After falling to Kansas State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament last Thursday, Texas will face Houston in the first round of the College Basketball Invitational on Wednesday, according to texassports.com.

The Longhorns (16-17) needed to win the Big 12 tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament for the 15th straight time but won’t be going to the Big Dance for the first time under head coach Rick Barnes. 

Texas will be making its first appearance in the 16-team CBI, which began in 2008. Pittsburgh won the CBI last season after going 17-16 in the regular season. Oregon (16-17) in 2011 and Oregon State (13-17) in 2009 lost 17 games in the regular season before winning the CBI. VCU won the CBI in 2010 and Tulsa won the inaugural CBI in 2008.

Texas beat TCU, 70-57, in the first round of the Big 12 tournament last Wednesday before losing to Kansas State, 66-49, on Thursday. 

The Longhorns tied a season high with their third-straight victory when they took down the Horned Frogs. Julien Lewis hit four three-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points in the win while fellow sophomore Sheldon McClellan, who also came off the bench, scored 12 points. 

Texas improved to 6-3 with Myck Kabongo, who had 16 points and eight assists, on the floor. The Longhorns had used the same starting lineup in each of their first nine games since Kabongo’s return from his 23-game suspension. 

But they switched things up for their quarterfinal contest against Kansas State. McClellan and Cameron Ridley replaced Connor Lammert and Demarcus Holland in the starting lineup, but the move didn’t make much of a difference. 

The Wildcats, who beat Texas by 26 and 12 points in their two regular season meetings, didn’t lead by double digits until an 11-0 second-half run left them up by 18. 

Texas is 32-31 against Houston all-time, with the Longhorns winning their last meeting, 71-60, in 2001. Barnes is 2-1 against the Cougars during his tenure at Texas, with his only loss to them coming in 1999. 

In their only postseason game against Houston, the Longhorns beat the No. 19 Cougars, 85-74, in the first round of the 1972 NCAA Tournament. Texas and Houston, who were both in the Southwest Conference from 1976-1996, will square off at the University of Houston on Wednesday.

The last time the Longhorns played in Houston was when they fell to UCLA, 65-63, on Dec. 8 at Reliant Stadium. 

The only time Texas participated in postseason play in Houston was in 2008. The Longhorns beat Stanford, 82-62, in the Sweet 16 at the Toyota Center that season before falling to Memphis, 85-67, in the Elite 8.

Published on March 18, 2013 as "Longhorns settle for CBI".