Texas vs. Cincinnati Preview

Texas opens NCAA Tournament play Friday against a Cincinnati squad that flexed its muscles in the recent Big East Tournament.
No. 11 Texas (20-13, 9-9 Big 12) vs No. 6 Cincinnati (24-10, 12-6 Big East)

11:15 a.m. (CDT), Friday

Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, Tennessee

The Horns have won five of their last six opening-round contests but have never been lower than an eighth seed during the Rick Barnes era. His young squad has a recipe for success — and for failure — heading into the 11:15 a.m. (CDT) tip-off.

This season, the difference between Texas winning and losing boils down to defense and free throw attempts.

In Texas’ 10 conference wins (including the Big 12 Tournament), the Horns have held opponents to an average of 59.8 ppg and 41.3% FG shooting. In Texas’ 10 league losses, the Horns allowed 77.8 ppg and 48.4 % from the floor.

In Texas’ 10 conference wins, the Horns went to the FT line 277 times (connecting on 203) while opponents were just 105-of-155. During the 10 losses, Texas was 155-of-207 from the charity stripe while foes were 206-of-295. The 2011-12 team ranks among Barnes’ best at the foul line, converting 73.1 percent of their FTs on the season and 74,4% during conference play. (Texas’ highest FT percentage team of the Barnes era was 73.6 % posted during the 2006-07 campaign.)

The Bearcats finished fourth in the 16-team Big East Conference. But Texas’ strength-of-schedule was among the nation’s Top 20, including last week’s upset of then No. 25 Iowa State. A December contest against fifth-seeded Temple currently stands as the only other signature win for Texas’ freshman-laden team. Otherwise, Texas’ season is marked by a series of near-misses against championship caliber opponents, including last-second losses to Kansas and Missouri. All told, Texas dropped eight games decided by six points or less.

Fortunately for Texas, Big 12 scoring leader J’Covan Brown is peaking at the right time. The junior averaged 20.1 ppg but has been good for nearly 25 points the past four outings. It’s just that the Horns never found a consistent scorer other than Brown.

Case-in-point: Texas had narrowed a Missouri lead to four before Brown was sidelined several minutes with a head injury. That was when the Tigers finally got separation en route to a 14-point win.

Barnes has been pleading since the pre-season for Sheldon McClellan to emerge as Texas’ other scoring option. The freshman is second on the team with 11.3 ppg, but McClellan has been a defensive liability.

There are signs the light may have finally come one for point guard Myck Kabongo. Barnes has benched the freshman for significant stretches at times this season for his refusal to follow the game plan, poor shot selection and critical turnovers. But he’s coming off a solid showing at the Big 12 Tournament where he averaged 10 points while posting 10 assists against just one turnover.

Fifth-year senior Clint Chapman has been a warrior down the stretch, but his skill set may be too limited to offset 6-9 senior Yancy Gates. (You may recall Gates was suspended six games after punching an Xavier player during a December 10 bench-clearing brawl. Three other Bearcats were also suspended.)

Gates averages 12.4 ppg but averaged 20.5 points in Big East tourney wins over Syracuse and Georgetown. Alexis Wangmene would have been called on to defend Gates if not for his season-ending wrist injury suffered at Kansas on March 3. But the emotional Chapman is also coming off a solid Big 12 Tournament where he averaged 9.5 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Gates provides a formidable inside presence, but the Bearcats typically come at you with a four-guard lineup. It’s an approach similar to what the Horns have faced three times this year against Missouri. (The Horns, obviously, dropped all three but no team in college hoops this season has quicker guards than Mizzou.) G Sean Kirkpatrick leads his team with 14.3 ppg and hits 37 percent of his three-point attempts.