Texas basketball taken down by the Wolfpack
For the second game in a row, the Texas Longhorns suffered a tough loss.
This time it came at the hands of North Carolina State. The Wolfpack downed the Longhorns 77-74 in the consolation game for the TicketCity Legends Classic.
Texas started off strong, holding a 10-point lead going into the half. They got the lead up to 18 in the second-half before the wheels started falling off. J’Covan Brown received his fourth foul midway through the half, afterwards he mumbled a profanity under his breath which the referee thought was directed towards him.
The referee then gave Brown a technical, forcing Brown to foul out of the game.
After this all took place, NC State took control of the game, and escaped with a win after Julien Lewis came up short on a 3-point opportunity to tie the game.
J’Covan Brown still led all Longhorns with 17 points and seven assists, while freshman Jonathan Holmes and Sheldon McClellan both contributed with 16 points a piece.
The big men Chapman and Wangmene still continue to struggle combining for 12 points and nine rebounds. The Longhorns defense looked a lot better than it did in the Oregon State game, but still wasn’t enough.
The Wolfpack’s leading scorers were C.J. Leslie with 17 points and Scott Wood with 16. Lorenzo Brown also contributed with 11 points, five rebounds, and four assists. NC State took advantage of Texas late in the game and seemed to really come together thinking they had a chance after Brown’s dismissal from the game.
Everything was looking good for Texas until that technical foul and they got of dismantled from there.
Rick Barnes needs to help get this team on the right track, but not everything can be put on him.
These are young men who can make decisions for themselves as well and will hopefully better themselves from it.
The Longhorns are already a young, inexperienced team with a lot of work to do as it is, but when one of the older guys on the team messes up like this it hurts even worse. The officiating was sub-par most of the night, and this was a questionable technical as well.
Brown should still take the time to learn from this, and start being a leader for this young team to look up too.
He’s definitely Texas’ best player through the first four games of the season, and he’ll need to learn to control himself if Texas wants to make another deep run this year.
They’ll get a chance to make up the past two games with a home game at the Frank Erwin Center against in-state foes Sam Houston State. This should be a great game for the Longhorns to bounce back and show what they’re really capable of this season.
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