With résumé-building opportunities ahead, Texas looks to respond on the basketball court
This past Saturday, an announced crowd of 7,368 watched as the Texas men's basketball team recorded a 56-46 win at Oklahoma State. There also was one additional onlooker at a nearby hotel.
The Texas women also were playing in Stillwater that evening. The hotel that the Longhorns were staying in didn't carry ESPNU, but Texas head coach Vic Schaefer was able to stream the game in the team's meeting room. So as his team ate after its shootaround, Schaefer watched the UT men.
That 10-point win came four days after the men's program allowed 116 points in a home loss to Kansas State. This past week also featured the firing of head coach Chris Beard, who had previously been arrested on a domestic assault charge. To add words to an already-long paragraph, a burst pipe near their team hotel caused the Longhorns men to be without working water for much of their stay in Stillwater.
Knowing this, Schaefer crafted a message about responding to adversity. The men had done so. Surely the women could battle through the trials and tribulations of their season, too.
"It didn't work," Schaefer retorted Monday.
That evening, UT was beaten 86-82 by Oklahoma State. Of the 83 games that Schaefer has coached at Texas so far, his defense only allowed more points in a 92-58 loss at West Virginia in 2021.
The Longhorns, though, have another chance to practice what their third-year coach was preaching. There aren't long stretches of inactivity during a season. This week, Texas will host ranked Kansas and Iowa State teams.
Texas enters the week with an overall record of 11-5. The Longhorns did not receive a single vote on any of the 28 ballots used by the Associated Press for this week's poll.
Despite yesterday's 86-82 loss at Oklahoma State, @TexasWBB (11-5) is still holding onto a top-20 NET ranking. Longhorns have the No. 13 NET ranking among the 361 Division I teams.
Here is the Longhorns' NET resume through 16 games: pic.twitter.com/IpjLLdpqO7— Danny Davis (@_dannydavis) January 9, 2023
On one hand, the Longhorns don't have many reasons to be worried about the impressions left by their season-long résumé. Texas has a top-15 NET ranking. There isn't a bad loss tied to Texas since UConn, Marquette, Louisville and Oklahoma State all qualify as Quadrant 1 opponents and a 70-65 setback to South Florida is barely a Quadrant 2 loss.
But of UT's 11 wins, only last month's 62-48 neutral-court knockout of USC currently counts as a Quadrant 1 victory. By comparison, four of the 11 Quadrant 1 wins for Texas last season came in the first 16 games, and one of those was a 61-56 upset of perennial powerhouse Stanford.
To register as a Quadrant 1 win or loss, the opponent must have a top-30 NET ranking if the game was played at home, a top-75 NET ranking if it was played on the road or a top-50 NET ranking if the teams met on a neutral court. The NCAA uses NET rankings as a measure to judge résumés and determine seeding for the postseason.
"We played a good schedule early. Again, if I'd have had a different nonconference schedule like other teams, we'd have one loss right now. But I didn't have that schedule," Schaefer said. "We've got plenty of opportunities in front of us. I think that's where we're at. We've got to take advantage of what's in front of us right now."
What is in front of Texas is a Tuesday tussle with No. 23 Kansas and a Sunday showdown against No. 15 Iowa State. The Longhorns also have games this month against No. 18 Baylor and No. 19 Oklahoma. The home games against Iowa State and Kansas as well as the trip to Baylor on Jan. 22 are all presently perceived to be Quadrant 1 contests.
Texas has won five straight games at Moody Center. In those, Texas has trailed for a total of 27 seconds and posted an average margin of victory of 50.6 points.
But of those five teams that Texas trounced, only Kansas State plays in a Power Five conference. The Wildcats are also the only opponent in that stretch with a winning record.
A veteran Kansas team will provide a tougher test on Tuesday. Kansas (12-2) boasts a 27-point win over an Arizona team that's No. 14 in the country this week. The Jayhawks are coming off a 75-62 loss to Baylor and their other defeat was decided in triple-overtime.
Kansas is scoring 75.9 points per game while surrendering 58.6. Guard Zakiyah Franklin and center Taiyanna Jackson have both won Big 12 player of the week honors this season.
"Another well-coached team with great players," Schaefer said. "We had two knockdown drag-outs with them a year ago. I'm sure that we're going to have to play really, really well tomorrow night."
Tuesday's game
No. 15 Kansas (12-2, 2-1) at Texas (11-5, 2-1), 7 p.m., LHN, 105.3
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas women host ranked basketball teams after disappointing road loss
