Texas men’s basketball preview against Oklahoma

The Red River Rivalry always brings out fierce competition, but there is more on the line with the  Texas men’s basketball’s Wednesday night game in Oklahoma. Both teams want a first win in the Southeastern Conference, having entered conference play with a 0–3 record so far.

“It’s a rival game for us up there in Oklahoma,” head coach Rodney Terry said. “Porter Moser (is) one of the best coaches in the business — a lot of respect for him and his program and his team for what they’ve been able to do to this point in the season.”

Oklahoma was previously ranked at No. 17 in the AP polls, undefeated before conference play. However, similar to Texas, Oklahoma started conference play against three ranked opponents, one of which was No. 11 Texas A&M.

While Texas played against No. 1 Auburn and No. 6 Tennessee, who at the time were the top two teams in the nation, Oklahoma faced No. 4 Alabama and No. 23 Georgia.

The Sooners struggled in their conference opener against the Tide, getting blown out 107-79. In their most recent game against Georgia, the Sooners ended up losing by 10 points as well. However, going head-to-head with the two program’s common SEC opponent, Texas A&M, Oklahoma had their closest game yet, losing by only two points. Texas, on the other end, lost to the Aggies by 20.

Although the conference opener against the Aggies did not go nearly as well for the Longhorns, that game helped with preparation for another rival environment.

“For us, we’ve had a chance to go into a rival game situation already (while) on the road,” Terry said. “So (the team) got a chance to experience that over in College Station. It’s going to be no different when we go up to Oklahoma, again, against a team that we’ve got a lot of respect for and it is a big rivalry.”

Since its opener against Texas A&M, Texas has slowly decreased its point differentials, losing by five against now No. 1 Auburn and four against then No. 1 Tennessee. The team has been close against high-performing teams but hasn’t yet managed to get the win.

“Over the course of the three games, we’ve had to really try to work hard at trying to limit other team’s second chance opportunities,” Terry said. “When that ball goes up on the glass, that’s when the game is on. It’s the game within the game and I think that’s where we’ve kind of had our shortcomings.”

To cross back over the Red River as winners, Texas will need to stay strong defensively, getting key rebounds and preventing a strong Oklahoma offense from getting easy shots. With a crowd of red filling the arena, the Longhorns have an opportunity to get their first win in the SEC in front of a rival crowd.

“Their fanbase is going to want to beat us and, obviously, our fanbase and our team is going to want to beat them,” Terry said. “It should be a really good game. It should be a really good, competitive game up there and we’re excited about the opportunity.”