40 Acres Sports

Ex-basketball player Gary Goodner dies. Center on the 1978 NIT championship team, has died of an apparent heart attack.

Damion James dominates but Texas struggles to get past TCU without AJ Abrams. Ian Mooney is outplaying young studs? Ah oh.

Freshman forward [tag]Gary Johnson[/tag] finally received medical clearance to play Saturday and he’s already been inserted into the starting lineup. Johnson, the Longhorns’ highest rated incoming player, has sat out the entire season with an undisclosed heart ailment but he’ll make his debut as the starting power forward against [tag]TCU[/tag] Wednesday. He replaces [tag]Justin Mason[/tag] who has been in the midst of a horrid shooting slump the last few games.

Head coach Rick Barnes has described Johnson as a more athletic PJ Tucker, a comment that should really excite Texas fans. At 6-foot-7 he’ll play the 4 and Damion James will slide to the 3, giving the Horns a much bigger lineup. Johnson should bring energy, interior defense, and most importantly rebounding to a team that has been lacking all three during the current two game losing streak.

Mason is a good defensive player but his lack of size causes match-up problems at the 3 spot. Now he should be great asset as a defensive stopper off the bench. Hopefully the kid doesn’t get too down on himself about being sent to the bench, he should still see solid minutes and be a valuable member of the team.

Purely from a depth standpoint this team just got a lot better. I can’t wait to see what Johnson can do and how this team will perform in Big 12 play.

Kentucky fans are booing Billy Gillispie. He never should have taken that job. Coaching basketball at UK is like coaching football at A&M, you can’t win.

Gary Johnson: “It’s a gift just to be able to play again.” Glad he’s back, I hope it’s in his best interest to be playing.

After starting the season 11-0, the Texas basketball team has now lost two straight to Big 10 foes. The unranked [tag]Wisconsin[/tag] Badgers nailed a long game winning three pointer with three seconds left to beat the Horns on their home court 67-66. Texas might have had a chance for one more play but Wisconsin’s Michael Flowers, who had just hit the three, then stole the inbounds pass and flung it high in the air to finish off the game.

Not a well played game for the Horns and bad execution in the final minutes as well. Most notably, guard [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] had a chance to put the team up three in the final moments but could only hit one of two free throws. [tag]Justin Mason[/tag] had a horrible game, playing nearly all 40 minutes and not scoring a single point. He was 0 for 7 from the field and another 0 for 2 from the charity stripe. That’s not good. Mason’s minutes may be in trouble when [tag]Gary Johnson[/tag] makes his debut this week.

Maybe the lone bright spot for Texas, [tag]Damion James[/tag] had an incredible game. James played great on offense and defense, and as usual was a monster on the glass. He scored 21 points on 10 of 16 shooting and had 15 rebounds. He’s definitely stepped on his game this season after an inconsistent freshman year.

Next up for the Longhorns is a home game against TCU Wednesday afternoon at 4 pm. The game can be seen on FSN if you’re in the state of Texas.

Women’s Basketball upsets No. 12 DePaul, 91-81. Horns host Surf ‘N Slam Classic championship game on Sunday evening.

No big surprise but sophomore forward [tag]Matt Hill[/tag] will have surgery on his left heel and will miss the rest of the season. I think they were holding out hope he could get by without going under the knife and get on the court this year, but I guess that wasn’t the case. He hasn’t played at all this year so he’ll be eligible for a redshirt and will still have three years of eligibility left.

Thankfully, his hair should be fine.

Now that Hill is officially out for the year the impending return of Gary Johnson becomes even more important. Rumors are that he should be cleared sometime in early January. He arrival will bring much needed depth and energy to the team just in time for conference play.

Texas commit J’Covan Brown hopes to join homegrown talent in NBA. If he can ignore people around him kid is going to be special. (via)

The Horns won today against Oral Roberts and are now 11-0 on the season but again struggled with an inferior team at home. Tied at the half Texas was able to pull away thanks to 24 points from [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] and 10 of the last 17.

No one for the Horns shot the ball particularly well, including Augustin who scored 11 of his points from the free throw line. [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] shot only 33% from the field including a horrid 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. That continues a disturbing stretch of mediocre 3-point shooting for Abrams, it’s been nearly a month since he shot better than 33% or made more than 3 in a game. [tag]Connor Atchley[/tag]’s strong play continued though, as the junior chipped in 16 points and was the only Longhorn who shot well from either side of the 3-point line.

Next up for Texas is a nationally televised game Saturday against Michigan State. The Horns and #9 Spartans will face off at 5:30pm on ESPN.