Texas Basketball: Longhorns' 5 Biggest Concerns in Big 12 Play
Through four games in the competitive Big 12, the Texas Longhorns sit at 2-2 after consecutive losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
The Longhorns did get back on track with a big win over West Virginia, but few games in conference play will deliver easy wins like the 77-50 blowout at the Erwin Center.
With two games apiece left against Kansas, Baylor and Iowa State and one remaining against both Oklahoma and West Virginia, the Longhorns will face quite a few challenges over the next two months.
Here's a look at the five biggest concerns Texas should have during the remainder of the Big 12 season.
Dealing with Iowa State's Transition Game
As Kansas learned the hard way Saturday night in Ames, no team can take a play off against the Iowa State Cyclones.
After watching what Fred Hoiberg's team did to the Jayhawks at Hilton Coliseum, Texas must be on alert on January 26 when they visit the Cyclones.
The key to stopping the fast pace of the Cyclones is fast guards who show effort on every single play. When a guard makes a basket, he must sprint back to deny his counterpart of an easy opportunity on offense.
Not every transition basket can be prevented, but if the Longhorns contain the Cyclones and make them score through half-court sets, they may have a chance of leaving Ames with a victory.
Handling West Virginia's Press on the Road
Texas already has experience with West Virginia's stingy defense from its victory at the Erwin Center Saturday.
Revenge will certainly be on the minds of the Mountaineers when they host Texas on February 24. In that road matchup, Texas will be forced to handle the press instilled in West Virginia by Bob Huggins.
When they are at their best, the West Virginia guards have the potential to wreak havoc on any team in the nation.
One of the reasons why the Mountaineers were unable to successfully set up their press in Austin was their field-goal percentage of 24 percent.
If Texas can hold West Virginia to another low field-goal percentage, it should be able to eliminate the effectiveness of the press.
Improving the Team's Lousy Field-Goal Percentage
After the win over West Virginia, the Longhorns rank 175th in the nation in field-goal percentage. To take the next step and challenge Kansas and Iowa State for the regular-season title, Texas must improve that number by a few percentage points.
Only three players have field-goal percentages over 50 percent this season, and only four shoot better than 45 percent.
Luckily for Rick Barnes and Co., Cameron Ridley, Prince Ibeh and Myles Turner are three of those players. If the team's paint players were averaging bad numbers from the field, this statistic might be more alarming to the Texas faithful.
Isaiah Taylor's percentage should improve as he receives more playing time, but Barnes should be worried a bit by the low numbers produced by Javan Felix and Jonathan Holmes.
If the smaller players in the Texas lineup can boost the team's number up to 47 or 48 percent, the Longhorns should be in decent shape heading into March.
Finding a Way to Cut Down on Turnovers
If you look closely at Texas' statistics, the other eyesore on the list is the number of turnovers the team commits per game.
The Longhorns' season average is 14, with Taylor listed as the biggest culprit at 2.5 turnovers per game.
In the victory over West Virginia, the Longhorns committed 19 turnovers, including eight by Felix.
The good news for the Longhorns is that they combined for only 21 turnovers in the two games prior to the win over the Mountaineers.
Looking at the totals from their last three games, it seems like the Longhorns are improving in the turnover department with Taylor back at the point.
If Taylor stays in a rhythm in the backcourt over the next few weeks, the Longhorns should experience a decrease in giveaways.
Handling the 2 Rough Stretches with Relative Ease
The Big 12 schedule presents few breaks for any team in the conference, which is something Texas can attest to when it looks at its remaining schedule.
After the road trip to TCU on Monday, the Longhorns will have to face Kansas, Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma State in consecutive games. A visit to Manhattan on February 7 concludes the brutal five-game stretch.
Another long stretch awaits the Longhorns in the middle of February, as they will have to play five straight games against ranked opposition.
The key for the Longhorns during these two stretches is to have a short memory. If they can rebound from a difficult loss in an easy fashion, the Longhorns should still be alive in the regular-season title race when March rolls around.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from ESPN.com.