UT (10-2, #17) vs West Virginia (11-1, also receiving votes for the AP Top 25) New Years Day 11 a.m. ESPNU WV thrives on aggressive defense. On O, Taz Sherman and Sean McNeil (Big 12 co-player of the week last week) are excellent outside shooters, so we'll need to cover them tightly. Coach Beard says: "They're extremely aggressive," he said. "They'll try to speed up the game and they've got some different looks that they're doing. Coach Huggins normally saves some things for conference play, so we're expecting the unexpected as well." Sean McNeil -- Guard, good outside shooter. But, he's hot and cold. Long dormant streaks followed by red hot streaks when he hits eerything. Taz Sherman -- another really good outside shooter. I think we beat these guys down inside. Caesar's Sportsbook had us as a 10.5 point favorite -- seems a tad generous... Texas Longhorns Basketball: Big 12 Play Opens With West Virginia - Sports Illustrated Texas Longhorns News, Analysis and More Texas vs. West Virginia prediction, odds: 2022 college basketball picks, Jan. 1 best bets from proven model No. 17/18 Men's Basketball preview: West Virginia - University of Texas Athletics
West Virginia stats: Taz Sherman (G) .............20.9 ppg............3.3 rpg Sean McNeil (G)................14.0 ppg...........2.8 rpg Jalen Bridges (F)...............7.3 ppg.............5.1 rpg Malik Curry (G) .................6.8 ppg............1.9 rpg Kedrian Johnson (G)..........4.8 ppg ............2.0 rpg Isaiah Cottrell (G)..............4.5 ppg............2.3 rpg Their scoring is very top-heavy, with reliance on Sherman and McNeil. Also, their scoring is Guard-heavy with anemic inside scoring by their big men. Still, they're well coached, play aggressive, play D, and get on dangerous shooting streaks. Should be a good game. They're probably better than Stanford and worse than Seton Hall. 2021-22 West Virginia Mountaineers Stats | ESPN
WTF. Can't we go five minutes without hearing a lecture on wokeness and this horrible country we live in? The PA just gave a speech
39-20 at halftime!!! Our defense is awesome. They can’t handle this level of pressure. Without Sherman, they don’t score much. Ramey with 13. Great way to open conference play.
That’s the best first half of BB I’ve seen a Longhorn team play in years. Wow! What a difference a year makes. 39-20, Horns dominating.
I had a feeling we were going to see something from the guards once the conference slate started. Beard used all of those wretched nonconference opponents to build up the frontcourt's confidence because we have that depth and experience at guard. Now, it's like a whole new ballgame. There's literally no one in the conference that we can't hang with. I don't think we'll go out there and beat KU or BU twice, but I'd be really disappointed if we didn't split with the other best teams in the XII.
Despite them being down Sherman and their top rebounder, we still beat another team with a pulse, and beat them soundly. What a way to open conference play. Well done Horns and staff!
Finally made it to a game this year. Haven't been able to see much of the games in the pre-season, so its gonna take a couple games to figure out this team. For those who have been tracking closer -- what do we have in our transfers? At the end of a tight game, who will be options 1 thru 4? I know what we have in Ramey and Jones, just wondered what people thought about Allen, Mitchel, Carr, and Bishop. Allen was real active and a good complimentary piece, but I wasn't too impressed with his finishing skills inside the paint (not a lot of "lift").....actually none of the bigs were great at finishing today. The D intensity was awesome throughout and I liked seeing Beard getting the crowd fired up. Hopefully as the season progresses (and the Horns rack up some W's) the Erwin Center will fill up a bit with some rowdy fans. Sat in my seats in upper level for the first part, then moved down lower. Sitting up there reminds me how lame (oddly quiet and detached from the action) the Erwin Center is and excited for the move next season.
