Almost five months ago, Texas entered its season selected to finish eighth in the Big 12. Now, with one week to go in the regular season, the Longhorns have a chance to finish tied for second in the conference.

Texas (22-8, 11-6 Big 12) travels to Lubbock on Saturday to face Texas Tech (13-17, 5-12 Big 12). If the Longhorns are able to grab a win in their last regular season game, they will finish six spots ahead of their predicted finish in the league. 

Texas has had little trouble at home this season. However, it has struggled to produce many wins on the road. The Longhorns, who are 5-5 in away games, have lost their last four games hosted by opponents, including a 12-point loss to Oklahoma and a 31-point loss to Kansas.

“We have faced some adversity, and that’s one thing that we just talked about in the locker room looking forward to Tech,” sophomore forward Connor Lammert said. “We know it’s going to be a great crowd there; we just have to handle adversity better and not make stupid turnovers. If we make stupid turnovers we’re taking ourselves out of the game, just like we did in Oklahoma.”

Sophomore center Cameron Ridley leads his team into Lubbock with three-straight double-double performances. 

Jonathan Holmes, who sat out Wednesday’s game against TCU due to injury, is expected to play on Saturday, but Ridley and Lammert will have to fill his role if the forward isn’t able to play.

Texas looks to keep up its confidence and effort as it nears post-season play. But before it gets ahead of itself, the team is maintaining all focus on a strong regular season finish.

“I’m just focused on the Big 12 tournament right now and, besides the Big 12 Tournament, our game in Lubbock this Saturday,” freshman guard Isaiah Taylor said. “We’re trying to take it one game at a time and we’re not looking past anybody.”