With Big 12 play beginning, Texas basketball hopes to 'turn the corner' in 2022
After 12 non-conference contests for Texas, it’s time for Big 12 Conference games. The No. 17 Longhorns head toward the new year 10-2 with the majority of its non-conference slate complete.
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The Longhorns know the level of difficulty is about to pick up as the calendar turns. Head coach Chris Beard made sure his team had that realization in the first practice following the program’s return from the holiday break.
“Usually a lot of schools coming back from Christmas break kind of ease into things. But for us, we kind of got rocked in the face as soon as we stepped on the court for that first practice,” forward Tre Mitchell said following the Longhorns’ 78-33 win over Incarnate Word. “But we responded. That tells you about how old we are and our experience in college basketball.
“Everybody is well aware, self aware, team aware that it’s time for us to turn the corner and get this thing going.”
Mitchell, a college hoops vet and Massachusetts transfer, mentioned things were “ramped up” in that first practice back in preparation for a game with the Cardinals and the other remaining 19 games on the schedule. He said the team recognized there were games where they were clicking on just one end of the floor, or didn’t play as well as they could for the whole 40 minutes.
Those types of performances won’t cut it against a Big 12 with its entire membership in the top 90 of the NCAA’s NET rankings. Beard “rocked” his team with that message because of the high expectations he has for them.
“I just think one of the most important words in basketball, coaching and playing, and life is urgency,” Beard said Tuesday. “I take my responsibility really seriously and the position I’m in. I know the rest of the coaching staff does and our players do too.
“So I think from my leadership standpoint, just making sure the guys understand we’re not back to ease into things. There’s some urgency around here. I think elite people and elite players and elite programs understand that. There’s no wasted days.”
Just like practice ramped up, so too will the challenge the opponents in Texas’ conference present to the Longhorns.
Of the 10 conference members in the top 90 in NET, seven are in the top 50. Five, including the Longhorns, are in the top 25. Baylor and Iowa State, No. 2 and No. 18 respectively, are undefeated.
Texas will need to perform well against its conference mates after its weak non-conference slate. The Longhorns went 0-2 against Gonzaga and Seton Hall, the only two Quadrant 1 opponents on the schedule. All 10 of Texas’ wins are against Quadrant 3 or Quadrant 4 teams.
Those records can change depending on how those teams fare as the year goes on, but the opportunity to add resume-boosting, if not resume-building wins is of great importance considering how Texas currently ranks next-to-last in KenPom’s strength of schedule ratings.
The combined record of the 10 teams Texas has defeated is 50-73. Seven of those teams have .500 or worse records.
The other nine Big 12 schools’ combined record is 89-14. The conference also boasts the Associated Press’ No. 1 team in the Baylor Bears and No. 6 squad in the Kansas Jayhawks.
Things are about to get ramped up, and the Longhorns have prepared for the increase in difficulty. They know they have to in order to reach their goals.
“The second we stepped back on campus and everyone was in the gym, we were straight to work,” Mitchell said. “It was like we were going for a national championship again. Things got ramped up to another level. It’s time for us to start to turn the corner.”
