Texas Longhorns: Tough Road Ahead Despite Early Big 12 Success

The Texas Longhorns have opened Big 12 play with a 3-2 record but their journey is only going to get harder in the coming weeks.

The Texas Longhorns received heartbreaking news shortly before conference play was set to start: Center Cameron Ridley would be out for the foreseeable future after breaking his foot during practice. The Longhorns had managed to rattle off six-straight wins before the news dropped and Ridley had been a big part of all of that success.

Fast forward a few weeks and the Horns are 3-2 against the Big 12 and are finding ways to win even without their 6’9 center.

In their first game, the Horns lost by eight to Texas Tech, a team that was on a nine-game winning streak at the time, Since then, they have put some of their Big 12 opponents in early trouble. The Horns have managed to defeat Kansas St. (60-57), No. 17 Iowa St. (94-91 OT) and Oklahoma St. (74-69) with their only other loss coming against TCU in a one-point, late-game thriller down in Fort Worth.

This early success has them at fifth place in the Big 12 and ahead of a few teams with better overall records than them. Isaiah Taylor, the Horns’ junior point guard and best player, has been his same old self, contributing heavily on offense:

• AT Texas Tech: 35 points, 6 assists
• VS Kansas St.: 17 points, 4 assists
• AT TCU: 13 points, 4 assists
• VS No. 17 Iowa St.: 28 points, 6 assists
• VS Oklahoma St.: 18 points, 4 assists

In four out of those five games, Taylor has been the Horns’ leading scorer and his defensive play, including seven total steals, has also been helpful.

However, the road is going to be a lot harder from here on out. The Texas Longhorns have only faced one ranked Big 12 team so far and they won that game. The only problem with that is the fact that the Big 12 has four more ranked teams and they are all ranked higher than Iowa St.

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Oklahoma, Kansas, West Virginia and Baylor are a few of the best teams in the country and the Texas Longhorns will play them a combined total of eight times before the season is over.

Texas has shown their ability to knock top teams off as they defeated North Carolina earlier in the season, but that was a home game and they will have to travel on the road where they have suffered two of their six total losses (three were at neutral locations). Going on the road and playing in places like Allen Fieldhouse (KAN) and Lloyd Noble Center (OU) provide a whole new level of difficulty for a team without an elite big man.

In order to counter the attack of some of these Big 12 teams, the Horns will need to rely on their bench players to make a difference. Guys like Tevin Mack, Kerwin Roach and Eric Davis (all Freshmen) have had streaky seasons but whenever they play well, it’s hard to lose.

Also, riding momentum will be a big theme during the last half of the season. The Horns are currently on a two-game win streak and by building off of those wins, they have a slight boost of energy. That will, in turn, lead to more wins and competitive games against teams that are better than they are.

The biggest key to all of this is going to be head coach Shaka Smart. He has showed that he is going to be a valuable key to success in Austin but he never faced a slate of regular season games as tough as this during his career with VCU.

Next: Shaka Smart's Impact On The Longhorns

Overall, the Texas Longhorns are going to need a special run in order to stay in the thick of things and that run will need to start soon with away games against No. 6 West Virginia and No. 3 Kansas in the next four days.