{"id":226876,"date":"2026-03-30T12:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226876\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T12:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:08:08","slug":"texas-basketball-wasnt-great-but-was-good-enough-to-rout-kentucky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/226876\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas basketball wasn’t great, but was good enough to rout Kentucky"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT WORTH \u2014 Vic Schaefer<\/a> is a competitor, worrier and taskmaster all rolled up into one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Add philosopher to the list.<\/p>\n

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1-TEXAS VS. 2-MICHIGAN<\/p>\n

When\/where:\u00a06 p.m. Monday in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

TV\/radio:\u00a0ESPN; 1300 AM.<\/p>\n

His Texas Longhorns<\/a> followed Saturday’s first-half knockout of Kentucky with a so-so second half at Dickies Arena that would normally draw the ire of one of the biggest perfectionists in the sport. But that wasn\u2019t the case after the Horns cruised to a 76-54 win<\/a> and advanced to their fifth Elite Eight in Schaefer\u2019s six seasons.<\/p>\n

The No. 1-seeded Longhorns put in somewhat of a clunker in two of Schaefer\u2019s pet peeve categories by missing 10 of 15 free throws and committing 16 turnovers, but all is fine in the 512 because the Horns are right on schedule.<\/p>\n

A diferent Schaefer in postgame\u00a0<\/p>\n

During his stay in Austin, we the media have become accustomed to Schaefer spending the first 30 seconds of postgame interviews scrolling down the stat sheet and circling areas of concern. And he was sure to audibly groan if the Horns were overly deficient in a key area.<\/p>\n

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Not so Saturday, not even Texas suffered through a 1-for-5 free throw drought that was finally broken when senior fan favorite sank a couple after the Wildcats were whistled for a flagrant foul. That and the nine second-half turnovers would usually push Schaefer to red-line levels of frustration, but this was a calmer, gentler coach in postgame.<\/p>\n

MORE CED: Texas basketball has bright future under Sean Miller<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m not going to get too worked up about the second half,\u201d Schaefer said. “It\u2019s really hard. We\u2019ve had this issue all year long. We\u2019ve had some big leads at the half and can\u2019t seem to play 0-0 on the clock and on the scoreboard. And that\u2019s young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

That response begged a follow-up question:\u00a0Who are you, sir? And what have you done with Vic Schaefer?<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns guard Rori Harmon (3) celebrates a score during the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 game against Kentucky at Dickies Arena on Saturday, March 28, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just trying to enjoy my group,\u201d he said. \u201cThis team has worked hard to put us in a position where we\u2019re at right now. You\u2019ve heard me talk about coaching against ghosts. I\u2019m a big-time worrier, but sometimes I have to sit back and give them credit. They have answered the bell. They have really responded and they\u2019re playing really good together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In all seriousness, Schaefer is proof that one is never too old to learn. How many us noticed how strict our parents were during our childhoods only to soften up as grandparents? Vic doesn\u2019t have any grandkids yet, but something in him realizes he has a special group that doesn\u2019t come along every year. They bust their butts for him on defense, put in the work at practice and play as if their lives depended on it.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ced’s Corner\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sign up for Cedric Golden\u2019s newsletter <\/a>for hot takes and expert analysis each Tuesday on Texas Longhorns football and beyond. It’s called Ced\u2019s Corner, from the mind of the American-Statesman\u2019s resident sports columnist, the 2025 NSMA Texas Sportswriter of the Year.<\/p>\n

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Shoot, basketball is their life, just like it\u2019s his. He has taught them well and this amazing season is the fruit of their collective labor.<\/p>\n

Sure, he went off the handle after the 86-70 loss at Vanderbilt Feb. 12 by questioning his team\u2019s heart<\/a> and suggesting it was possibly the softest group he has ever coached.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Longhorns forward Madison Booker (35) pushes towards the basket during the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 game against Kentucky at Dickies Arena on Saturday, March 28, 2026 in Fort Worth, Texas.<\/p>\n

Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n

The comments were over the top on a night that was more about Vandy\u2019s Mikayla Blakes \u2014 the eventual national scoring champion \u2014 being in the midst of a scoring binge. The 34 points she scored against Texas were part of a seven-game stretch where she topped 30 six times.<\/p>\n

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Texas (34-3) has won 11 straight since that night in Music City and hit all the right notes in Saturday’s first half with a 48-26 blitz which quickly settled the issue even though the Wildcats played more competitively over the final 20 minutes. Monday\u2019s Elite Eight opponent, Michigan, will provide a push, but the Horns have enough weaponry down the roster to survive one or two players struggling and still manage to book a trip to Phoenix for a second consecutive Final Four.<\/p>\n

Sweet-shooting Madison Booker can get to her spot against any defender in the country. Point guard Rori Harmon, who shrugged off any concerns about the free-throw shooting or a banged up finger, is hungry to end her college experience with a national championship. And sophomore guard Jordan Lee is playing like fifth-year senior eyeing the WNBA draft.<\/p>\n

There will come a time when the Horns will need to put together two good halves to get where they need to go, but that time wasn\u2019t Saturday in Cowtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely put a premium on starting fast, getting out, and punching first in the first five minutes,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely proud of us for that start. It\u2019s March and you want to be hot at this time of the year but like (Schaefer) mentioned going forward, the level of competition and the preparation is only going to get higher and it’s only going to get better.”<\/p>\n

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So close to Phoenix<\/p>\n

The Horns are one win from college basketball utopia and right now, there aren\u2019t too many teams that can bang with them with the table stakes increasing by the round.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even if he spent most of the second half red-faced and frustrated with this team\u2019s play on both ends, Schaefer wouldn’t trade this group for any on the planet, not even the top overall seed UConn Huskies. Texas is two wins away from playing in a national championship game for the first time in 40 years. Schaefer coached in consecutive title games in 2017 and 2018 and has been stalking a spot on the sport\u2019s biggest stage in the years since.<\/p>\n

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Texas is good enough to win the whole damn thing and sometime along the way, Schaefer realized it\u2019s OK to enjoy this incredible ride.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT WORTH \u2014 Vic Schaefer is a competitor, worrier and taskmaster all rolled up into one. Add philosopher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226877,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[11511,2692,9602,41902,13321,48876,81012,83229,74833,48614,84056,84428,27,29,537,28703,28,34752,5279],"class_list":["post-226876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-cedric-golden","tag-college-basketball","tag-columnists-opinions","tag-elite-eight","tag-kentucky-wildcats-basketball","tag-march-madness","tag-march-madness-tournament","tag-ncaa-march-madness-tournament","tag-ncaa-women-s-basketball-tournament","tag-sec-women-s-basketball","tag-sweet-16","tag-sweet-sixteen","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-longhorns","tag-texas-longhorns-softball","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-womens-basketball","tag-vic-schaefer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}