The University of Texas Men were ranked 10th in the NCAA Division 1 Standings released on March 7th.
The Longhorns entered the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship game with an overall record of 31-2 and a conference record of 14-2. They will face Kansas University in the championship game on March 12.
The Longhorn’s Season
The University of Texas will meet Kansas University in the Big 12 Championship game. Texas was the No. 2 seed in the tournament and overcame Texas A&M in the semifinals 70-58. If Texas can beat the No. 2 ranked Kansas, they would be the first team from Texas to capture the championship in the 15-year history of the Big 12 tournament.
The Longhorns are 6-2 this season against AP Top 25 opponents with wins against Illinois, Michigan State, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas A&M. They lost by 2-points to Pittsburgh and 1-point to Connecticut. Interesting to note that all except one of the Longhorns regular season losses were all very close, showing they play hard until the end and never give up. Rick Barnes leads the Longhorns and depends on Dogus Balbay, Tristan Thompson, and Jordan Hamilton to take care of business on the court.
About The Team
Head Coach Rick Barnes is in his 13th season at Texas and has built a solid program. In his first 12 seasons he has made a school-record 12 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a school-best 12 straight 20-win seasons.
In addition to this, Texas is one of six programs to have advanced to the last 12 NCAA Tournaments and Sweet 16 five of the last nine seasons. Barnes has also led the Longhorns to the Elite Eight twice, and Final Four three times. His individual awards can boast of the John R. Wooden Award’s ‘Legends of Coaching’ honor, and Big 12 Coach of the Year, just to name a few.
Freshman Tristan Thompson was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, All-Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 All-Defensive Team, and Big 12 All-Rookie Team. He averages 13.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, in addition to his 70 blocks, seven double-doubles and 30 steals.
Sophomore Jordan Hamilton received a spot on the All-Big 12 First Team and NABC Division 1 All-District 8 First Team. He is averaging 18.5 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. He has also had six double-doubles and topped the 20-point mark in 13 of the first 31 games. Senior Dogus Balbay earned Defensive Player of the Year and Big 12 All-Defensive Team. Balbay has a career assist-turnover ratio of 2.4 in 92 career games.
Note: J’Covan Brown and Gary Johnson are also regular contributors with 15ppg apiece.
About The School
The University of Texas is located in Austin, TX and has a student population of about 51,000. There are 17 colleges and schools for these students to choose from. UT is located blocks from downtown Austin so if there isn’t a sports event or other extracurricular activities, Austin will provide the entertainment.
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