Texas vs. TCU: Five things to watch

On3 imageby:Joe Cook02/23/22

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There are only four regular season games remaining on the No. 20 Texas Longhorns’ (19-8, 8-6 Big 12) schedule, two on the road and two in the Erwin Center. One of those last remaining home contests in the Drum is Wednesday against the TCU Horned Frogs (17-8, 6-7 Big 12).

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Jamie Dixon’s team heads to Austin trying to avenge a 73-50 loss at Schollmaier Arena in late January. Since that contest, TCU is 4-4 with wins over LSU, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia, and losses to Kansas State, Texas Tech, Iowa State, and Baylor.

“I think they’re an NCAA Tournament team,” Texas head coach Chris Beard said Tuesday. “They got a little bit of work here down the stretch, but they’re playing in the best league in college basketball this year, in my opinion, in the Big 12. They still control their own destiny in a lot of ways.”

Since suffering a regular season sweep at the hands of the Horned Frogs in 2019, the Longhorns haven’t dropped a game to TCU since, starting with a win in the semi-finals of the 2019 NIT at Madison Square Garden. TCU, currently No. 52 in the NET rankings, is looking for their fifth Quadrant 1 win when they take on the Longhorns at 6 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN2.

“It’s a late February conference game,” Beard said. “A lot on the line for both teams. We look forward to playing TCU. We’ve got a lot of respect for their program.”

Here are five things to watch for in the penultimate men’s basketball game in the Erwin Center

Can Texas shoot the lights out again?

When the two teams matched up in Fort Worth in January, only the Longhorns shot the ball with any measure of success.

Texas shot 45 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point land while the Horned Frogs trailed with a 36-percent effort from the field and 13-percent showing from beyond the arc. For Texas, the field goal percentage posted on January 25 is right in line with their season average, while the three-point percentage was 11 points above the norm.

[2022 NCAA Tournament bracketology: February 22 projection]

For TCU, their night from the field in January was well behind their season average of 44 percent but they actually outpaced their three-point season average by six percentage points (TCU is ranked 339th out of 358 teams in three-point shooting).

“In Fort Worth, the game was a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated,” Beard said. “We played well in a lot of different areas, but there was also some things in that game that we’ve got to clean up.”

Texas’ defensive effort and shooting prowess in Fort Worth were key components to the Longhorn victory. If those performances are repeated on Wednesday, the result could follow suit,

Dylan Disu and rebounding

When the Longhorns matched up with TCU in January, Dylan Disu clocked just three minutes. Meanwhile, Tre Mitchell and Christian Bishop played 23 and 27 minutes, respectively.

Mitchell and Bishop combined to pull down 16 rebounds, with Disu adding two in his handful of minutes. But now with Mitchell on a leave of absence, Bishop will need that same type of support from Disu.

Will Gallagher/Inside Texas

“Opportunity comes in different ways, and Dylan’s earned opportunity, above all, through his own performance, his continued rehab to get healthy, and just working at it,” Beard said. “Obviously, with Tre’s absence, it creates opportunity for players, including Dylan. We just need Dylan to play his best.”

Disu averaged 9.2 rebounds per contest last year for the Vanderbilt Commodores. This year, that figure has dropped to 3.5 rebounds per game.

Of course, his knee injury rehab which kept him off the floor in the early portion of the season, in addition to Mitchell and Bishop’s presence, made minutes tough to come by. He has dropped down to 12.1 minutes per game in his 19 games at Texas after averaging over 30 minutes per contest last year in 17 games in Nashville.

But with no Mitchell available, Disu’s rebounding ability will be important in determining the Longhorns’ fortunes. His ability to support Bishop and leading rebounder Timmy Allen, especially against TCU’s Emanuel Miller and Eddie Lampkin, will be important for Wednesday’s contest and the future of the 2021-22 Texas Longhorns.

Bounce back ability at home

The loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders was just the second home loss of the season for the Longhorns, joining the January 18 defeat at the hands of the Kansas State Wildcats.

Texas responded to that setback with a three-game win streak, including the win in Fort Worth.

In bounce back opportunities, home, road, or neutral, Chris Beard’s team is 6-1 with the only back-to-back losses of the year coming January 15 and 18 in games at Iowa State and versus K-State.

TCU presents a chance to improve to 7-1.

With higher aspirations, will nine Big 12 wins be enough?

Every team in the Big 12 is in the top 75 of the NET rankings. Four teams, Kansas, Baylor, Texas Tech, and Texas, are in the top 20.

It’s constantly described as the toughest conference in modern college basketball, and the 2021-22 season is more of the same.

[KenPom predicts outcome of crucial four-game stretch for Texas]

With Beard often making remarks about Texas being a “Monday night program,” it’s obvious he has higher aspirations than going .500 in conference. But this year, does he think nine Big 12 wins should be enough to make the field of 68?

On Tuesday, he wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know what that magical number is,” Beard said. “None of us know. We all have ideas.”

Which Marcus Carr will show up?

Inside Texas’ Paul Wadlington diagnosed Carr’s fit into the Texas offense and how sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

On Saturday, his fit did not work. He arguably didn’t fit in at all. He posted zero points and two assists with four turnovers and two fouls.

“I think Marcus would be the first to tell you that we have to have a better performance and better production from him to beat teams in the Big 12,” Beard said.

Texas Tech is one of the best defensive teams in the country, but that shouldn’t have limited Carr to just the second goose egg of his career. Even after that performance, Beard has seen a lot of good in how Carr has handled himself since Saturday.

“But the good thing about Marcus is he’ll use this and respond, so he’s been nothing short of perfect since,” Beard said. “Got in the film room the next day, weight room. Stay the course.”

Even with some of his limitations at the position, Texas needs better play from Carr beginning against the Horned Frogs. He’ll have a chance to provide that on Wednesday.

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