Stop me if you’ve heard this before … Texas, South Carolina, UCLA and UConn are in the Final Four.
Obviously UConn is hoping this year’s Final Four ends the same way it did last year when these four teams met, with the Huskies cutting down the nets.
UConn is on a 54-game win streak and they are the odds-on favorite to win it all again this year.
TEAM: ODDS ON BET MGM:
UConn -235
UCLA +550
Texas +600
South Carolina +750
While Texas may not be the favorite, there is no other team which has tested itself as much as the Longhorns.
Texas went 16-3 against top-25 teams this season, including a 76-65 win over UCLA on November 26th – the Bruins’ only loss of the season.
“Right now, they’re playing as good as any team I’ve ever had,” head coach Vic Schaefer said about this year’s Texas team after winning its Elite Eight game.
That’s a far cry from what Schaefer was saying about his team following a 70-86 loss to Vanderbilt back in February when he said his Longhorns had “no heart” and were “probably the softest team I’ve had in years.”
For a coach who prides himself on his teams playing great defense, giving up 86 points had to be a kick in the nether region.
But his team responded and UT is playing perhaps the best basketball of any of the final four teams left in the field (although UConn is still playing like UConn).
The Horns held Michigan to a season-low 41 points in the last round. That’ll happen when you force the Wolverines into more turnovers (15) than field goals (13).
Texas also held UCLA to its season low scoring total in that win back during Thanksgiving weekend, forcing 11 turnovers in that game.
The Horns will need to repeat that feat if they are hoping to give the Bruins their second loss of the season.
“I think we’ve made a lot of improvements since that game,” said UCLA guard Charlisse Leger-Walker.
Walker said the key will be getting off to a fast start against Texas, pointing to the 20 point halftime deficit in the first game.
“I think a lot of it is coming out and being the aggressors first, trying not to be reactive to situations,” Leger-Walker said.
But Texas has made a habit of getting off to fast starts.
In the SEC Championship game against South Carolina, the Horns got up 27-12 in the first quarter. They kept that early momentum going during the tournament beating Missouri State 19-4 in the first quarter, Oregon 28-21, Kentucky 29-11 and Michigan 22-9. Over that five game stretch, that’s a combined first quarter score of;
Texas: 125
Everyone Else: 57
If Texas can get off to a fast start and play the same style of defense they’ve been playing this year, they should be able to put themselves in a position to play for a national title – which would be the first for UT since 1986.
