Claremore Daily Progress

Sports

March 16, 2013

NCAA MEN'S BB: Texas out of NCAA Tournament for first time since 1998

ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

AUSTIN — It would seem as though Texas' long and miserable season can't end soon enough. Coach Rick Barnes may not let that happen.

The Longhorns crashed out of the Big 12 tournament Thursday night and for the first time since 1998 won't be playing in the NCAA tournament. But after his team lost 66-49 to No. 11 Kansas State, Barnes said he expects the Longhorns will keep playing next week in the lower-level College Basketball Invitational, which will announce its lineup Sunday night.

Texas is 16-17. If the Longhorns don't play - and win - at least two more games, Barnes will have his worst losing season in 15 years at Texas. And that may be asking a lot of a young team that has struggled to look inspired at times this season, even when all of its best players were on the court.

Texas is one of just six schools to play in the NCAA tournament each of the previous 14 years, but the Longhorns went into the Big 12 tournament needing to grab the champion's automatic NCAA bid to keep that streak alive. Kansas State ended those hopes with their third win of the season over the Longhorns.

"That's something we've never taken for granted. I certainly haven't. I think people act like it's easy to get to,'' Barnes said. "I'm disappointed. But we are who we are. We weren't good enough.''

During most of that 14-year run, Texas made it look pretty easy. The Longhorns had to sweat out a few invitations, but were a lock for the NCAA tournament most years. Barnes took the Longhorns to the Final Four in 2003 and to regional finals in 2006 and 2008.

But this year's miss is the culmination of a steady postseason slide. Texas is 2-4 in the NCAA tournament since 2009 and hasn't made it past the first weekend of play since making the regional final in 2008. Despite those results, Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds has said Barnes' job is safe.

Looking back, Texas' bad 2012-2013 season started to unravel before it even began. Myck Kabongo was sidelined for 23 games with an NCAA suspension for receiving improper benefits on a trip to Cleveland last summer, then misleading school investigators when asked about it.

Kabongo was one of the top guards in the Big 12 and Texas' young lineup clearly missed its floor leader. The Longhorns were 10-13 without Kabongo, including an embarrassing loss to Division II Chaminade in the Maui Invitational in November, and started 0-5 in the Big 12, their worst losing streak under Barnes.

Texas won six of its last nine when Kabongo returned. Assuming Texas would have won two out of every three games with Kabongo all season, the Longhorns would be hovering around 21 wins and sitting with at least a good chance of making a 15th consecutive NCAA tournament.

Longhorns forward Jonathan Holmes wouldn't use Kabongo's absence as an excuse for the bad start in the Big 12.

"We just never gave ourselves chances to win,'' Holmes said.

Texas hasn't played in the National Invitation Tournament since 1986 and that tournament hasn't invited a team with a losing record since it was taken over by the NCAA in 2006.

Barnes said he expects the Longhorns will play in the CBI and Texas would be the first Big 12 team to play in that tournament in its six-year history. Last year, the CBI invited Washington State at 15-16 and the Cougars made it to the championship.

Tournament spokesman Ray Cella would not say if Texas was among the teams the CBI wanted this year.

"We're looking for teams that are playing well at the end of the season, teams that want to continue to play,'' Cella said. "We've all seen teams that don't really want to keep playing and that's not fun to watch.''

Texas' bigger question is Kabongo's future with the team, not over just the next few days or weeks but next season.

The trip to Cleveland that caused him so much trouble came when Kabongo was considering going to the NBA after this freshman season. The NCAA determined Kabongo improperly accepted airfare and personal training instruction. Kabongo chose to return to Texas last year, but will face the same decision again. Kabongo wouldn't talk about it after the loss to Kansas State.

"I'm not thinking about that stuff,'' Kabongo said.



 

Text Only
Sports
  • Practice_051web.jpg ‘All-State Brace’

    All the hours and hard work of keeping the Claremore Zebra athletes injury-free in order to reach their dreams at the highest level helped graduate Averey Brace fulfill a huge accomplishment in her athletic training career.
    Brace, a recent 2013 graduate of Claremore High School, received All-State honors from the Oklahoma Coaches Association earlier this month for her three-year commitment to the Claremore High School athletic training program.

    May 17, 2013 1 Photo

  • Sign up now for OSU Baseball Camp

    Oklahoma State Baseball will be holding a pair of camps in June for players in grades 1-8, and registration is now open.
     
    Session I of the camp is June 17-19, with Session II set for June 24-26, and cost for each camp is $200. Camp runs from 9 a.m.-noon each day.

    May 17, 2013

  • Lady Zebra volleyball camp set for May 20

    The Claremore Lady Zebra volleyball camp will take place on May 20-23 at the Claremore High School gymnasium.
    Under the direction of Lady Zebra head coach Lindsey Renfroe, campers will receive instruction in fundamentals — passing, setting, hitting and serving.

    May 17, 2013

  • Green Country All-Star Games start May 23 in Catoosa

    Area senior all-star athletes from 21 schools in northeastern Oklahoma will lace up their high tops, hoist their bats and dust off their pom-poms in preparation for the 2013 Green Country All-Star Games held May 23-24 in Catoosa.

    May 17, 2013

  • SEC BASEBALL: Auburn blanks No. 13 Arkansas, 3-0

    Conner Kendrick and Terrance Dedrick combined on a five-hit shutout as Auburn defeated No. 13 Arkansas, 3-0, in the series opener on Thursday night at Plainsman Park.

    Arkansas drops to 34-18 overall and 17-10 in Southeastern Conference play, while Auburn is now 32-21 and 12-16 in league play.

    May 17, 2013

  • GOLF: Bradley gets course-record 60 at Byron Nelson

    Keegan Bradley had no thoughts of a course record, or the possibility of a 59, after consecutive bogeys in the middle of his opening round at the Byron Nelson Championship.

    Until his 136-yard wedge shot on his final hole Thursday.

    “It was going right at it. (A 59) crossed my mind for a second, and it would be unbelievable if I buried this,” Bradley said. “But I had 3 feet to shoot 60. I was actually very nervous, uncomfortable over it and thank God I made it.”

    May 17, 2013

  • Cowboys rock Mountaineers, 7-4

    Oklahoma State showcased its offensive ability in its series opener against West Virginia on Thursday at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.

    Whether it’s small ball or the long ball — both of which came into effect — the 16th-ranked Cowboys are proving they can find a way to win here late in the season with a 7-4 mauling of the Mountaineers.

    May 17, 2013

  • OU baseball closes out regular season play at K-State

    Moods were light as Oklahoma boarded a bus for Manhattan, Kan., Thursday afternoon. What they’ll be like by Sunday depends on what transpires over the next three games.

    The Sooners’ season hinges on the outcome.

    May 17, 2013

  • Westbrook's injury hinders Thunder's playoff run

    The way Kevin Martin describes it, the Oklahoma City Thunder lost the “vision” of a potential championship run the morning they learned All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook would be out for the rest of the postseason.

    May 17, 2013

  • NSU women's golf in 8th place at NCAA Division II Championship

    The Northeastern State women’s golf team sits in eighth place after Thursday’s second round of the 2013 NCAA Division II Championships on the par-72, 6,228-yard Legends Course at LPGA International.

    May 17, 2013