Longhorns Face Litmus Test Sunday Against Bruins

Coming off a 98-61 victory Wednesday night over Texas Southern, the No. 8 Longhorns (6-0) face their toughest challenge yet this season on Sunday at top ranked UCLA (No. 1 ESPN/ USA Today).

The Bruins (7-0) are coming off a victory of their own, 83-60 over George Washington. Sunday's game provides an early season opportunity for Texas to make a statement that they're capable of hanging with some of the best basketball programs in the country, and are a threat at making a deep run in the upcoming 2008 NCAA Tournament.

So far, the Longhorns have played smart ball, with more confidence and poise on the court. This is evident in the leadership of point guard D.J. Augustin, the great shooting touch of guard A.J. Abrams, and the improved play of guard Justin Mason and forward Connor Atchley. All four of these players contributed in helping Texas win the Legends Classic Tournament in Newark, NJ last weekend.

In the final two games of the tournament, Augustin averaged 24 points per game and nine assists, while Abrams averaged 26 points. Mason set a new career high with 21 points and Connor Atchley followed suit with his first career double-double (22 pts., 11 rebs.) in the tournament championship game against then No. 7 Tennessee, as Texas dominated the Volunteers 97-78.

Collectively, Texas is averaging 88 points per game and 33.8 rebounds, but defensively the Longhorns have proven to be stingy. They held their first six opponents to 59.5 points per game and teams are shooting only 35.5 percent from the floor against them because they have effectively mixed their defenses from man-to-man to the 2-3 zone throughout their games.

In order for Texas to knock off the Bruins, they'll have to win the battle of the boards. The Longhorns are only out-rebounding their opponents by 3.5 per game. UCLA is no slouch when it comes to scoring or keeping opponents below their seasonal average.

The Bruins offense is putting up nearly 76 points per game and have held their first seven opponents to 52.9 a contest. But most importantly UCLA, as a team, is averaging 38.7 rebounds per game. Texas is going to need a quality performance from its rotation of big men, which includes starters Connor Atchley (6'10''), and Damion James (6'7''), plus reserves Alexis Wangmene (6'7''), Dexter Pittman (6'10"), and Clint Chapman (6'10''). They need to prevent UCLA from getting offensive rebounds and easy put back shots, especially from Bruins' freshman center Kevin Love (6'10''), forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (6'7''), and guard/forward Josh Shipp (6'5'').

Sunday's game is going to be good one because both teams are loaded with talented future NBA prospects. Hopefully the Longhorns will past the test.