Getty Desmond Bane #1 of the TCU Horned Frogs.
Texas will look to bounce back from a trio of losses as it hits the road to take on in-state rival TCU in a key Big 12 battle on Wednesday.
The game (8 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV anywhere, but anyone in the U.S can watch it live on ESPN+:
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Texas vs TCU Preview
It’s been a rough run for the Texas Longhorns of late, losing three consecutive games. After double-digit losses to Kansas and West Virginia — both ranked opponents — LSU squeaked out a 69-67 victory against Texas last time out.
“We have to find a way to spur that aggressiveness from beginning to end,” Texas coach Shaka Smart told The Associated Press after the game. “They played with their hair on fire later in the game, but they didn’t start that way.”
What stung the Longhorns even more was that they were able to erase a 16-point deficit before falling.
“We’ll look at today, when we sit down as a team, what are the things that allowed us to go get a lead after being down 16 points,” Smart said. “We’ll also look at what are the things that caused us to be down 16 points.
“Some of them are basketball X’s and O’s and some of them are just having a fight and aggressiveness and assertiveness. And that’s who we have to be for 40 minutes if we want to go on the road and beat a good team in TCU.”
Smart said the team is well aware that another loss to a conference opponent would be devastating to their tournament hopes.
“Our guys are very aware of records and standards, they talk about it,” Smart said. “That being said, we need to completely immerse ourselves in the current moment in practice and preparation for TCU. Then afterwards, if you do what you set out to do then those things get a little bit better then you try to do it again.”
TCU has been in a similar boat, dropping three of their last four. The latest was a 78-67 loss to Arkansas on the road.
“We’ve got to defend better. It’s a factor when we lose,” TCU head coach Jamie Dixon told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “If you’re looking for common denominators that’s the one. … It hasn’t been good for us. That’s something we have to do a better job of.”
Another focus for Dixon’s staff is rebounding, which will be important against Texas team that is last in the Big 12 in rebounding margin (-3.37).
“We’re trying to become the best in the league,” Dixon said. “We out-rebounded Arkansas by eight. That’s something we have to do. We’ve done a good job and it’s something we can continue to grow on and get better at.”