The Shaka Smart era with Texas basketball got off to a running start Friday night. Unfortunately the points didn’t catch up with the team.
Smart introduced his up-tempo pace to fans. His players raced up and down the court at break-neck speed. This was a vast departure from the methodical offense Rick Barnes employed. The run-and-gun approach will be entertaining, assuming the Longhorns start making more of their shots.
Texas shot less than 27 percent from the floor. There were wild shot attempts. The shot clock was irrelevant on offense. Getting to the basket or putting up long 3-point attempts were the name of the game.