Deep Dive Thread for Texas

Gameday Poster Courtesy of AlabamaMBB

The Longhorns are coached by Archie Miller, who is in his first season in Austin after spending the last few at Xavier. Texas sits at 9-6 this season and 0-2 in conference, holding just one win against a team ranked in the KenPom top 250, against NC State.

Their leader in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals is 6-8 Dailyn Swain, who came with Miller from Xavier. Averaging almost 16/7/3.5/2, he really is a do-everything player who has been a key to their success this season. Swain can step back and shoot from behind the arc, but his game is driving downhill and finishing at the rim or drawing the foul.

Swain thrives getting to the basket and finishing through contact. https://x.com/TexasMBB/status/2007619550842404864?s=20

Their starting center and second leading scorer is 7-0 Matas Vokietaitis, the transfer from Florida Atlantic. He leads the team in blocks and does a great job protecting the rim, as the defense is centered around funneling them to him. Additionally, he is number 1 in America at fouls drawn rate, so Alabama will have to defend him without fouling in this game.

Matas has the skill set to put it on the floor if you are weak with your defense. https://x.com/TexasMBB/status/2007614945052033306?s=20

The 3rd leading scorer is 6-5 Tramon Mark, who is in his second season in Austin after spending one season at Arkansas and a couple at Houston. Mark is a solid defender and a decent scorer at all 3 levels. He is not shooting as well from deep this season, but still is more than capable of stepping back from deep.

Tramon Mark has a ton of college experience and can make the clutch plays. https://x.com/TexasMBB/status/2007625949777743918?s=20

One of their other returning starters from last season is 6-1 Jordan Pope. Pope is averaging just over 12 points per game and is top 50 in the country in TO rate. Pope is their highest volume 3pt shooter this season, making just over 34% on the year.

Pope doesn’t need much space to get the shot off. https://x.com/TexasMBB/status/2003276009496273202?s=20

Purdue Transfer 6-7 Camden Heide is their last starter. He currently sits at number 2 in the country in offensive rate, mostly since he is 50% from behind the arc this season.

Some other rotational pieces for the backcourt for Texas are 6-4 Simeon Wilcher and 6-3 Chendall Weaver. Wilcher is their second-best shooter from behind the arc at just over 38% from deep and 8th in the country in FT percentage.

Their backup center and best rebounder per percentages is 6-9 Lassina Traore, who is top 100 in both offensive and defensive rebounding rate. He is not much of a scoring threat but is great on the glass.

Texas is elite in a few spots. They are number 1 in America at getting to the foul line, they also are 6th in forcing long 2pt shots, and they do a great job running teams off the 3 point line and preventing assists. Additionally, this team is a solid rebounding team that will be able to make Alabama pay if they are not physical on the glass.

A couple of places I think Alabama should have some success are Texas, which has fouled a good bit on defense, and the spot where they are so successful on defense is forcing long 2s, which is something that Nate Oats' offense just does not do often. Additionally, Alabama has still been able to get off alot of 3s this season in every game, so I am not sure Texas will be able to limit them a ton from behind the arc.

My player to watch is Amari Allen. He is coming off another double-double at 25 and 11 last game and has been Alabama’s best rebounder all season. He has also been a solid defender at the 4 spot and will be matched up with Texas’s best player. Amari does a great job getting downhill and drawing the foul, so I think this game is set up well for the type of game he plays.

Alabama has bounced back well from losses this season and returning home to Coleman for this game I have no reason to expect this game will be any different. Alabama will need to rebound the ball and defend without fouling in this game to not let Texas get easy points, but I do think that they will be prepared and up for the task.

Prediction: Alabama 94 - Texas 79

I broke down this game in even more context over on my YouTube Channel. Subscribe for more Alabama Basketball Content. https://youtu.be/_iX6xoN3Cn0