A Closer Look: Texas Longhorns
Coming off another big victory Saturday afternoon against Kentucky in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels are back in action in the Smith Center Wednesday evening, as they welcome in the Texas Longhorns.
Some of these Tar Heels have to remember what they went through last year when they traveled down to Austin, as the Longhorns took it to the Tar Heels in an 85-67 victory over then No. 23 North Carolina.
Advertisement
The Longhorns return some of those same players from last year's squad as the Longhorns have started off the season strong with a 9-1 record, with their only loss coming to BYU. Javan Felix, Jonathan Holmes, and Cameron Ridley all return from last year and will look to get another victory against the Tar Heels, this time in Chapel Hill.
Texas owns a 5-3 overall record all-time against the Tar Heels in this series, and head coach Rick Barnes is no stranger to the Dean Dome from his time at Clemson.
In a lot of ways, the Longhorns resemble much of what Kentucky was---a team that can rebound the ball with their size but doesn't move the ball around very well.
It's once again going to be incumbent on the Tar Heels defensively to attack the passing lanes and take advantage of Texas's relative passiveness compared to their own willingness to get out and run the floor.
Tar Heel Illustrated provides another pregame breakdown as we break down the Longhorns, who will try to push their winning streak to six with a triumph Wednesday evening over the Tar Heels.
UNC looks to continue to ride the momentum of recent huge wins over Louisville, Michigan State, and Kentucky into ACC play, as this is part of their six-game homestand in the month of December.
Texas Longhorns
Record: 9-1
Streak: 5 Win
Conference Record: 0-0
National Ranking: NR
RPI: 34
SOS: 125
Points per Game: 78.8
Rebounds per Game: 43.7
Assists per game 12.3
Field Goal Percentage: 44.8 percent
Rebounding Leaders
Cameron Ridley: 7.8 rebounds
Jonathan Holmes: 6.8 rebounds
Connor Lammert: 5.9 rebounds
Demarcus Holland: 5.6 rebounds
Prince Ibeh: 4.0 rebounds
Assist Leaders
Isaiah Taylor: 3.8 assists
Javan Felix: 3.1 assists
Demarcus Holland: 2.3 assists
Connor Lammert: 0.8 assists
Damarcus Croaker: 0.6 assists
Field Goal Shooting Percentage Leaders
Cameron Ridley: 55.6 percent
Connor Lammert: 52.2 percent
Jonathan Holmes: 51.4 percent
Danny Newsome: 50.0 percent
Kendal Yancy: 50.0 percent
3pt Shooting Percentage Leaders
Jonathan Holmes: 48.0 percent
Connor Lammert: 41.7 percent
Javan Felix: 34.9 percent
Kendal Yancy: 33.3 percent
Damarcus Croaker: 32.1 percent
Free Throw Percentage Leaders
Jonathan Holmes: 84.8 percent (28-33)
Javan Felix: 84.0 percent (21-25)
Damarcus Croaker: 80.0 percent (4-5)
Connor Lammert: 75.0 percent (9-12)
Isaiah Taylor: 61.1 percent (44-72)