The No. 7 Texas Longhorns went to Morgantown and found a way to win ugly and outlast the West Virginia Mountaineers 69-61.
Here are a few quick thoughts from the win.
Marcus Carr went insane…again. He only had two points during the first 19:58 of the game. But his jumper late in the first half apparently lit him up offensively, and after Texas struggled so mightily to score in the first half, he was a walking bucket for the Horns after the break. He rained in a couple of threes, sunk some big free throws down the stretch and, as usual, made his way from the middle, including a run swim when the shot clock ran out to essentially seal the win. And when all was said and done, his two points during the first 19:58 ended with 23 points at 8-14 from the field, on top of a trio of assists and steals.
The great men of Texas were great in this case. Christian Bishop apparently had some beef with the West Virginia rims, dunked it all, and his physicality was badly needed to match that of the Mountaineers. Meanwhile, Dylan Disu’s versatility showed as he hit a few jumpers and worked against a strong WVU frontcourt. The duo combined for 24 points and a dozen rebounds.
This was an ugly but impressive win for Texas. Winning at Morgantown is literally never easy, and once again Texas won despite receiving significant contributions from few longhorns. As previously mentioned, Carr, Disu and Bishop impressed and Sir’Jabari Rice (9 points) continued to sink crucial free throws and make winning plays. Meanwhile, despite Tyrese Hunter adding 11 points, he went out again with cramps and never returned, Arterio Morris and Dillon Mitchell were non-factors, Brock Cunningham didn’t crack the scoreboard and even Timmy Allen was surprisingly kept completely in check and ended up with only two points. So in theory, Texas found themselves in a back-and-forth physical battle with WVU and took control late with only four Longhorns really affecting the game. It’s not ideal, but Rodney Terry will accept it.