The 2008-09 Texas Longhorns were far from a perfect team, but Saturday night the team showed a ton of heart but came up short in the final minute in a second round loss to [tag]Duke[/tag]. Despite being overmatched in some areas, the victim of some bad bounced (and calls), and unable to knock down free throws the Horns still had their chances to come up with a huge win. Watch highlights from the game below…
Follow along below with our live thoughts and analysis during tonight’s 2nd round game versus 2nd seeded [tag]Duke[/tag] on CBS.
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Yahoo.com interview from [tag]Varez Ward[/tag]:
Not many Texas fans have their own team making a long run in this year’s NCAA Tournament, but both college basketball experts from Yahoo Sports think the Horns could make some noise in the East regional. The team has been horribly inconsistent throughout the 2008-09 season but does have the ability to beat most anyone if they play well. Thanks to big front line including [tag]Damion James[/tag], [tag]Dexter Pittman[/tag], and [tag]Gary Johnson[/tag] they believe the Horns match up well against [tag]Duke[/tag] and could give the region’s #2 seed fits.
Watch the region preview below:
Barely any Texas talk but ESPN has a brief look at the teams in the East Region of the 2009 NCAA Tournament. Watch Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, and Scott Bilas break down the region below…
The Texas basketball team’s once in a decade loss to [tag]Baylor[/tag] was bad but apparently two Big 12 tournament wins were enough to get the Horns a 7 seed in the tough East bracket. The Longhorns will open the tournament against Minnesota on Thursday at 6:10pm.
The East may be the toughest region in the tourney. If Texas can get past Minnesota they’ll have to face [tag]Duke[/tag] in the second round in what would be essentially a home game for the Blue Devils in Greensboro, North Carolina. If the Horns get by that tough test, it could actually set up a rematch with two top teams they beat earlier this season in 3-seed [tag]Villanova[/tag] or [tag]UCLA[/tag].
We’ll have previews of Thursday’s game and the rest of the tourney so check back in on the 40 Acres all tourney long.
Related Links
The football team is fighting hard for a national title but forget about the men’s basketball team because they’ll be back on the court and vying for a championship of their own soon. The first official poll of the season has been released and the Longhorns are ranked number eight in the ESPN/USA Today college basketball coaches’ poll. The Horns are behind some of the nation’s perennial elite teams and with the way [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] is recruiting it looks like the team will remain in that company for years to come.
Check out the top ten teams below or view the full top 25:
ESPN/USA Today Poll | |
---|---|
1 | North Carolina (31) 0-0 775 |
2 | Connecticut 0-0 707 |
3 | Louisville 0-0 694 |
4 | UCLA 0-0 650 |
5 | Duke 0-0 578 |
6 | Pittsburgh 0-0 576 |
7 | Michigan State 0-0 572 |
8 | Texas 0-0 538 |
9 | Notre Dame 0-0 525 |
10 | Purdue 0-0 465 |