out as Taylor’s floater with 1.1 left was just enough to give Texas a nice road win.
Offense:
It was the Isaiah and Kerwin show. Texas’ point guard duo were both locked in attack mode against a Stanford team that struggles with overall athleticism and help defense. Time after time both Taylor and Roach were able to turn the corner on ball screens or find penetration angles into Stanford’s zone. They turned those lane touches into 40 points on just 24 combined shots (Roach was a sizzling 6-7 overall).
The rest of the Longhorns were customarily solid. Ridley did a nice job of staying patient as Stanford shifted to a zone at the end of the first half and through much of the second. Mack was confident in looking for his shot and as a ball mover. Lammert was quiet as a scorer, but had four assists (two to Ridley in the paint that kept the big man engaged, which is key).
The struggles tell the familiar tale. The Longhorns shot only 4-10 from the foul line (including an 0-5 performance from the freshmen). Not much to say about that other than it will be a welcome time when the fish feel comfortable enough with the scale of the game to actually knock those down, confidently.
Then the turnovers were also a problem. Some of that stems from how aggressive Taylor and Roach were, but both Isaiah (three) and Kerwin (four) had some troubles with careless mistakes that led to giveaways.
You take the turnovers because it came when the Longhorns were taking the action to Stanford. The foul shots just suck balls.
Defense:
The numbers will look not great, but Texas executed their game plan expertly. The key is to keep Stanford out of the lane and make them execute from the three point line and on foul shots. Texas did both of those things.
The problem was that Stanford did some unfamiliar things to keep themselves in the game. For the season, the Cardinal had some 64% from the foul line as a team. In this game, they were 19-22 (86%). For the season, the Cardinal were averaging only 14 perimeter attempts per game. In this game, Stanford shot 19 and tied their season high for makes with 10.
Texas got what they wanted (well, some of the fouling away from the basket wasn’t what you want, but the aggressiveness on the ball kept Stanford out of the lane in their sets). Stanford, for their part, just shot very well, and against their season norm.
Sometimes that happens. That’s how North Carolina felt against us.
The difference is that Texas gets the added benefit of coming away with the win.
A Look at the Numbers:
Stanford shot 41.5% (22-53) overall, 52.6% (10-19) from three, and 86.4% (19-22) from the line.
Texas shot 54.2% (32-59) overall, 35% (7-20) from three, and 40% (4-10) from the line.
The statistical battles were as close as the game as both teams had 31 rebounds while Texas had one more assist (13-12) and Stanford had one less turnover (12-13).
Star of the Game: Isaiah Taylor
It was quite the homecoming for the Bay Area native (Isaiah lived in Hayward, CA, which is straight across the bay from Palo Alto, before transferring to the Village School his junior year of high school).
Taylor shot the ball well (11-17, including 3-3 from the line and 1-3 from deep). He was relentless at attacking the paint and even racked up six assists while sharing point guard time with Kerwin Roach.
And the game winner was just icing on the cake for Texas leading scorer (26 points, 6 assists, 1 rebound and 1 steal).
Great game for Taylor.
The Endgame:
Stanford’s not going to light the Pac 12 on fire. It’s not some huge win over a Power 5 juggernaut.
What it is, though, is a sixth straight win and a first one in a true road environment against an opponent that had their best shooting night of the season from both the three point line and the foul line. It felt like a conference game in that regard. Texas was the better team, but Stanford just wouldn’t go away as they took more and more momentum from their crowd as the game tightened late.
Texas now has one more game before Big 12 play begins (a home game against Connecticut between the holidays.
The Longhorns have a 10 day break between games and will look to keep their win streak intact before roughing through arguably the toughest conference in America.
Not the most beautiful of wins, but a terrific one for a program that certainly seems to be building in the right direction.
