Texas Preview

Texas enters it’s game against the Volunteers coming off an 80-76 win against Arkansas on Wednesday night. Texas is led by their #3 ranked recruiting class from 2006. The Longhorns start four freshman, led by the 2006 #2 ranked player in the country Kevin Durant. Durant is averaging 21.2 points per game along with 9.4 rebounds per game. He is joined by fellow freshmen DJ Augustin, who averages 5.9 assists per game along with 13.0 points, and Damion James, who averages 7.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Texas likes to crash the boards hard, gathering in 43.8 rebounds per game, 16.8 of which are offensive rebounds. The Longhorns play 8 guys in a normal rotation, 6 of which are freshman. I would classify this game as a revenge game because of the game last year, but only one player for the Longhorns played significant minutes in that game. AJ Abrams played 31 minutes last year in relief for a hurt Daniel Gibson, scoring 19 points with 5 turnovers. Abrams is the second leading scorer for Texas this year, averaging 16.6 points per game this year.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

This game will be the first true road test for this young Texas team. The Longhorns have played 4 neutral site games, but none thus far on an opponents home floor. They have struggled against the better teams on their schedule, most coming at neutral sites. Durant will definitely present a problem on defense, but I look for Bradshaw to guard Durant when both are in the game together. Durant has the height of a post player at 6’9” but likes to play some on the perimeter. He has taken the second most three’s by anybody on the Texas team, and is shooting an impressive 40.0% from behind the arc. Tennessee will enjoy a height advantage for most of the night, with Texas starting backcourt going 5’10”, 5’11”, and 6’2”, except for when they move Durant out to the 3, and put 6’9” Connor Atchley and 6’10” Dexter Pittman together in the post. When the Longhorns go to this lineup, they like to put the athletic Durant in the middle on top of the 3-2 zone they run. His athleticism can provide problems here, but I would be surprised if Texas plays much zone against Tennessee, especially a 3-2 zone. The big areas of weakness in a 3-2 are the corners, and Tennessee has some deadly shooters from the corners in Lofton and Smith. Texas is well aware of their shooting prowess, however, as they combined for 9 threes on 60% shooting from behind the arc last year against the Longhorns. Look for Tennessee to focus on limiting Durant and Abrams on the offensive end, and trying to take it too the young team with the press. Tennessee will try to press the young team and see how it will react to its first view of Tennessee’s controlled chaos style of play. If the Vols can create turnovers off a team that handles the ball really well (12.5 TO’s per game), then the crowd may be able to become a factor and rattle the young Texas team. The key to the game will be getting off to a quick start and getting the Longhorns to start forcing things in their first trip into hostile territory. Lastly, with the Longhorns coming off a win against Texas, they will have limited time to prepare for the Vols unique playing style. The early game time on Saturday means that the Longhorns will probably travel early to Knoxville on Friday, so that they will be able to practice at Thompson-Boling. Given this, they will have to practice on Thursday, and thus not allowing their legs to get much rest, while the Vols were able to take Tuesday off and begin preparing on Wednesday for the Longhorns. This could be big considering their limited bench and the fact that Abrams and Augustin played 38 and 37 minutes respectively, with Durant logging 32 minutes. It will be interesting to see if this will have any effect on the Longhorns.

Projected Starting Lineups:

VISITORS

PG – 5’11” #14 DJ Augustin
SG – 5’10” #3 AJ Abrams
SF – 6’2” #24 Justin Mason
PF – 6’9” #35 Kevin Durant
C – 6’7” #5 Damion James

Tennessee

PG – 6’2” #12 Ramar Smith
SG – 6’2” #5 Chris Lofton
SF – 6’2” #2 JaJuan Smith
PF – 6’4” #23 Dane Bradshaw
C – 6’7” #32 Duke Crews