40 Acres Sports

Kevin Durant interview on GameTap. March Madness, cold-blooded shooting, and Entourage.

Texas pulls away from Texas State late. Horns were working on man defense and didn’t get the job done.

Twelve years after leaving school, Texas’ all-time leading scorer Terrence Rencher graduated this weekend. Brad Buckman also picked up his diploma.

For the third time since he left Texas, [tag]TJ Ford[/tag] had to be carried off a basketball court on a stretcher last night late in the Raptors win against the Hawks. Ford had played very well throughout game (26 points & 8 assists) when he stole the ball and was off on a breakaway late in the 4th quarter. Hawks’ forward Al Horford tried to stop TJ’s drive to the basket and reached out and nailed him across the face. TJ’s head snapped back from the force of the hit and then again when his body hit the hardwood. Horford was called for a flagrant foul and ejected for the play.

ESPN video of the game and the play are below:

It’s scary to watch TJ laying on the ground screaming in pain, especially because of his history. He looks like he is scared and in an incredible amount of pain. The good news is that he had feeling in his arms and legs when he was taken off the floor. He was expected to be kept in the hospital at least overnight, but there have been no updates yet this morning on how he’s doing. We’ll post any news as we hear it.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to TJ for a speedy recovery.

Update: Ford was released from the hospital this morning. All X-rays and an MRI were negative. He was able to fly back to Toronto and was given a standing ovation when he entered the arena and joined his teammates on the bench. No word yet on when TJ might be back in action. (10:38pm)

DJ Augustin named Big 12 player of the week. DJ had 47 points and 17 assists in wins over UNT and Rice.

Fran Fraschilla on Rick Barnes’ transformation at Texas. Discusses his change from control freak to coach who let’s his player’s have freedom.

The Longhorns easily handled [tag]Rice[/tag] Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston to continue the unbeaten start to their 2007-08 season. The team is now 9-0 on the season (the team’s best start since 1981-82) and if they can get past two more tough games in December then they have a chance to make it into conference play undefeated.

Wooden Award candidate [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] and [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] each scored 18 points against the Owls. [tag]Damion James[/tag] chipped in another 18 points and added an impressive 17 rebounds. James’ play is a very good sign for the Horns, a third scoring option and a monster on the glass could mean for a longer tourney run this March.

Next up for the team will be Texas State on Saturday (12/15) at 5pm. No TV so show up at the Erwin Center and support your Horns in person.

Related Links

• AP story
• Postgame notes

Connor Atchley’s growing confidence is helping him on the court. If he stays within himself he can definitely be huge for this year’s team.

Texas basketball #2 in SI’s power rankings. Big jump after UCLA win, like Augustin for the Wooden Award.

SI’s Grant Wahl says Rick Barnes can coach. Barnes took a lot of heat last year from national media who never watched college basketball and certainly never watched the Horns (cough… Bill Simmons).