Tuesday's Shootaround: Louisville and Texas win

Louisville 82, UConn 69: For the first time this season, UConn did not play like a team that wanted to make the NCAA Tournament. Up until this point in the season, all of UConn's losses (with the exception of the Providence game, which they at least played hard in) had some sort of mitigating factor that made a close, hard-fought loss in some way acceptable. Pitt was playing great when they beat the Huskies; Cincinnati and Michigan were on the road; Duke, Kentucky, and Georgetown are Duke, Kentucky, and Georgetown. But last night, the Huskies just didn't look like they cared. They jogged back on defense, they didn't hit the boards, they settled for terrible shots offensively, and they didn't get out in transition. Basically, the Huskies were playing like this season is already a complete loss. It isn't just yet, as UConn's absurd SOS rating will keep their bubble afloat for a while. But one thing is for certain - the Huskies need to start winning. Soon. They still have three chances to pick up another marquee win - at Villanova, at Syracuse, and at home for West Virginia. They need to win those three, as well as a number of other games, if they want any shot at avoiding the NIT.

Edgar Sosa's 15 points and 8 assists help push Louisville back into the bubble talk.
(photo credit: WaPo)

Louisville, on the other hand, got a nice bounce back win. The Cardinals have been a hard luck loser over the last few weeks, dropping three in a row by a combined 11 points, all with a healthy dose of reffing issues in the mix. The Ville still looks to be very, very bubbly right now, but this UConn is definitely a step in the right direction. The Cardinals have been playing great basketball, and while UConn struggles to play hard and look like a team that deserves/wants to be in the NCAA Tournament, the opposite is true for Louisville. This team has been playing very well of late, and if they can start closing out some games (they were up five in the final minute on Pitt, and up 10 in the final five minutes against West Virginia) they will be fine.


Texas 72, Oklahoma State 60: James Anderson couldn't match his first half, or Jordan Hamilton's second half. Anderson played phenomenal in the first 20 minutes, knocking down shots, getting to the rim, and creating space as he torched Avery Bradley, and others, for 24 points in the first half. But in the second half, Rick Barnes moved Dogus Balbay onto him, and Anderson was stymied. He couldn't create space when he had the ball, he couldn't run Balbay off a screen, and he was unable to get a clear lane to the rim, in part because of Balbay's physical defense and in part because of Oklahoma State's help side. Anderson is a lights out scorer at times in the college ranks, but far too often his disappears when defenses key in on him.

Jordan Hamilton almost single-handedly carried Texas to a win.
(photo credit: Kansas City Star)

Despite Anderson's struggles, Texas may not have won without Hamilton. Just one game after playing two minutes in an overtime loss to Baylor, Hamilton showed why he was a top ten recruit. The freshman caught fire in the second half, hitting threes, scoring in the midrange, getting all the way to the rim and finishing, and basically breaking the game open all by himself. He would finish with a career-high 27 points, legitimizing, at least for a night, he selfish shot selection.