Aggies seize Moody Center, stunning Longhorns. Sean Miller acknowledges A&M's dominance after a crucial momentum shift and defensive struggles.
Texas men's basketball was riding high, and a home contest against its biggest rivals, Texas A&M, was the perfect opportunity to continue to build its momentum towards an NCAA Tournament berth.
But the Aggies walked into the Moody Center and took over the Longhorns' trap (as many would say nowadays), dealing them their first blow since their loss to Tennessee.
In the grand scheme of things, Texas is still in a much better position than it was a week and a half ago. But truth be told, this was a squandered opportunity for the Longhorns to fully announce themselves to the college basketball world (and of course, stick it to A&M).
“They outclassed us,” Texas head coach Sean Miller said after the loss. “They were the better team from start to finish.”
While Miller's statement holds for the most part, Texas started the game off strong, jumping out to a 24-18 lead at one point in the first half.
However, that's when everything started to fall apart for the Longhorns. A&M was able to tie the game up heading into halftime, and subsequently came out of the locker room hot, stunning Texas with a 15-5 run to open the half.
The Longhorns did a tremendous job of defending one of the best offenses in the country in the first half, but it never fully recovered from that A&M outburst.
"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," Miller said. "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.”
The Aggies blitzed Texas in the second half, scoring 45 points on 60% shooting from the field and from beyond the arc. It was a reminder that the Longhorns still have defensive issues that need to be sorted out.
"In that second half, we've got to do a better job in terms of executing defensive schemes and coverages," Texas senior guard Jordan Pope said.
For Texas, the loss is a bump in the road, but it must remember it doesn't have to be a roadblock.
"No matter how bad the loss or good the win is, we have to be able to turn around and get ready for our next opponent," Pope said.
"We have to have a short-term memory," Texas guard Tramon Mark said. We got to go to Kentucky and win a basketball game. We're going to watch the film on this... we got to get ready to play our next game."