From a single play to a few minutes, sometimes, the outcome of a sports game is decided by a very small portion of the game.
A three-pointer can give the momentum to one team, leading to complete dominance. Other times, a sequence of fast-break points can help a team regain control.
No matter what sport it is, or what the game-changing factor ends up being, it doesn’t always take much to determine the outcome. In tight rivalry games, especially, the little details always seem to matter more.
For Texas men’s basketball, against Texas A&M in the LoneStar Showdown, it was the opening four minutes of the second half that may as well have decided the outcome of the game.
“In the first four minutes of the second half, we were not ready to play,” head coach Sean Miller said. “There’s one team that came out at halftime ready to play, ready to play it all the way to the end from start to finish and one team that, for whatever reason, just couldn’t quite get up and get after it like you’re capable of in the (Southeastern Conference) in a game of this meaning. … If you add up the last three or four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half, that’s where the game was won and lost.”
After graduate guard Tramon Mark hit a contested, buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the first half tied at 29 a piece, the Longhorns would start the second half by letting the Aggies build a 38-31 lead. Miller burned a timeout shortly after, but the damage was already done.
Texas failed to close the lead to less than six points until the final minute of the game. The Aggies would close out the game 74-70, handing the Longhorns their third SEC loss in the opening five conference games. Previously, Texas had won 24 of the last 25 home contests against Texas A&M.
Within those four minutes and for much of the second half, Texas struggled defensively. Although effective in his last two games against No. 18 Alabama and No. 10/8 Vanderbilt, sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis was neutralized as Texas A&M found ways against his drop coverage. With backdoor cuts and catching Longhorns off-guard, the Aggies were able to fight the defensive scheme that had been so successful against top offenses.
“We run flow offense, which is not play calls or scripted for the most part. It’s just reading off each other, primarily ball screens with all ball actions,” Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan said. “They have an interesting defense because they have a great rim presence down there who’s in drop-coverage at the rim. They play that drop coverage and try to hug shooters, and it’s a tough thing to play against. We had to be precise.”
Miller, however, tipped his hat off to McMillan’s offensive scheme, owning up to the coaching mistakes that opened loopholes for Texas A&M in the postgame press conference.
“I thought (McMillan) and his coaching staff hit us with about eight points on flex, cut-back, screen layups. Just nobody around, like somebody fell down on our team,” Miller said. “That’s concentration, that’s coaching (and) that’s making sure your guys are ready for it. When you give a team six to eight points on those quick plays, it’s tough to win the game.”
