Texas Longhorns Basketball: Keys to Longhorns' 2012 NCAA Tournament Run

The Texas Longhorns have proven themselves worthy of a spot in the NCAA Tournament and were given the green light by the selection committee to compete in the competition.

Rick Barnes has yet to miss a tournament appearance since taking the reigns of the Longhorns in 1998.

Texas got a convincing win over Iowa State to open the Big 12 Tournament before falling to Mizzou in the second round. 

They had an uphill battle to climb and did not play the best basketball during the regular season, going just 19-12 overall and 9-9 in Big 12 play.

Rick Barnes’ squad failed to gain any signature wins against Top 25 teams but the committee felt the win over the Cyclones was worthy of admission. 

Now they are 0-0 going into the Big Dance as the No. 11 seed in the East region and have just a good a shot as anyone to win this thing. 

Superstars Who Must Shine

J’Covan Brown

The 6’1” junior guard is the Longhorns' leading scorer and actually led the entire Big 12 with 20 points per game, earning first team all-conference honors for his efforts.

He’s going to need to up those numbers and have a string of big games if he wants to navigate this undermanned Texas squad into the latter stages of the tournament.

Myck Kabongo

Kabongo is the other elite backcourt player for this team and the Canadian-born point guard had a phenomenal freshman season.

He averaged 9.8 points, 3 rebounds and 5.3 assists, getting a nod to the honorable mention team in the Big 12.

The NBA prospect needs to elevate his game to improve his draft stock and help get his teammates even more involved when March Madness begins. 

Role Players Who Must Emerge

Jonathan Holmes

The 6’7” San Antonio native needs to continue his solid freshman season and help crash the boards more. He averaged 7.1 points and 4.9 boards this year and only promises to get better.

Holmes could put his name on the map with a big performance in the tourney.

Jaylen Bond

Bond is a good first-year player out of Philadelphia and has played well in his limited time.

He cleans up the glass well but he’s a liability when shooting free throws, making just 37.9 of his attempts in 2011-12.

If he can work on that aspect of his game, Texas will be in good shape. 

Offensive Strategy to Watch

Texas seems too content at times to stand around and watch J’Covan Brown just create and take his own shot.

This works when the young man is on fire, but when he’s having an off game the team greatly suffers and has almost no chance to win.

Barnes needs to get Kabongo more involved in setting up open looks and forcing the ball down low come tournament time.

A sweet-shooting team can go on a run, but they won’t be able to win it all unless they have a balanced game. 

Defensive Strategy to Watch

Barnes loves a man-to-man defense and every single one of his players is forced to play tough.

Look for Texas to try and employ a “great defense creates good offense” strategy against their opponents during March Madness.

It’s worked for Barnes in the past and should not fail him now. 

Biggest NCAA Tournament Hurdle

The Longhorns have their work cut out for them in this competition.

They need to get past a red-hot Cincinnati Bearcats program that just won the Big East to start out.

Then there is a likely matchup with the No. 3 seeded Florida State Seminoles in the second round.

Both of these teams are going to be tough, if not impossible, for Texas to beat. 

Last-Second NCAA Tournament Prediction

This is going to be a short-lived competition for Rick Barnes’ boys.

They will lose in the first round to Cincinnati, as the winner of the Big East has historically found success during March Madness.

It will be extremely tough for the Longhorns to pull off the upset and completely unlikely.