Longhorns aim to make a run in NCAA Tournament
AUSTIN, Texas (BVM) — Shaka Smart has been to the Final Four before with Virginia Commonwealth University. Now the head coach for Texas, he’ll be helping lead the Longhorns as they try to make a deep run in the Big Dance after receiving a No. 3 seed.
“In my experience, is that when you get to this time of year, you don’t want to play out of avoidance,” Coach Shaka Smart said in a press conference.
The Longhorns have a matchup with No. 14-seeded Abilene Christian on Saturday night. No. 14-seeded teams are 21-119 all-time versus a No. 3 seed. So Smart and the Longhorns do have history on their side.
“It’s easy when you get caught up reading stuff [or] listening to stuff,” Smart said. “The reality is that we have a basketball game for 40 minutes against Abilene Christian on Saturday night at 9:50 [EST]. They’re a good team, they play extremely hard, [and] they’re well-coached.
“It’s TBD; whoever plays better is going to win. Whoever plays harder is going to go get the loose ball; whoever runs faster has an advantage in transition. As a player, certainly, as a coach, if you can get to a place of full acceptance that it is TBD and that what you do and what you control plays into that but doesn’t fully determine it by yourself, then you can just go after it. And that’s fun in playing sports. There’s no fun in playing sports if you know for sure what’s going to happen; you got to go after it. And we’re fortunate to be in this situation, here in Indy, to have [that] opportunity.”
But the Wildcats will have to deal with guards Andrew Jones, Matt Coleman III, and Courtney Ramey. All three guards are averaging nearly 14 points. Abilene Christian will have to have its best defensive night if it wants to stop the Longhorns.
As a team, you only have few chances like these to make a run for an NCAA title. Coach Smart and his players know they have a particular group, and they can make some waves once the tournament tips off.
“I like our chances every night, no matter who we play against,” Coleman said. “When I look to my left; when I look to my right, I love our odds because I have faith in my teammates and myself that we have the ability to put ourselves in the best position to win every night.”
