Could Longhorns' Inconsistency Come Back to Haunt Them?

For Texas, the toughest road in conference play lies ahead

The No. 23 Longhorns are riding a three-game winning streak after a nail-biting 52-51 victory over previously No. 18th-ranked Tennessee on Saturday night. It wasn't pretty, but a late free throw from Timmy Allen helped Texas snatch its first win over a ranked opponent this season. 

But despite a gutsy finish, is there a reason to be worried?

The Big 12 might be known as the most competitive conference in college basketball, which will undoubtedly present challenges for the Longhorns over the last month of the regular season.

In fact, Texas has the toughest-remaining schedule in Division 1 as of Jan. 31, according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index. 

The Longhorns now have four-straight games against ranked opponents over the next 12 days (at No. 14 Texas Tech, vs No. 20 Iowa State, vs No. 10 Kansas, and at No. 8 Baylor) and will need to find a sense of consistency if a chance at a back-to-back conference titles is in play.

Texas nearly blew a 17-point second-half lead against Tennessee, something that won't fly against the elite talent of the Big 12. Allen spoke on the team's inability to finish things strong in recent weeks. 

"We struggled in that situation, but at the end of the day we won the game," Allen said after the win. "Just closing games. I think that's a little problem we've had. Just stepping on their throat and ending the game." 

The numbers back up the Horns' inability to stay consistent in the second half. Texas is currently 22nd in Division 1 in fewest second-half points per game over the last three games, a stat that could seem worse had the Longhorns not dominated TCU on Tuesday.  

"You want to have five players in the game that are at their best," coach Chris Beard said. "Obviously we had some mistakes add up in key times ... but I would say we had some poise in key moments."

Perhaps the one saving grace is that Texas commits the second-fewest turnovers per game (11.9) in the Big 12 through 21 games, though this number has been misleading at times. 

In a hard-fought 56-51 win over Oklahoma State last Saturday, the Longhorns tied a season-high with 20 turnovers, a mark they had hit two games prior in a loss on the road against Iowa State. 

A hostile environment awaits in Beard's return to Lubbock when Texas (16-5) faces Texas Tech (16-5) on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. C.T. The most difficult stretch of the season begins as the Longhorns continue to figure things out. 

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