Eric [email protected]
Turgeon baffled latelyTexas A&M coach MMaarrkk TTuurr--
ggeeoonn wasn’t exactly pleasedwith the Aggies’ recent incon-sistencies. For instance, A&M
beat TexasTech by 44points onFeb. 27,then lost toOklahoma,64-37, thenext game.
“This isprobablythe most
frustrating season I’ve beenthrough as a coach,” Turgeonsaid. “With that said, we’ve stillwon 21 games. But the ups anddowns are unexplainable. Youdon’t win by 44 one game,then lose like we did.”
A&M (21-8) is 7-7 in confer-ence play.
Big 12 No. 2 in RPIThe Big 12 Conference now
has the second-highest Rat-ings Percentage Index in thenation. As of Sunday, the con-ference had seven teams in theTop 50 of the RPI, which calcu-lates a team’s winning per-centage (50 percent), its
opponents’ winning percent-age (25 percent) and theopponents’ opponents winningpercentage (25 percent).
“I’d be disappointed if wedon’t get six teams in,” Okla-homa State coach SSeeaann SSuutt--ttoonn said of the NCAA Tourna-ment.
The Cowboys (16-12) havenow won five straight confer-ence games to even their Big12 record to 7-7. Sutton hasmentioned in the past that fivegames ago, he set a goal forhis team in the locker room towin its final seven games. Fivedown, two to go.
Griffin to miss timeOklahoma standout fresh-
man BBllaakkee GGrriiffffiinn underwentknee surgery Sunday and willmiss the Sooners’ last two reg-ular-season games. Coach JJeeffffCCaappeell said he expected Griffinto return in time for the Big 12Tournament on March 13.
Griffin, who averages 15.2points and 9.3 rebounds pergame, tore the medial menis-cus in the first half of Satur-day’s victory over Texas Tech.He actually returned in thesecond half and scored 10
points and grabbed fiveboards, despite the injury.
“We didn’t know the extentof the injury at the time,” Capelsaid. “He’s played as well asanyone in this league in thelast five or six games. I would-n’t trade him for anyone in thecountry.”
Rush/Rogers honoredKU’s BBrraannddoonn RRuusshh and Bay-
lor’s KKeevviinn RRooggeerrss were namedthe Big 12 Players of the Week.
Rush went off for 21 pointsagainst Kansas State on Satur-day. Rush leads the Jayhawksin Big 12 play with 14.2 pointsper contest.
Rogers, a 6-foot-9 junior outof Dallas, has averaged 18points and 11.5 rebounds inBaylor’s last two victories, overColorado and Missouri.
Bears break out razorsBaylor coaches made a deal
with their players toward theend of February that for eachgame the Bears won, an assis-tant coach would have toshave his head. The Bears havewon three straight games.They’d still have to win their
final two regular seasongames, then reach the Big 12Tournament championship toapply the razor to head coachSSccootttt DDrreeww.
“Right now, I’m good withmy hair,” Drew said. “Theyhave to keep winning if theywant to see it any different.”
Tough season expectedColorado coach JJeeffff BBzzddeelliikk
had a rather candid responsewhen asked about the Buf-faloes’ 11-17 record (3-11 con-ference).
“What’s happened is fullywhat I expected to happen,” thefirst-year coach said. “I knew weweren’t a very good reboundingteam. I knew we weren’t goingto be a very good defensiveteam. I knew we would struggleto score at times.
“There’s a lot of things beingdone that aren’t reflected intowins: Facilities, culture, envi-ronment, tangible evidencethat there’s an investment inthe basketball program that’snever been done here before. Ialmost have to giggle if any-body thought we’d be doingbetter than what we’re doingright now.”
It might bedifficult for the
Texas Longhorns tosecure a No. 1 seed in the
NCAA Tournament after theloss to Texas Tech.
If Texas wins out in the reg-ular season and advances to atleast the Big 12 Tournamentfinals, though, it will have
plenty to show the nominating commit-tee.
No team in the Associated Press Top25 poll has defeated three Top 10 teamsthis season. No team, that is, except theLonghorns.
Texas ran No. 7 Tennessee out of thegym on Nov. 24 with a 97-78 victory ona neutral court inNewark, N.J. UT thendefeated No. 1 UCLA,63-61, on Dec 2 at PauleyPavilion. The Long-horns capped off theirthird Top 10 victory onFeb. 11 with a 72-69 vic-tory over the No. 3-ranked Kansas Jayhawksat home.
Those victories lookeven better now. UCLA,Tennessee and Kansasare presently third,fourth and fifth, respec-tively, in the AP poll.
Texas coach Rick Barnes said he pur-posely chose diff icult non-leagueteams earlier in the season.
“I will go back to when I was at Prov-idence and what (former coach) DaveGavitt said to me,” Barnes said. “He saidat the end of the year, if you don't get inthe tournament because of your non-league schedule, there's no one toblame but you. He said you have achoice to decide how you want to play.Now do you want a schedule to get inthe NIT? Schedule to get in the NIT. Butif you want a schedule to get in theNCAA Tournament, you better be will-ing to play and not let your schedulework against you.”
The closest any team has come tothree Top 10 victories is Wisconsin.The Badgers have victories against No.9 Texas, No. 11 Indiana and No. 12 Indi-ana.
Close, but not as decorated a resumeas the Longhorns.
Texas, No. 9 in the AP poll, presentlysits at 25-5 (12-3 Big 12) and atop theconference with Kansas. It wasn’t sup-posed to be that way this year, accord-ing to Big 12 coaches.
Before the season, not one coachpicked Texas to win the conference.Ten picked Kansas, while two pickedTexas A&M, which is fifth in the con-ference standings.
So how’s Texas in position to win itssecond Big 12 title in three years?
One answer could be the emergenceof guards D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams,who average a combined 36.2 points pergame.
When Kevin Durant darted for theNBA, Augustin instantly became the
Longhorns leader.Augustin, whoreceives at least one“best point guard inthe nation” refer-ence per nationalbroadcast, gets histeammates involvedconsistently. His 5.83assists per game area large reason fourUT players averagedouble-digit pointtotals.
Abrams, who eas-ily has more three-pointers than any-
one in the Big 12, has been the primarybenefactor of Augustin’s ability to slashto the basket.
Defensively, the Longhorns haveseen Connor Atchley and DamionJames play monster roles. Atchley leadsthe conference in blocked shots, whileJames has been a beast on the glass. Infact, James averages a double-doublewith 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds.
One more home game remains forthe Longhorns — Sunday against Okla-homa State — for at least a share of theBig 12 title.
BIG XII SPOTLIGHTLAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
A weekly look inside the Big 12 Conference4B
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
BarnesrevitalizesprogramThere’s a reason Texas
men’s basketball coach RickBarnes is locked into a con-tract that would keep him inAustin until 2017.
Simply put, he's the bestbasketball coach in the histo-ry of the program.
Texas’ nine straight tourna-ment appearances in Barnes’first nine seasons — a schoolrecord — would have beenconsidered exceptional in theeras before Barnes arrived.
Now, it’s just expected.When Barnes took the UT
job to start the 1998-1999 sea-son, he didn’t inherit a pro-gram that had much successor tradition.
The farthest Texas hadadvanced in the NCAA Tour-nament was the Final Four,but that was in 1947. Themost recent success Texashad in the tournament wasthe Elite Eight in 1990.
This season will makeBarnes a perfect 10-for-10 intournament appearances. InUT’s previous 58 seasons, itmade the tournament only 16times.
It’s baffling to think beforeBarnes arrived, the UT play-er with the most NBA suc-cess was former Kings/Pac-ers forward LaSalle Thomp-son, who averaged near eightpoints and seven boards inhis 15-year pro career.
Barnes, who coached forsix years at Providence andfour years at Clemson,recruited talent the UT bas-ketball program never hadwitnessed.
Barnes brought in athleteslike Chris Owens, T.J. Ford,Royal Ivey, LaMarcusAldridge, P.J. Tucker, DanielGibson, Kevin Durant, A.J.Abrams, D.J. Augustin andConnor Atchley.
The obvious reason not asingle coach in this year’spreseason poll picked Texasto win the conference wasbecause of the departure ofDurant, who was selectedNo. 2 overall in last year’sNBA Draft.
It’s tough to picture thisgroup actually better afterlosing Durant, but that is thedirection Barnes has ledTexas. Despite several keyplayers darting early to theNBA in the Barnes era, hehas provided enough stabili-ty to make a deep tourna-ment run several years(Sweet 16 in 2001-02, FinalFour in 2002-03, Sweet 16 in2003-2004, Elite Eight in2005-2006).
Few other teams in the Big12 other than Kansas andTexas have this type of stabil-ity. Try picturing KansasState without MichaelBeasley and Bill Walker nextyear. A bit of a different team.
Recently, Barnes has donean impressive job keepingTexas near the top of theconference with Kansas,which has dominated the Big12 with seven conferencetitles in 11 years.
In the realm of Big 12 Con-ference history, Texas clearlyisn’t Kansas. But the Long-horns (134-56, .705) are cur-rently second to the Jay-hawks (156-34, .821) in con-ference winning percentagesince the Big 12 Conferencestarted in 1997.
None of it would be possi-ble for UT without the pro-gram Barnes has built.
— Journal-World copy editor Eric Sorrentinocan be reached at 832-6360
Little giantkillers
———
Texas boasts one of nation’smost appealing resumes
SORRENTINOSCALE
Looked darnnear unbeatablepast twogames
Important forConnor Atch-ley to stayout of foultrouble
Bears ridinga three-game winstreak
Nothing likeplaying CUto get backon track
Along withKU, hottestteam inleague
Losing BlakeGirffin hurtstourneychances
Most per-plexing teamin league(lost 4 of 5)
UT euphoriakilled withtrip toLawrence
3-game winstreaksnapped onroad
Tigers havegiven up anavg. of 83points last 7games
Cycloneshavedropped 3straight
Haven’t wona conferencegame onroad thisyear
This week in the Big 12 Conference
Turgeon
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
27-3 overall
12-3 Big 12
20-8 overall
8-6 Big 12
19-10 overall
9-6 Big 12
21-8 overall
7-7 Big 12
19-10 overall
7-7 Big 12
16-12 overall
7-7 Big 12
16-13 overall
7-8 Big 12
17-11 overall
6-9 Big 12
15-14 overall
5-9 Big 12
14-15 overall
4-10 Big 12
11-18 overall
3-12 Big 12
25-5 overall
12-3 Big 12
Nobody saw this seasoncoming from Texas.Nobody would haveguessed they would tieKansas for a Big 12 Confer-ence title.
Yet as remarkable as theLonghorns doing that is, inretrospect, what KU pulledoff in the Big 12 two sea-sons ago is even moreamazing.
That Texas team hadDaniel Gibson and LaMar-cus Aldridge, both scoringin double figures presentlyfor their NBA teams. Andneither guy was the bestplayer on the team. Thatwas P.J. Tucker.
KU started three fresh-men and two sophomores,tied Texas for the regularseason title and defeatedthe Longhorns in the Big 12Conference tourney titlegame. That was even moreamazing than what Texashas done this year.
— TOM [email protected]
WhatKeegan
says
By Eric Sorrentino lJournal-World copy editor
Texas is the only team in theAP Top 25 poll that’s defeatedthree teams in the Top 10. Thosewins:
lNo. 7 Tennessee, W 97-78(Nov. 24, Newark, N.J.)lNo. 1 UCLA, W 63-61 (Dec. 2,
Los Angeles)lNo. 3 Kansas, W 72-69 (Feb. 11,
Austin, Texas)
RESUME BUILDERS
UT NCAA Tournament results sincecoach Rick Barnes took over:
THE BARNES ERA
Texas is 42-4 at home in Big 12 play thelast five years:
HOME SUCCESS
1998-99: First-round loss1999-00: Second round2000-01: First-round loss2001-02: Sweet 162002-03: Final 4
2003-04: Sweet 162004-05: First-round loss2005-06: Elite 82006-07: Second round2007-08: --
2002-03: 7-02003-04: 7-1 (loss vs. Oklahoma State)2004-05: 6-2 (losses vs. Iowa State, Oklahoma)2005-06: 8-02006-07: 7-1 (loss vs. Kansas State)2007-08: 7-0
