On the heels of the biggest Texas football game of the season, back at home in Austin, Texas men’s basketball gave Texas faithful a chance to warm up their vocal cords in a midday showdown against the Kansas City Roos.
However, Texas did not give its fans much to cheer for — the Longhorns struggled in the field, shooting a dismal 39.7%. Outside of junior guard Simeon Wilcher, who shot 3-4 around the perimeter, the rest of the Longhorns could not nail a three to save their lives. The only other Texas player to score from three was Tramon Mark who went one of five in his attempts for three.
Still, Texas came out on top, taking a 71-55 victory over the Roos Saturday afternoon at the Moody Center.
“We’re a much better shooting team than we’ve shown,” head coach Sean Miller said. “We have a couple guys that have to just kind of get out of their own way and make the next shot. And if we could get better in that area with our lack of turnovers, then I think you’ll see us improve, but we did not play well today.”
While the first half was not the prettiest, the second half for the Longhorns was just ugly. Texas was 6-20 to open in the first 12 minutes of the second. Fortunately, the Longhorns had a 10-point cushion to keep them in a comfortable position as the Roos began to close in.
Jumping up by 20 points with 3:16 remaining in the game, Texas started to get sloppy on defense, allowing the Roos to have one last offensive burst. Kansas City went 5-6 in the field to close out the afternoon.
“When your team struggles to make shots, it can pour into other areas,” Miller said. “It starts with the individual player that gets caught up in the ball, not going in the basket, in the frustration that comes with that. And now you break down defensively.”
Although there were not many positives for Miller and Texas, one of the few was the performance of graduate forward Lassina Traore, coming down with a double-double off the bench.
Traore, a double-double machine during his time at Long Beach State during his sophomore and junior seasons, put up his first in a Longhorn jersey — 10 points and 11 rebounds in just 23 minutes.
“I’m just blessed and grateful to be out there playing basketball. … Being on this sideline this last year, I wasn’t the happiest man on earth,” Traore said. “I just want to be out there, do whatever my team needs me to do to get a win.”
Junior forward Dailyn Swain was the only Longhorn who had a good second-half performance, leading the Texas offense with eight points on a couple of drives up to the rim. Swain closed the afternoon as the Longhorns’ points leader with 13.
Texas will play its final November home game against the Rider Broncos at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
