Since Rick Barnes became the head coach of The University of Texas men’s basketball team he has set a standard of excellence in Austin, Texas. Barnes became the head coach of Texas in 1998 and his squad has made it to The NCAA Tournament every season which was highlighted by Texas making The Final Four in 2003. Barnes has sent numerous players to The National Basketball Association including current NBA All-Stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant. However this season has been the most trying for Barnes during his tenure in Austin.
The Longhorns are currently tied for 8th place in The Big 12 Conference with a conference record of 2-7. Overall The Longhorns are only 10-12 as The NCAA Tournament appears to be far fetched as Texas is hoping to make The Big Dance for a 15th consecutive year.
The season got off to a bad start when The Longhorns lost to The Chaminade Silverswords in the opening round of The Maui Invitational 86-73. The Longhorns took seventh place overall out in Hawaii. The Longhorns then lost to The UCLA Bruins 65-63 in a nearly empty Reliant Stadium in Houston on December 8. Of The Longhorns seven conference losses, five of them have been by less than 10 points including two losses to Big 12 newcomer The West Virginia Mountaineers.
As a team, The Longhorns are currently 267th in the nation in points per game (63.6) as sophomore guards Sheldon McClellan (14.8) and Julien Lewis (11.5) are averaging double figures in points.
Last season Barnes could rely on J’Covan Brown to carry The Longhorns for periods of time as he averaged 20.1 points per contest. Two years ago The Longhorns had five players who averaged double figures in points.
This year Barnes is currently dealing with the growing pains of a young team as he only has two seniors on this squad. With nine games remaining in the regular season, the road to another NCAA Tournament berth will not be easy. Of the remaining contests, four will be against teams that are currently ranked in the top 25 including two games against The Oklahoma State Cowboys and a trip to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas to take on the top team in The Big 12 in The Kansas Jayhawks who defeated The Longhorns earlier in the season 64-59.
With the young squad that Barnes has, he can take this time to build and teach his team going forward. With an overall record above .500 there could be a bid in The National Invitational Tournament to get more game action for his young team. Barnes doesn’t have players such as Aldrige or T.J. Ford on this current team. This is a building process in Austin, but it has been a little tougher than expected.
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